Honing

One good tip is to use a permanent marker on the bevel initially to determine if you are making contact with the hone, and if you are not you may need to adjust the honing stroke so it is contacting the full length of the bevel.
Another good bevel setting tip for newbies/difficult razors is as follows:
Work on one side of the razor only but count/keep track of strokes until you feel a burr forming on the opposite side of the razor, once you have formed a burr along the whole length of the bevel flip the razor and work the razor exactly the same on the other side until, yep you guessed it, a burr has formed on the other side, now we know for absolute certainty than both sides of the bevel are meeting and are "set", now all that is left to do is remove that burr by normal honing laps, 30 will do it and you are ready to carry on your honing routine. I would test this bevel with what ever methods you are using so you get a feel for what a set bevel feels like, I generally use the thumbnail test and the cherry tomatoe test but as billy has mentioned at 1k it should shave hair.
The one downside to this process is that it can remove a lot of steel so probably best left to crappy practice razors.
Once you get a feel for when a bevel is set you will probably never use this technique again but it is a great learning tool.
 
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Got a soft spot for shiny things so here we go three more to hone:

Herder from Solingen is looking pretty straight forward.

SSA from Eskilstuna has got damage on edge that I hope to fix when honing.

Törnblom from Eskilstuna, not sure about this one as blade is wider at the toe compared to heel. Maybe use a black marker and my normal honing method and check where edge meets stone. Some rust on top of spine but probably going to leave that as is.
 
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I ended up using a marker pen to see exactly where the edge was in relation to the spine, just a quick swipe on a dry stone revealed one side of the spine was convex and the other straight. Using a lower grit stone I do all the time on tools and knives but I worry about damaging the rather more delicate edge on a SR. You can remove a lot of steel very quickly with a 400 grit Sigma! Settled on either a slate finisher or one of those Chinese stones, both polish a Shapton 12K bevel but both feel different on my face. Unless I buy another SR then none of the razors will need to see a stone for some time.....hopefully.
 
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Got a soft spot for shiny things so here we go three more to hone:

Herder from Solingen is looking pretty straight forward.

SSA from Eskilstuna has got damage on edge that I hope to fix when honing.

Törnblom from Eskilstuna, not sure about this one as blade is wider at the toe compared to heel. Maybe use a black marker and my normal honing method and check where edge meets stone. Some rust on top of spine but probably going to leave that as is.
Those SSA Eskilstuna Razors Hone Up Like A Dream..They are Harder Steel than Solingen But they are Very Thinly Ground Much Like C.V Heljestrands...They Take an Awesome Edge from the 1 K Bevel Hone..The Törnblom with the Kinda Smiling Blade Shouldn't be an Issue as Long as there isn't Grinding Issues..Few Blades are Perfect Mind Even from the Factory..:)

If the Blade is Flat on the Hone it Will Follow the Factory Grinding & Hone Up Even..I Do Use Some Swooping Stokes as Well & Some 45 Degree Strokes..Heel Leading..Lovely Razors by the Way..:D

Billy
 
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Got a soft spot for shiny things so here we go three more to hone:

Herder from Solingen is looking pretty straight forward.

SSA from Eskilstuna has got damage on edge that I hope to fix when honing.

Törnblom from Eskilstuna, not sure about this one as blade is wider at the toe compared to heel. Maybe use a black marker and my normal honing method and check where edge meets stone. Some rust on top of spine but probably going to leave that as is.
Glen Shows Some Nice 45 Degree Variations & Swooping Stuff on here..Some Useful Strokes..He is Crystal Clear to Why & What he is Doing..Also..He Explains Pressures or Pressure which is Rare in Honing Videos..He is Chrystal Clear about that An All..:D

Billy
 
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So I took a closer look at the Törnblom and the good news: nice edge, bevel is set from the factory way back then I guess just need some finetuning to be shave ready but the bad news: cracked scales trying to open razor, half way no problem though trying to fully open OUCH!, lesson learned do not rush, soak, clean with care, giving the area around pin special attention, look for dirt, look for rust, look for bend, maybe some oil would be a good move, then try to fully open taking notice of any resistance, oh well making scales is supposed to be fun and a more square form than the traditional rounded would be nice to match the blade...

(cracked scale on one side at the pin by not being careful then just to check how much it takes to damage I applied force to the other side, if you can call it force because all it took was a light touch, flip, crack, brittle stuff these old scales, any ointment out there to make em young and flexible again?)
 
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Made a set of replacement scales for my Törnblom blade using two traditional Swedish butterknives in juniper wood, not ideal but available, did not provide enough material though for the wedge so improvised using a popsicle stick but result was on the small side,t still going to try and mount the blade I think...

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I normally finish my honing on the light green lapping film from 3M, first as is then with paper cushion, would using a cromox pasted leather or linen flatbed strop be a natural step forward before final work on hanging strop or would it be a waste of time?

edit: with a natural step forward I am not asking for sharper but if possible maybe a tad smoother
 
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