Honing a NOS Filarmonica.

It amazes me the amount of these 'rare' NOS Filarmonicas that keep coming up for sale. Their rarity does seem to be exaggerated somewhat ;)
A particular recent influx of the 14 round point EPBD's that I picked up recently.

I think there's few people regulating their release over in Spain :D (can't wait for the Medallon Taurino release!)

It's all worth it of course because the result of your video Jamie is always a pleasure!
Good stuff.
 
Have to say Jamie, as an adjunct to my last post in this thread, I watched your video about three or four times and decided to give this a go myself, so I ordered some stones (Naniwa 1K, 5k, 8k & 12k) which suited my current budget. I've lapped them with P400 and then P600 wet 'n dry on a flat marble surface (I knew that marble chopping board sitting in the cupboard would be good for something one day) and am slowly building up the nerve to hone something tomorrow - actually later today considering what the time is! I'm just little nervous :-/
 
Don't be nervous it's just removing and polishing a tiny amount of steel.

The majority of razors have a good grind and with patience hone nicely.
Use tape on the spine, replace it after you have set the bevel.
A good guide for beginners is marking the edge with a permanent marker pen before you start and looking at the lines when you are honing, if they are dissapearing then you know you are touching the whole edge of the blade on the hone.

Just keep that spine flat on the hone, rule number 1!

Biggest mistake I made when I started was rushing past the bevel set, this is where a jewellers loupe can come in handy to inspect the bevel under magnification. You will see if it has been established along the the length of the blade both sides.

As for the 12k
My opinion of course...
Leave it in the cupboard for a while. When you get to the 8k you should be producing a shave ready edge, finish off with some very light strokes on the 8k and strop and shave.

Get a comfortable consistent shave off the 8k then move onto the 12k this is where you will know whether you are getting the benefit of the 12k
You really have to caress the final polishing stage from a hone.

Good luck!
 
Okay guys, update!
So, the razor in question, a Carl Rader 'Anchor & Flag' ( full hollow 6/8 I believe) which I purchased on e-bay. Razor arrived last week and was - as per sellers description - clean, in good nick (pardon the pun) but not shave ready and in need of honing. It wasn't exactly in the 'butter knife' category when it arrived but shaving with it - IMHO - would have been quite a painful experience! Overall size-wise, it's about the same (but a tad heavier) than the Mappin & Webb that Jamie restored for me a couple of weeks back and like the Mappin, feels very 'positive' in the hand. So, onto the job!

I watched Jamie's video again...

... then again...

... and once more for good measure!

As I said above, the stones had already been lapped - all that went pretty well and to plan after watching a number of vids and reading through the 'how to' threads in here and other forums (as Peter Brook once observed "...only an idiot goes to rehearsals unprepared") - so, razor taped - you made that look so easy Jamie! It took me three attempts to get the tape even on each side!!! Anyhow, all done and we were good to go!

Now, the one thing I didn't do was to check in here for any replies before proceeding (sorry Jay) so, I did actually progress through setting the bevel and all the way through to the 12k: I did, however, use Jamie's stellar work on my Mappin as a 'touchstone' re the bevel and, though I didn't achieve quite such a 'deep' bevel as the hone-meister, I did manage a nice even line all the way along both of the razor's edges. Naturally, the whole process took me a little longer than Jamie on the Filarmonica - no surprises there, then! I was at it for the better part of an hour but have to say, it was all a rather relaxing and thoroughly satisfying experience, almost 'zen' like :blush:

So on to the stropping and finally, a nice smooth shave, with the razor giving that nice satisfying "ziiing" as it smoothly lopped of my stubble!

Can I just say, thanks, guys for all the advice and support that you give! 'Stalking' through this forum over the past few weeks, asking the occasional question (always answered by quick and informative replies) has provided me with invaluable help and advice in starting my journey with straights! What a nice group of Gentlemen you all are :icon_smile:
 
Well done Tony congratulations, I would always advise anyone new to honing If you are going to jump in the deep end as you have done to start off with a vintage full hollow in fairly good order, leave the quarter hollows and wedges well alone till you have enough knowledge and experience as they can really test your patience and dishearten most newbie honers. PS and watch lots of videos and ask lots of questions.
 
shakespeare said:
Okay guys, update!
So, the razor in question, a Carl Rader 'Anchor & Flag' ( full hollow 6/8 I believe) which I purchased on e-bay. Razor arrived last week and was - as per sellers description - clean, in good nick (pardon the pun) but not shave ready and in need of honing. It wasn't exactly in the 'butter knife' category when it arrived but shaving with it - IMHO - would have been quite a painful experience! Overall size-wise, it's about the same (but a tad heavier) than the Mappin & Webb that Jamie restored for me a couple of weeks back and like the Mappin, feels very 'positive' in the hand. So, onto the job!

I watched Jamie's video again...

... then again...

... and once more for good measure!

As I said above, the stones had already been lapped - all that went pretty well and to plan after watching a number of vids and reading through the 'how to' threads in here and other forums (as Peter Brook once observed "...only an idiot goes to rehearsals unprepared") - so, razor taped - you made that look so easy Jamie! It took me three attempts to get the tape even on each side!!! Anyhow, all done and we were good to go!

Now, the one thing I didn't do was to check in here for any replies before proceeding (sorry Jay) so, I did actually progress through setting the bevel and all the way through to the 12k: I did, however, use Jamie's stellar work on my Mappin as a 'touchstone' re the bevel and, though I didn't achieve quite such a 'deep' bevel as the hone-meister, I did manage a nice even line all the way along both of the razor's edges. Naturally, the whole process took me a little longer than Jamie on the Filarmonica - no surprises there, then! I was at it for the better part of an hour but have to say, it was all a rather relaxing and thoroughly satisfying experience, almost 'zen' like :blush:

So on to the stropping and finally, a nice smooth shave, with the razor giving that nice satisfying "ziiing" as it smoothly lopped of my stubble!

Can I just say, thanks, guys for all the advice and support that you give! 'Stalking' through this forum over the past few weeks, asking the occasional question (always answered by quick and informative replies) has provided me with invaluable help and advice in starting my journey with straights! What a nice group of Gentlemen you all are :icon_smile:
Click to expand...

Well done! Hope my first attempt at honing goes as well.
 
Thank you guys, and good luck with your first hone! Paul, I hope it all goes well for you! :)

As for questions Jamie, I do already have one - and I'm sure many more will follow! How 'deep' a bevel should I be aiming for in future, or does that all depend on the depth of the blade? I'm assuming that there will be some variation according to blade depth?
 
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