Pyramid honing guide

On Setting The Bevel And Honing With The Norton 4/8 Pyramid

The purpose of the 1000 grit is to remove nicks and straighten/shape an edge. For that you use your eyes and the Thumb Nail test, not the Thumb Pad Test. The edge should be free of nicks and the bevel should go all the way to the edge. If you are using a hand held microscope then the bevel will appear as one color, if there are two bevels, old and new, then the light reflects off the bevel at different angles and appears as two colors. The scratch pattern should also be uniform for both the length and width of the bevel. When you have that then move on to the 4000, but not before.

The Norton 1000 is a slow cutter compared to a 1000 grit wet/dry sandpaper or a 1200 grit diamond hone. Use what ever number of strokes it requires to get rid of the nicks and establishing a bevel. This is the most time consuming portion of honing a razor, be patient and persistent.

Once you get to the 4000 grit then you stop using the Thumb Nail test and rely upon the Thumb Pad Test and HHT. You should be using both the TNT and the TPT while you are using the 1000 grit so that you develop a "feel" for what is happening to the edge.

When you start using the 4000 grit then use an aggressive pyramid first, testing with the TPT frequently, and when it seems that you are getting close based on the TPT, HHT and the arm hair test then drop own to a conservative pyramid, again, testing frequently. Then perform 50 roundtrip laps on a plain leather hanging strop and test shave. Do the best beard prep possible. Do not be surprised if the razor is not quite perfect. Just go back and perform a conservative pyramid then strop and test shave again. It is not unusual for me to take 2-3-4 honing sessions to dial in an edge. The above instructions were sent in a PM to JimmyHAD by randydance062449 who is always a great help to new members and veteran forum members alike.