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Stones ordered, tell me how I messed up

Phoenixkh

I shaved a fortune
Aaron, you and I have similar personalities.. it's annoying, isn't it? You want to get it right.... and you'll keep going until you do..but in the meantime, it's a struggle mentally.

I remember my initial days learning digital photography. Luckily, I had a site similar to this one (POTN) and those men and women took me under their collective wings and taught me so much. B&B is doing that for me as well..... but, I still have to put that razor to my own face.... just like photography... I had to get out there and take photos.

You'll master honing your straight razor. You know you will.... I'm pretty sure you tell yourself to relax and enjoy the scenery as you learn.... but thinking that... and doing it... are often two different things.
 
10x is not going to show you much. You do not need quality optics, you are not counting stria, just looking for chips and if the stria are going all the way to the edge. A 60/100 Micro Brite scope is $10-15 and will show you all you need to see. The goal is to understand what it is you see.

You have been honing with the Slate, how are the shaving edges? If you are not getting great shaving edges now with the slate, what makes you think they will improve?

The idea of using tape is to protect the spine from excessive wear on low grit stones, if you were going to use it, put it on the 1.5k. If you only tape the 5k and slate you will make a double bevel, your spine will still be worn.

If you are burning through electrical tape on a slate, you are probably using too much pressure, it’s not the tape. Or you need new tape, it can go bad if it is old.

Use Kapton tape over electrical or just Kapton.
 
It is not complicated, set the bevel on the 1.5k (bevel ground in the proper angle and flat from heel to toe, meeting fully from heel to toe at the edge, no chips.

Then remove ALL the 1.5 stria with the 5k without mucking up the edge, then remove ALL the 5k stria with an 8k. Strop on Chrome Oxide or CBN and shave.

You can jump to a natural from the 8k, if the natural can produce an edge finer than 8k.

If you want to learn to hone on naturals, then you must learn to hone with the natural stone you have in your hand. Some can finish very well some cannot, each has a learning curve.
 
I messaged Keith an hour ago to see if I could add the 8k.

That might have sounded confusing, I was conceding that I will try the 5k with the tape because it was honed with tape previously. If that works, I will go up to the 8k with tape and then the slate with only light water and tape.

If I am not getting results with the 5k and have to go to the 1.5k, then I may not use it. I need to see how much pressure it requires for a few strokes and evaluate if it is scratching up the spine too much. I got fairly aggressive with the slate, no downward pressure, and slurry and won't be doing that again after the 8k. I had zero tape wear on the slate which is what makes me think spine wear isn't going to be a concern.

I am still trying to find another razor that meets my unrealistic criteria that I can have by next week. That will spare this razor until a later date if I do. I probably should just go ahead with the brand new one that I was waiting until the end of the month to order. It won't be shave ready completely I am sure, but then I can start with the 5k before even using it.

I will watch some videos so I know what to look for and not overshoot it on each stage.
 
Google (Second try at Honing). This is new honer who took an eBay beater to super shaver with a mirror 12k bevel. It was the second razor he had honed.

If you just make your bevels look like his at the various stages in the progression, you will have a shaving edge. He asks a lot of good questions so you may want to read the whole thread, its about 70 post long.

From this

151107124521580 (2).jpg




To this.

12kc.jpg
 
The good news is you have, or will have, a bunch of quality synths to work with. I'd suggest grabbing a couple non-descript razors off fleabay or from a local antique store. We can talk honing all day long but ultimately it's learned by doing. Try different strokes, different pressure, torque vs. pressure, etc. and really pay attention to what you're feeling and seeing. Make some mistakes. Fix them. You'll learn a lot and you won't be doing it at the expense of a nice razor that you paid top dollar for.

I think the biggest challenge for a new guy (having only been doing this for 9 months or so myself) in the bevel setting range is knowing how much is enough and how much is too much. Right now you don't know what you don't know...but you'll sort that out quickly if you have a razor you're not afraid of taking risks with.
 

duke762

Rose to the occasion
Man, when I started I wanted to do every thing on the stones I had (Ark progression). I really should have started Shapton Pro 1.5,5,8,12 many years ago and save myself time and money and frustration. I still finish on Arks, what a time and labor saner the Shapton are for me.

Two more Shaptons and an Ark. They aren't getting any cheaper with the current inflationary period we're in.

If you listen to Gamma you'll do just fine.
 
Man, when I started I wanted to do every thing on the stones I had (Ark progression). I really should have started Shapton Pro 1.5,5,8,12 many years ago and save myself time and money and frustration. I still finish on Arks, what a time and labor saner the Shapton are for me.

Two more Shaptons and an Ark. They aren't getting any cheaper with the current inflationary period we're in.

If you listen to Gamma you'll do just fine.
Man, that signature line line got an extended chuckle out of me! Even though I love the books, every time I read somebody's riff on that line I visualise and hear the character in the movie saying those lines in my head. The movies really are a parody of Tolkien's masterpiece, but it's hard not to enjoy them all the same.
 
