Slash McCoy
I freehand dog rockets
I am a serious proponent of adding "Pull Strokes" to a honing progression and especially to the finish stage. I am often asked what that means, and sometimes it is obvious that someone doesn't catch the meaning at all. So let me explain here.
In normal honing or stropping, the razor is stroked along the hone or strop from one end to the other, flipped onto the other side, and stroked back, then flipped again. That is one lap. The stroke can be edge leading, as in standard honing, or it can be spine leading, as in stropping. The razor is more or less perpendicular to the path of travel. The razor's posture might be modified a bit, with the heel leading or the toe leading a bit, but basically the razor goes from end to end.
When doing a pull stroke, the razor does not travel in the end to end direction. Instead, it travels crossways to that. The motion is parallel to the axis of the blade, and the motion isI only carried for a distance of about 3/4". Then the razor is flipped onto its other side, and repositioned on hone or strop, and pull-stroked on that side.
Take a razor and lay it on a hone as if you were going to hone it. Let's say you are right handed. You are holding the hone in your left hand, and the razor in your right. Let the razor point naturally across the hone. Now pull it to the right. You only want a movement of 3/4". If you continued, the razor would slide endwise off the right hand side of the hone.
It is tempting to use excessive pressure to make up for the short stroke distance, but don't. Just don't. The pull strokes are not meant to hone. They are meant to strip the edge clean of little bits of fin edge hanging on to the apex. Due to irregularities in the sorface of the balsa this might also add a bit of convexity to the apex. So, to peak the apex back up, a dozen or so regular laps are applied. Enough to recover full sharpness, but not enough to form a fin edge again. I usually apply a half dozen pull strokes per side at the finish, followed by a dozen regular laps. Sometimes I add a couple of pull strokes after every 10 regular laps.
The pull stroke will help you to up your game on stones, on film, or on balsa. Don't use it on a leather strop. It is also good for right after setting a bevel with the burr method. Bits of burr often remain fixed on the edge, and they must be removed.
If your eyes just glazed over while reading that description, then just remember this. A pull stroke is NOT a spine leading (edge trailing) stroke of the razor along the hone. It is a pull of the razor SIDEWAYS across the hone, and it is only about 3/4" of travel. I will add pics in a future post.
If you seem to be troubled by fin edge, if the razor will treetop but not shave your face after the first few strokes, then revisit the finisher, and add some pull strokes. If you find that the edge feels harsh when you shave, add some pull strokes. If you are trying to hone on some hyper-fine media and the bevel seems to stick to your skin when you shave, maybe cut your skin a bit too eagerly, add some pull strokes and skip the followup regular laps. It only adds about 20 seconds to your hone time per razor, and it will help kick up your edges a notch.
In normal honing or stropping, the razor is stroked along the hone or strop from one end to the other, flipped onto the other side, and stroked back, then flipped again. That is one lap. The stroke can be edge leading, as in standard honing, or it can be spine leading, as in stropping. The razor is more or less perpendicular to the path of travel. The razor's posture might be modified a bit, with the heel leading or the toe leading a bit, but basically the razor goes from end to end.
When doing a pull stroke, the razor does not travel in the end to end direction. Instead, it travels crossways to that. The motion is parallel to the axis of the blade, and the motion isI only carried for a distance of about 3/4". Then the razor is flipped onto its other side, and repositioned on hone or strop, and pull-stroked on that side.
Take a razor and lay it on a hone as if you were going to hone it. Let's say you are right handed. You are holding the hone in your left hand, and the razor in your right. Let the razor point naturally across the hone. Now pull it to the right. You only want a movement of 3/4". If you continued, the razor would slide endwise off the right hand side of the hone.
It is tempting to use excessive pressure to make up for the short stroke distance, but don't. Just don't. The pull strokes are not meant to hone. They are meant to strip the edge clean of little bits of fin edge hanging on to the apex. Due to irregularities in the sorface of the balsa this might also add a bit of convexity to the apex. So, to peak the apex back up, a dozen or so regular laps are applied. Enough to recover full sharpness, but not enough to form a fin edge again. I usually apply a half dozen pull strokes per side at the finish, followed by a dozen regular laps. Sometimes I add a couple of pull strokes after every 10 regular laps.
The pull stroke will help you to up your game on stones, on film, or on balsa. Don't use it on a leather strop. It is also good for right after setting a bevel with the burr method. Bits of burr often remain fixed on the edge, and they must be removed.
If your eyes just glazed over while reading that description, then just remember this. A pull stroke is NOT a spine leading (edge trailing) stroke of the razor along the hone. It is a pull of the razor SIDEWAYS across the hone, and it is only about 3/4" of travel. I will add pics in a future post.
If you seem to be troubled by fin edge, if the razor will treetop but not shave your face after the first few strokes, then revisit the finisher, and add some pull strokes. If you find that the edge feels harsh when you shave, add some pull strokes. If you are trying to hone on some hyper-fine media and the bevel seems to stick to your skin when you shave, maybe cut your skin a bit too eagerly, add some pull strokes and skip the followup regular laps. It only adds about 20 seconds to your hone time per razor, and it will help kick up your edges a notch.