Editing A simple honing method with DMT-E, Belgian Blue Whetstone and Coticule

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From the dawn of mankind, sharp utensils have always been important to humans. The art of sharpening must have been one of the first activities of man where a scientific attitude was apt: experiment - observe -repeat. In the stoneage sharpening was as straightforward as knocking flints of a suitable stone. Which stones were most suitable? How was a stone to be hit, to end up with the sharpest flints? Man learned trough trial and error, which is the basis of all empirical science, and shared his knowledge with others, generation after generation. Since then, brass, iron and steel have each on its own revolutionized the craft of tool-making, but the didactic principles of how knowledge is passed on, have not. Men have at least been shaving facial hair since Roman times, and ever since, boys and men have been wondering, learning and teaching. I cannot write anything about honing today without paying tribute to the countless anonymous men who walked my path before me. Two of them I can call by name: Josh Earl and David Polan, who are both very respected members of "StraightRazorPlace", an online community, founded by Lynn Abrams, for those who indulge themselves in the nearly lost art of shaving with a straight razor. Without those men, I would lack the knowledge and confidence to write anything about sharpening razors today. Nothing of what I'm about to write down is carved in stone, but the paradigm I'm about to propose for properly honing a razor is one that stays close to the bare physics of sharpness, and approaches its goals one step at the time. It's easy to grasp what is happening during each step and if the results are off it's fairly possible to pin down the problem to a particular stage in the honing sequence. My paradigm uses a DMT-E diamond hone for perfecting the bevel of a razor and Belgian natural whetstones for further refining and polishing that bevel to a comfortable “shave-ready” edge. The Belgian natural hones come in two varieties: the BBW (Belgian Blue Whetstone) and the infamous Coticule (a pale yellow stone). This does by no means imply that I consider other hones or methods inferior.  

The razor lies flat on the hone (1) and is pushed over the hone with a diagonal movement, the edge leading. (2) Pressure is as minimal as possible, but enough to assure a nice even stroke, without tilting the blade as it protrudes over the side of the stone. The razor is turned over its spine and moved laterally till the heel lies back on the hone again (3) Then it is pulled back, again with the edge leading (4). Such a complete back and forth movement is counted 1 complete stroke. This is the standard X-stroke. Variations do exist, but they fall beyond the purpose of this text. The reason for the diagonal movement is to maximize the contact of the blade with the hone. Some razors have a tiny bit of warp in the blade, which prevents the edge from touching the blade along the entire length. Due to the continuous variation of the points of contact, the X-stroke rules out the possibility that some parts of the edge are poorly honed.  

METHOD: moisten the hone with some clean water and perform X-strokes. If the stone is rejecting the water, a drop of basic dish-washing detergent will solve this. Pressure must be kept low and as minimal as possible for at least the final 30 strokes of this stage. Concentration is key: the razor must remain flat on the hone at all times. Lifting the spine, however briefly, might set you back a considerable amount of strokes. The razor must not be tilted as it protrudes beyond the edge of the hone. It may take a considerate amount of work to achieve a perfect bevel. It doesn't matter for the final results if one does too much work here. From a certain point on, the edge won't ameliorate any longer, but it won't deteriorate from doing too much. The only downside is a waste of precious steel. The shape of the bevel is of utmost importance for the final honing result. Work that is neglected here cannot be compensated during the next steps in the process.  

Hold the opened razor upright in one hand, the cutting edge facing towards you. Place the fingers of the other hand behind the blade and place the tip of your thumb on the cutting edge, as if you were aiming to slice the tip off your thumb. Don't use any pressure, or you will cut into your thumb. Now, make a short, gentle little slicing motion with your thumb. A sharp edge will reveal itself as it tries to cut into your thumb, but of course, you are in control, so it won't. The knife's attempt to cut produces a typical adhesive feeling, sticking to the skin, as if it was covered with caramel. The cutting qualities should be probed along the entire length of the edge. With some experience one can learn to differentiate between various degrees of sharpness by simply performing a quick TPT. During the formation of a good bevel, it is quite normal for the edge to show parts where it is very keen already while other parts may still need a few additional strokes. The TPT is not an easy test to learn, but it is one of the most reliable test to probe for the sharpness of a cutting bevel.  

After the DMT, a razor should shave arm hair without much effort, certainly when the arm is wetted with some water. A superb bevel will pop some arm hairs even if it floats a few mm above the surface of the skin. &nbsp;Hair types vary &amp; this test is not definitive. Failure does not absolutely indicate an incomplete bevel.

Take a clean, preferably thick head hair between thumb and index finger. Press the edge of the razor against it at about half an inch from where it is held. Don't use a slicing motion. A razor with a perfect bevel coming off the DMT should catch at the hair and sever it. It is acceptable at this point if you need to drag the hair a bit across the edge. Finalizing your efforts on the DMT with ultra light laps can make all the difference in this regard.  

It should take about 50 to 100 laps to replace the scratch pattern from the DMT with the one from the BBW. Shortly after that goal is achieved the edge keenness will level off a the maximum that can be reached with the BBW. At this point, The slurry must be thinned with a few drops of water every 10 strokes. Continue honing till the slurry is completely washed down. There is no risk for overhoning on this hone. Assessing the edge for sharpness should be done by means of the TPT. If everything checks out fine, the blade should be rinsed under a running tap and wiped clean.  

During this step the edge is polished and smoothened. For this kind of use, a slurry is NOT to be raised on the Coticule. This achieves the keenest possible edge. Approximately 100 very light laps should suffice. The TPT should give a clear distinctive feedback of ultimate sharpness. Rinse and wipe clean. The razor can now be stropped for about 60 passes on clean leather. Stropping on canvas is not necessary immediately after honing.