When i look at honing videos, i find that most folks use the one hand to hone, do you do this, or use both hands when honing, i seem to find that if i use 1 hand, i cant keep the razor flat!
Honing pressure
- Thread starter taffy
- Start date
practice practice practice. Two hands will make it twice as hard to fix.
It is a bit hard when you start. I found that I needed two hands in the beginning. Then I just held the tip of my index finger of my left on the toe of the blade. Then over time I reduced the pressure on my finger until there was no pressure at all and I was honing one handed.
It is a practice thing. If you think of your left hand like training wheels for your bicycle. When I was little the older kids would kick the training wheels for you, each day bending them a bit further off the road. Eventually I was riding around with my training wheels bent up at some crazy angle and I didn't need them any more.
I don't know why I just thought of that...
It is a practice thing. If you think of your left hand like training wheels for your bicycle. When I was little the older kids would kick the training wheels for you, each day bending them a bit further off the road. Eventually I was riding around with my training wheels bent up at some crazy angle and I didn't need them any more.
I don't know why I just thought of that...
Try and concentrate on getting your arm into a position that keeps the razor flat on the hone. Play around with elbow height and angle etc.
- Thread starter
- #5
Cheers gents, as we are snowed in over here
i am going to do a bit of honing today and concentrate the one hand method
i am going to do a bit of honing today and concentrate the one hand method
As others have said, it really is just a matter of practice. Like many aspects of shaving, especially with a straight, there's a definite learning curve.
I often use a smaller palm hone, but I have no problem at all with using two hands on a bench hone, especially on those last finishing strokes....
For me elbow height was critical. Elbow too low and the toe lifted off the hone. Elbow too high and the heel lifted off the hone. Now my elbow doesn't have to be at the perfect height, but this made the biggest difference in the beginning.
I use two hands, I like feeling the feedback from the fingers lightly placed on the spine.
As long as you aren't hamfisted, either method should work.
Edit: put your fingers on the spine NOT on the body of the blade. On the body can cause blade deformation and wierd stuff....
As long as you aren't hamfisted, either method should work.
Edit: put your fingers on the spine NOT on the body of the blade. On the body can cause blade deformation and wierd stuff....
I tried using just one hand, and I had the same problem you did. Then I tried putting my left index finger on the spine above the toe of the blade and that helped tremendously.
Ok I'm hamfisted. I kept chipping edges when I was using two hands. I switched to one hand and the other holding the stone and most of my acute problems went away. Now if I can only get my edges above HHT 3 consistently.
Depends a lot on your stone. On 20mm wide hones I don't use 1 hand strokes the way I do on my 40mm wide stones. Digging into a corner is a lot more likely. I do almost always finish with one hand on my coti's these days though, as coti finishes are really sensitive to pressure on the final few passes (probably depends on the stone but I tend to like "crunchy (describing the audio of water honing)" coti's and they need light pressure on the final passes.
In possibly related news, check out this thread that gives an example of the effects of pressure on honing.
http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showthread.php?t=103616&highlight=Chalk
http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showthread.php?t=103616&highlight=Chalk
I find that if you hold your elbow just a few inches past parallel to the hone the easier it is to keep the blade flat. It just takes practice too, be patient it will come.
Count me amongst those whom always use two hands, though the off hand does little beyond its primary job as feedback receptor.
When I was beginning I'd been trying one hand and was getting more action at the heel and less at the toe, and even when I'd corrected that tendency it felt less stable than when I'd try a second hand.
But then I often shave with two hands on the blade and none on the handle, too.
Think of it like a golf swing, for example; the end justifies the means, and Jim Furyk's awful-looking swing works for him, because in that all important moment when the rubber meets the road it is actuallly sound as any other. For me, my 2nd hand greatly confirms that the honing process is doing exactly what I'd want it to do.
It is far less about equipment or methodology, far more about learning to feel what's going on under your hand(s) and interpreting that information towards your objectives.
When I was beginning I'd been trying one hand and was getting more action at the heel and less at the toe, and even when I'd corrected that tendency it felt less stable than when I'd try a second hand.
But then I often shave with two hands on the blade and none on the handle, too.
Think of it like a golf swing, for example; the end justifies the means, and Jim Furyk's awful-looking swing works for him, because in that all important moment when the rubber meets the road it is actuallly sound as any other. For me, my 2nd hand greatly confirms that the honing process is doing exactly what I'd want it to do.
It is far less about equipment or methodology, far more about learning to feel what's going on under your hand(s) and interpreting that information towards your objectives.
Excellent post! I like your thinking. I am in full agreement. Nothing like a little feedback receptor if necessary.
Oh, that's just plain weird!
TMI Jarrod
LOL, I assume you're referring to my prior post's last sentence's possible applications beyond the realm of honing 
LOL, I assume you're referring to my prior post's last sentence's possible applications beyond the realm of honing
All in good fun.
Oh, that's just plain weird!
Don't laugh- that double handed technique is very good for an ATG on the chin.
