The single best honing tool everyone should one

[rickboone1]

What it be?

A 'scope? Nope.

Tape? Nape. (nope.)

A really expensive hone. Wrong.



A marker. Better known as a Sharpie. This little thing has helped me out sooooo many times. It's a simple little test that can save you loads of trouble.

 

[2005xfr]

Please shed some light on us oh Sharpie master.

 

[smalltank]

draw a line down your SR blade..rehone..if blade is off center or something "isnt" right..you will see whats left..I tried this once on a guys razor who I rehoned for him...changed my technique to X strokes on my DMT..problem solved...theres a bunch of different techniques that can be used to figure out whats "not" going right with any blade.

 

[Kentos]

I dull and sharpie all new to me razors. Sometimes a relatively "drastic" honing stroke is needed to get the entire bevel set.

 

[johnmrson]

I dull and sharpie all new to me razors. Sometimes a relatively "drastic" honing stroke is needed to get the entire bevel set.

That's very true. I can remember honing a faux frameback that I reckon must have had a slight curve in it somewhere. It took some fairly heavy honing strokes on the 325 DMT to make sure there was a bevel the full length on both sides of the blade.

 

[Seraphim]

I find a really bright light is an indispensable aid in honing.

 

[Alum of Potash]

Whenever I use a Sharpie to mark the edge, the same thought occurs to me, "I wonder how they set bevels back in the old days, when Sharpies weren't around?" Ditto for electrical tape.

Hard to hone without a hone.

 

[rickboone1]

Whenever I use a Sharpie to mark the edge, the same thought occurs to me, "I wonder how they set bevels back in the old days, when Sharpies weren't around?" Ditto for electrical tape.

Hard to hone without a hone.

They didn't have razors that were 100+ years old sitting in drawers, and heaven knows what other crazy conditions getting banged up and warped.... Also, they were rather readily available and if the blade wasn't sharpening as it would, they simply bought another one.

 

[thepusher]

When checking for mechanical fit, lamp black was used, though I have no idea whether they used it to check the edge geometry, for straight razors.

 

[Alum of Potash]

When checking for mechanical fit, lamp black was used, though I have no idea whether they used it to check the edge geometry, for straight razors.

Interesting. Thanks for posting. If it were lampblack from the soot from a match, I wonder if the heat involved would risk to change the temper of the edge?

 

[thepusher]

Lamp black can be used in two ways, cold, i.e. the soot is deposited on a cast iron surface prior to being applied to the surface that is being checked for mechanical fit, or using a dirty oil flame, usually vegetable oil of some sort, that produced a sooty flame. The steel or bronze component would then be moved over the flame about 3" away to give an even coating of lamp black. Typically the sooty flame does not burn very hot (incomplete combustion) and the flame does not need to touch the surface of the object. There will be a slight increase in temperature of the object being coated, but I would not think it would change the temper of the edge, if it were a straight razor. I have not reason to believe that the razor manufactures of the past used this means of checking their razors' edges, but this was a standard way for checking precision fit for custom gun manufacturers. It is still used by Holland and Holland, the famous English custom gun maker.

 

[Alum of Potash]

Thanks again. Seeing as I mostly use oil-stones these days, I might be inclined to try paraffin (mineral) oil and a paraffin candle here. Normally, I just view the glint of the bevel/edge by a direct light source, combining this with the arm-hair shave test.

 

[Locham]

I dull and sharpie all new to me razors. Sometimes a relatively "drastic" honing stroke is needed to get the entire bevel set.

Okay, if you have to go to a drastic honing stroke to set the bevel, do you continue that drastic honing stroke afterwards? My assumption is 'yes', but you know what they say about assumptions....

Thanks

 

[rickboone1]

Okay, if you have to go to a drastic honing stroke to set the bevel, do you continue that drastic honing stroke afterwards? My assumption is 'yes', but you know what they say about assumptions....

Thanks

Usually...no. Typically you'll remove enough metal when setting the new bevel that it'll be "right" and you won't have to make this drastic stroke next time.

 

[BakerAndBadger]

My assumption is 'yes', but you know what they say about assumptions....

Thanks

Management training courses coming through in that post!