Honing– this is an abrasive treatment using honing heads - hones, which allows you to obtain surfaces with a high level of accuracy.

If you bought a razor that has already been polished, this article is unlikely to interest you. In addition, it is important to remember that a well-sharpened razor lasts on average 2-3 months, but it happens that some people manage to use it for six months or a year. The key principle of honing a razor blade is that the blade should lie flat on the abrasive and move with the sharp edge forward. It's really simple. But at the same time it is very difficult.

Honing is not just sharpening knives. First of all, you need a special abrasive. There are at least three options.

Firstly, water stone - they are used for sharpening tools in woodworking. There are artificial and natural ones. They typically contain aluminum oxide, ceramic and silicon carbide. It should be moistened generously with water. Holding the razor large and index fingers, you need to move the razor along the stone.

Better to use big Stone, on which the entire blade is placed (or better with a margin of 5 cm), otherwise you will have to maintain the correct sharpening angle manually. It is important that both the tip of the blade and the comb (“spine”) of the razor are pressed against the stone. When you reach the edge of the stone, turn the razor over and now press it with the other side.

Now move it towards you in the opposite direction. One pass in each direction. As a result, the movement looks like this: away from you, turn it over, towards you. A full circle is one sharpening cycle. The most important thing in the sharpening process is to maintain contact between the razor and the abrasive with negligible pressure. It is especially important that the pressure is the same when passing on both sides of the razor - this will ensure that the tip of the blade is even. If you don’t want to scratch the razor comb, you should cover it with regular electrical tape.

The second method is old-fashioned ceramic hones (touchstones). These are often called "butcher's rods." You can try to buy them on eBay or use domestic diamond ones. They are softer than waterstone and can be used for liner blades. Can be sharpened dry or moistened with water. Usually these donuts are small, but they give excellent results.

The third way is fine abrasive chips or sandpaper. Abrasives require frequent replacement, but are quite inexpensive.

Of course, there is also a complex “Russian option”: first sharpen on a fine stone for knives, then on the surface of the smallest diamond chips, then on a belt (from a special hairdresser’s to an ordinary officer’s) - apply paste (from GOI paste to expensive imported ones) and on the smooth surface of the belt, grind until you are stupefied.

Now about the process itself. How do you know when sharpening is finished? This is not easy for a beginner. Steel is ductile, and it is quite easy to get nicks, bend the edge of the blade, or even break during the sharpening process. Therefore, you should not get carried away with the process. The best approach is to sharpen, try to shave, sharpen some more.

You can try it on the hair of your left forearm - it is less coarse than on your beard. If the razor moves smoothly and does not resist, it is ready for shaving.

For those who approach the sharpening process as a scientific work, you can control the sharpening process under a microscope. A handheld microscope with 10x magnification is inexpensive, but unfortunately under it it is difficult to see the very edge of the blade. A battery-powered microscope with 10-60x magnification gives the best results. But at maximum magnification the quality suffers too much. The ideal option would be a professional platform microscope with a USB connection to a computer. But, of course, the most The best way control the degree of sharpening - just feel it.

What to do if the blade is sharpened? Typically, in this case, reverse honing is used: a block is driven along a fixed blade. If the razor is sharpened correctly and carefully, it can be used for several months before the next sharpening.

A knife accompanies a man with early childhood and until old age. Each of us knows that most often it is a dull blade that cuts the hand. To do this, the blade just needs to slide off the surface.

In order to avoid this, and also to make the cutting process quick and comfortable, knives are sharpened. But there are many different devices and methods for sharpening knives; it is worth considering them in more detail.

Sharpening: principle and options

Sharpening a blade is the process of removing an edge with an abrasive along the entire length of the blade at a certain angle. The sharpening angle depends on the hardness of the steel and the tasks facing the blade. So for household kitchen and hunting knives the sharpening angle is 30...35 degrees, hunting knife with resistance to dullness, sharpens to 40...45.

Blades that require special blade sharpness stand somewhat apart, usually chef knives or knives for professional food processing, in this case the sharpening angle is from 25 degrees.

Separately, it is worth considering the sharpening angles of razors and surgical instruments, since they require blade sharpness. For straight razor The sharpening angle is 14...15, for surgical instruments from 12 to 25 degrees.

Knives are sharpened by two methods: manually using abrasive bars or special devices and mechanically using a sharpening machine with a rotating abrasive wheel.

The first option requires skill, but at the same time it is easier to learn and accessible to everyone. Abrasive stones of various types are used for sharpening, the most common are:

• Arkansas, known as novaculitis;
• Japanese water stones;
• diamond bars;
• ceramics.

Each type of stone has its own advantages and disadvantages. These stones will be discussed separately below. To quickly sharpen kitchen knives, sharpeners with fixed or variable fastening of abrasive planes are often used, sharpening in which is carried out by moving the blade between sharpening surfaces.

Mechanical sharpening on a machine is much simpler, less time-consuming, but requires constant temperature control and compliance with safety regulations.

Important! When sharpening on a machine with electrocorundum abrasive, you need to control the temperature of the blade metal; if the blade steel overheats, it can change its physical properties.

