Honing...stupid question of the day

MPH

MPH

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Hi

I am researching honing methods before I dive in and give it a go! Most of it makes sense, but everything I've read suggests you should hone a razor by moving it in a "blade first" direction, and i was wondering why?

Not sure why, but I would naturally go with a "spine first" direction (like stropping)?? I figured if you'd rolled the edge etc then doing it spine first would smooth things out a little easier???

Does it cut quicker, blade first??? I assumed it wouldn't make much difference what direction you use??

Sorry for the naivety, but I was just wondering...... :)

Thanks

Matt
 
Moving spine first gives burrs the oportunity to form. Cutting edge first removes those.
Also: you're working with water and or slurry. The way the water moves at the edge, then over the edge over the blade towards the spine tells you a lot about where you are in the proces.
 
efsk said:
Moving spine first gives burrs the oportunity to form. Cutting edge first removes those.
Also: you're working with water and or slurry. The way the water moves at the edge, then over the edge over the blade towards the spine tells you a lot about where you are in the proces.
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Ahhhhhhhhhhh. Makes sense!

Thanks :)
 
UKRob said:
Any sharpening action involves the bevel forward. Pick up a sharpening steel and what is your normal reaction?
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Actually, I wouldn't have a clue I stopped using one ages ago. LOL. Guess I was possibly holding the knives the wrong way round though! Doh!
 
It's not a stupid question and yes you can and do use a back cutting stroke while honing a Kamisori or any other razor, also one of the reason to hone blade edge pointing forward you need to see the edge of the hone and make sure you stop before the edge that would be quite difficult on the pull stroke, can't see there being much of a problem honing using a back stroke method if it suits you if you get a result stick with it.

 
pugh-the-special-one said:
It's not a stupid question and yes you can and do use a back cutting stroke while honing a Kamisori or any other razor, also one of the reason to hone blade edge pointing forward you need to see the edge of the hone and make sure you stop before the edge that would be quite difficult on the pull stroke, can't see there being much of a problem honing using a back stroke method if it suits you if you get a result stick with it.

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Thanks!!!! :)
 
efsk said:
Moving spine first gives burrs the oportunity to form. Cutting edge first removes those.
Also: you're working with water and or slurry. The way the water moves at the edge, then over the edge over the blade towards the spine tells you a lot about where you are in the proces.
Click to expand...

?? Then why do you strop to remove burrs. Stropping is always spine 1st??
 
Because stropping edge first right would result in lots of tiny bits of leather - and no strop.

Actually Johnus, I doubt that stropping is designed to remove burrs - In all the razors I've honed I've never created a burr. There is still some debate about exactly what stropping does - Neil Miller posited a theory that it burnished the edge. Whatever, we know it makes the razor smoother and keener.

Thinking about this a bit more, I suspect that honing spine first would encourage a fin or burr whereas leading with the edge naturally tends to remove anything that may build up on the very edge. The natural give in a hanging strop means that the angle is just slightly more than when honing - so if there was anything left on the edge, stropping would still encourage it to break off.
 
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UKRob said:
Because stropping edge first right would result in lots of tiny bits of leather - and no strop.

Actually Johnus, I doubt that stropping is designed to remove burrs - In all the razors I've honed I've never created a burr. There is still some debate about exactly what stropping does - Neil Miller posited a theory that it burnished the edge. Whatever, we know it makes the razor smoother and keener.

Thinking about this a bit more, I suspect that honing spine first would encourage a fin or burr whereas leading with the edge naturally tends to remove anything that may build up on the very edge. The natural give in a hanging strop means that the angle is just slightly more than when honing - so if there was anything left on the edge, stropping would still encourage it to break off.
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Hi , johnus here, as i try to stay away from the scientific when thinking about straight razors, i see honing as cutting away metal to create an edge. By habit or ease i only hone in one direction(none of the circular fancy stuff), edge forward. This, usually depending on the razor(i assume the steel that its made from) sometimes causes a roughness in the razors edge, in my vernacular a burr.
Stropping then mitigates the roughness by aligning or reducing the serrations created by the one directional honing, through pressure or cutting in the opposite direction. And if I'm lucky it shaves me!

Or if it doesn't, i just let it 'rest' for 48 hrs and the razor fairies come and create a 'fin' that miraculously gives me my bbs shave!
 
Johnus - I can only go on my own experience - honing on a progression of higher grits polishes the bevel and reduces striations that cause a jagged edge. I look at my bevel under magnification and would spot a fin if it existed. As I said earlier, I've never created one yet.
 
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