Here lately I’ve been using a very limited progression: Shapton Kuromaku 2000 & 8000 stones followed by a compound of choice or rarely a natural stone.
I have the other stones in the grits that you’ve ordered as well. If there’s any advice I could offer is that you now certainly have enough stones. So whatever issues you run into in terms of an edge that isn’t to your liking you can be confident that you have all the things to come out with a working edge. It will simply be a matter of getting your fundamentals dialed in. The other part of my advice would Be to seriously resist purchasing any more gear until you can get working edges with what you have. You’re going to have trouble honing at some point with what you have and you’re going to be tempted to continue to buy more things but don’t. If you find yourself a little frustrated with your results just remember that it’s you and the rest of us that get frustrated from time to time.
 
Here lately I’ve been using a very limited progression: Shapton Kuromaku 2000 & 8000 stones followed by a compound of choice or rarely a natural stone.
I have the other stones in the grits that you’ve ordered as well. If there’s any advice I could offer is that you now certainly have enough stones. So whatever issues you run into in terms of an edge that isn’t to your liking you can be confident that you have all the things to come out with a working edge. It will simply be a matter of getting your fundamentals dialed in. The other part of my advice would Be to seriously resist purchasing any more gear until you can get working edges with what you have. You’re going to have trouble honing at some point with what you have and you’re going to be tempted to continue to buy more things but don’t. If you find yourself a little frustrated with your results just remember that it’s you and the rest of us that get frustrated from time to time.
Thank you. I really wanted to keep the number of stones purchased to a minimum and just try to work on removing stria from the previous grit. I guess the lens I purchased isn't going to be enough, so the next outlay is a real microscope and a clip on adaptor for my phone.
 
no idea about luna.. how can u know what grit you actually have?...

1k 6k 12k (&strop) work great for me
(after setting the bevel you don't need more than the 12k usually)

if you on the budget get a lapping film,
the set i got have even 0.3 micron, the steps are closer too...
Actually.. lapping film should give u the best result.
 
A Carson MicroBrite 60/100X is $10-15 and all you need. You can compare micrographs to 60 and 100x.

Unless you want to take photos, you do not need a microscope (USB). But it is a great way to take photos and get feedback.

I have taught a few guys to hone by commenting on their micrographs. You do not need a high dollar USB either, most any will work. $30-100.

For now buy the Carson.MicroBrite 60-100x

81zMli+Xk1L._AC_SL1500_.jpg
 
A Carson MicroBrite 60/100X is $10-15 and all you need. You can compare micrographs to 60 and 100x.

Unless you want to take photos, you do not need a microscope (USB). But it is a great way to take photos and get feedback.

I have taught a few guys to hone by commenting on their micrographs. You do not need a high dollar USB either, most any will work. $30-100.

For now buy the Carson.MicroBrite 60-100x

View attachment 1439830
Funny, I was just looking at that yesterday. Thanks. They actually make a version that clips onto my phone, maybe this one is better and I can set the phone camera right on top. I decided a while ago that the USB microscopes weren't going to be the thing because I have a much better camera in my phone, but obviously they have other benefits. This looks like it will work the same without the image sensor.

100-250 ordered, I have to be a little bit stubborn. My current setup does 50x. This has the clip for my phone camera.
 
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I purchased a used Swift collegiate quality bench microscope for $80 > 40X and 100X are what I use and w/simple but effective side lighting it shows me what I need to see. Best investment I've made to my progress, not even the cost of the average user grade razor.
 
I purchased a used Swift collegiate quality bench microscope for $80 > 40X and 100X are what I use and w/simple but effective side lighting it shows me what I need to see. Best investment I've made to my progress, not even the cost of the average user grade razor.
That was the original plan, but if I want people to help me I have to go with what they recommend in the beginning. That is helpful to hear what magnification you use. I can already do 40x, so I will see how my purchase does at 100x.
 
Back on track here, I unexpectedly received my two stones Monday. They were in Brooklyn on Friday! Another huge thank you to Tomo Nagura(Keith). I am not sure if he did something to get them here so quick, the shipping cost on the box was an eye opener. I just hope he didn't actually loose money in the whole deal.

I rubbed some razors on the 5k last night and it is surprising effective. I like the feedback it is giving. I will have more to say later, have too many razors...
 
You've probably already seen these YouTube videos but in case you haven't, I stumbled on them while searching for how much work it would take to get into Straight Razor shaving. They might help... or not. If not, please disregard, knowing my intensions are good. <eg> (evil grin: denotes an attempt at humor>

I have only watched the first one. Everybody says don't hone like Howard, all I can say is... 😬

The interesting thing here is he demonstrates how to use a pocket microscope, that's very helpful.
 

Phoenixkh

I shaved a fortune
I know nothing about honing, of course. He seemed to know what he was doing..... but I can see honing is an art..... and art has a lot of expressions. Way beyond me.
 
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