Newbie Honing Compendium

[Slash McCoy]

I find myself often linking just a few threads rather than give a long winded explanation that takes me 15 minutes to type on my phone. So, here are my favorite threads to suggest that newbies read if they are interested in making their razors sharp.

Lapping film, try it.

Setting the Bevel with the Burr Method

How To Use a Pasted Balsa Strop

Read and heed these threads and you will soon be honing like a boss, without laying out a ton of cash.

 

[David]

Thanks Slash!

 

[buca3152]

Nice! Good way to get the guys in. Nice reading there. I would include "the key". But it's not my list! Lol.

 

[David]

The key is another good one, and there is a thread called honing 101 (I think) that has some good stuff in it.

 

[Slash McCoy]

Nice! Good way to get the guys in. Nice reading there. I would include "the key". But it's not my list! Lol.

Hey, post the link. I'm cool. The honing 101, too. I just wanted to get my three favorites in one place. Anybody wants to add to it is welcome.

 

[Fireman Sean]

Slash, thanks for posting these all together. Will definitely make it easier to find when I need them!!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[KW Driver]

The Key

 

[Slash McCoy]

The Key

Yeah after reviewing this thread I agree that this is another essential read for newbie honers. It is obvious to most of us, but not so, to beginners.

 

[jdp93]

Thank you for doing this @Slash McCoy. I have been using one of your modified GDs for a few months, and I am getting ready to try my hand at honing for the first time. I am going to try lapping film. I have my film, and I just picked up a small piece of polished granite from a local stone supply company, and I'm going to use your lapping film guide. I'm excited to try it.

 

[Slash McCoy]

Thank you for doing this @Slash McCoy. I have been using one of your modified GDs for a few months, and I am getting ready to try my hand at honing for the first time. I am going to try lapping film. I have my film, and I just picked up a small piece of polished granite from a local stone supply company, and I'm going to use your lapping film guide. I'm excited to try it.

Good luck! Although luck doesn't really come into it, with film. Wade deeply into the lapping film thread and pay particular attention to where newbs are walked through their first film edges. Read on to the end and pick up on the new developments in film honing. You could end up with a good edge, even a great edge, your first time at bat. Its that easy. The only trick is following directions.

 

[steveclarkus]

Thank you for doing this @Slash McCoy. I have been using one of your modified GDs for a few months, and I am getting ready to try my hand at honing for the first time. I am going to try lapping film. I have my film, and I just picked up a small piece of polished granite from a local stone supply company, and I'm going to use your lapping film guide. I'm excited to try it.

I followed this method - actually followed the directions - and within two weeks could hone a GD 66 from bevel set to .1u in close to two hours. One thing that is never mentioned is that it is not messy. You just have to wipe up some clean water periodically. Highly recommend.

 

[jdp93]

I tried it this weekend, but I only used 3u and 1u. I did 50 laps on both, and then 40 laps with the 1u with paper underneath. As this was my first time, I was just worried I would mess up my razor somehow, but it turned out alright. I didn’t notice too much of a difference when I shaved this morning, but I’m sure that is because of my lack of technique. Perhaps I should have started with a coarser film? I found the process fun and pretty easy.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Slash McCoy]

For just a refresh, you really only need the 1u film which is slightly finer, maybe, than the Naniwa 12k. The 3u is in the neighborhood of 8k. Try more laps on the 1u. You should get a bit of stiction. Finish very lightly, in hand, preferably with shave lather on the film. Then only a half dozen laps over the picopaper. That should give you a noticeably keener edge. For more improvement skip the picopaper and run the diamond/balsa progression.

 

[albsat]

Great thread. Really helpful for beginners.

I admit. I am so tempted to try a straight razor and I have read a lot on strops and honing here. These threads help!
They even made me thought of buying a shave ready GD razor just to know what is this about. Just I am not ready yet. It's like I am waiting someone to push me to jump in the river.

So far I am enjoying a lot my shavette.

 

[bluesman 7]

and then 40 laps with the 1u with paper underneath.

I would recommend only 6 light pressure laps with the damp paper underneath. The idea of the paper is to slightly convex the bevel and soften the edge a bit, so very little is needed.

 

[jdp93]

Great thread. Really helpful for beginners.

I admit. I am so tempted to try a straight razor and I have read a lot on strops and honing here. These threads help!
They even made me thought of buying a shave ready GD razor just to know what is this about. Just I am not ready yet. It's like I am waiting someone to push me to jump in the river.

So far I am enjoying a lot my shavette.

Jump right in!

I was in your shoes a few months ago, and I am so glad I started SR shaving. Everything just seemed so overwhelming to me, but really all you need for now is an inexpensive shave ready straight and a cheap strop. You can send your razor out for honing down the road, or you can learn to do that yourself. It isn't as hard as I imagined it would be.

 

[jdp93]

I would recommend only 6 light pressure laps with the damp paper underneath. The idea of the paper is to slightly convex the bevel and soften the edge a bit, so very little is needed.

Thanks, I will definitely remember this! Sounds like I way overdid it on the paper.

 

[Bur_Oak]

As a newbie to honing, I found this to be incredibly helpful. I had been overwhelmed by all of the honing information prior to reading Slash's way of using lapping film. It is "information overload" for a newbie trying to figure out how to begin honing.

I probably would never have attempted honing if it had not been for the easy-to-follow steps he has with his method.

But thanks to these easy to follow instructions (and cheap initial investment going with film) I am getting great shave results lapping through & including the shave soap on the 1u step. Easy peazy.

Now I am about to try the balsa with the .5, .25 & .1 balsa strop with the plain balsa finish. I'm gonna compare how the razor shaves with what I am getting now with just lap film. Tomorrow I'm going out to buy the balsa, and the diamond paste is already on order. Life is good

IMHO, this thread would be a good candidate to make a sticky so honing newbies can find it easily and get off on the right foot with honing their own razor.

 

[Slash McCoy]

As a newbie to honing, I found this to be incredibly helpful. I had been overwhelmed by all of the honing information prior to reading Slash's way of using lapping film. It is "information overload" for a newbie trying to figure out how to begin honing.

I probably would never have attempted honing if it had not been for the easy-to-follow steps he has with his method.

But thanks to these easy to follow instructions (and cheap initial investment going with film) I am getting great shave results lapping through & including the shave soap on the 1u step. Easy peazy.

Now I am about to try the balsa with the .5, .25 & .1 balsa strop with the plain balsa finish. I'm gonna compare how the razor shaves with what I am getting now with just lap film. Tomorrow I'm going out to buy the balsa, and the diamond paste is already on order. Life is good

IMHO, this thread would be a good candidate to make a sticky so honing newbies can find it easily and get off on the right foot with honing their own razor.

Its not "my way" of using film. I have to give credit to Seraphim for that. His film thread was my inspiration. Then Blix started the big film thread and I simply added my experiences and observations with everyone else.

 

[Bur_Oak]

Its not "my way" of using film. I have to give credit to Seraphim for that. His film thread was my inspiration. Then Blix started the big film thread and I simply added my experiences and observations with everyone else.

Sorry about that, I didn't realize. So thank you to Searphim, Blix and everyone who has laid out these simple ways to hone. I just know I found the instructions easy to follow, and I didn't have to spend a lot of money to get set up to hone my razors myself. So thanks to all of you. Huge help to us newbies.