Main types of whetstone

In the course of human evolution, materials of natural origin suitable for sharpening knives were identified, although at the beginning of civilization, even ordinary sandstone was trusted to sharpen blades.

Now information on metal processing has been structured and stones with the best abrasive properties have been selected.

Methods for working with them have been invented and developed. In addition, synthetic materials are widely used and often have better properties than their natural counterparts.

Arkansas stones

Novacula is a sharpening stone for a razor. It is a dense siliceous rock made from uniform quartz crystals. Extraction is carried out in quarries; bars made of Arkansas stone have several degrees of grain size, have excellent abrasive ability, but at the same time, due to their dense structure, they require the use of oil when sharpening.

Dry sharpening will clog the pores of the stone with dust and metal, causing the stone to fail. The main disadvantage of these bars is the price and unevenness of production when the blade is sharpened incorrectly.

Japanese water stones

A natural stone originally from Japan, it has a high sharpening ability, but at the same time it is quite difficult to use. Sharpening knives on it is almost a ritual. Unlike novaculite, this abrasive is softer.

Sharpening is done using water. The process itself is quite complicated and takes time. Stones with a grain size from 600 to 30,000 grit are produced in the Japanese JIS classification, while at the same time, 10,000 grit is quite enough for super-finishing the blade.

Therefore, 30,000 is already excessive grain size for blades household use. Before work, the block itself must be soaked in a container of water, after it has been soaked, it must be removed and a mud mass must be created on its surface using Naguro, the second abrasive stone in the water stone set.

Sharpening is done using this suspension. The abrasive surface wears out quickly and unevenly, for this reason it requires periodic restoration with the help of special bars.

Synthetic stones

Diamond whetstones for sharpening, synthetic materials - electrocorundum, chromium oxide or diamond chips on a silicate or ceramic binder. These stones have a uniform structure, different (depending on the bar) grain size and good performance characteristics.

The cost of such stones is usually low, and the bars themselves are available. Sharpening can be done either “dry”, which is not recommended, or using water or oil.

Ceramics

These materials are used for final finishing of the blade, finishing or super-finishing. The grain size of these materials is small, but at the same time they are quite cheap and will allow you to smooth out scratches from a peeling abrasive or straighten a serrated knife.

The use of liquid is mandatory, since the pores in fired ceramics become clogged very quickly and the surface becomes smooth.

Sharpening stones of various shapes are widespread, from standard whetstones, which are best worked with on a stable plane, to rod sharpening stones, with which the blade can be adjusted on the fly.

One thing remains the same, no matter what kind of bar or what kind of metal, but for high-quality sharpening, a lubricant must be used: water or oil.

Sharpening rules

First you need to prepare everything necessary materials. A sharpening stone, a container of water and a paper towel or a regular sheet of paper. A piece of rag will also come in handy.

You immediately need to decide on the sharpening angle. For example, 35 degrees is the most optimal angle for a kitchen knife or 40 for a sharp hunting knife.

Inspect the stone; if there is a trough or significant wear on it, it should be leveled, otherwise the sharpening will be uneven.

Leveling the stone is done with another block, some types of bars such as Japanese stones, are equipped with special ridge stones for surface restoration.

The block is placed on a flat, stable surface; a table is perfect. To minimize slipping, fabric or rubber is placed under it. You can fix it on the table in another convenient way. The surface of the bar is wetted with water or machine oil.

The position of the blade is adjusted using available means, for example, by placing a paper clip on the back of the blade or placing a coin. If the owner of the knife has strong nerves and a sharp eye, then simply holding the knife in the desired position is enough.

The knife is placed at an angle of 40-45 degrees to the center line of the blade, sharpening is done by forward movements of the blade away from you. For high quality sharpening, it is worth doing it in two steps.

First time on a coarse grinding stone. Then, on finishing, fine-grained. During sharpening, it is necessary to periodically wet the surface of the stone. The check after sharpening is carried out visually, by examining the edges of the blade against the light; the sharp part of the blade is uniform along the entire length and should not give glare.

You can also cut a sheet of paper by weight. A sharpened knife cuts smoothly, without snagging or tearing off the paper. The sheet cut is even, without shaggyness or tears. If the edge of the paper is torn, the knife must be fine-tuned again.

Conclusion

There are many stones, but each of them has its own characteristics, and, like a knife, is chosen according to your hand. Synthetic stones are inexpensive to use. They are inexpensive and widely distributed.

But at the same time, you can achieve a soft sharpening only by using natural stone, which has its own characteristics. Japanese water stones are good in terms of quality. But their price is very high.

In addition, sharpening with such bars is long and inconvenient. In addition, it requires mood and skill. The same should be expected from Arkansas.

Hence the conclusion, each stone is suitable only for its owner; if you are outdoors or adjusting the kitchen one during a break between TV series and reading the newspaper, then it is better to take synthetics.

It will forgive small mistakes, and the quality of sharpening does not play a role here. But to sharpen a hunting or combat knife before a long outing in nature, you should use natural stones.

After sharpening, the knife is sharp, with edges and shape close to ideal. If you give a knife a lot of time and warmth, it will definitely not let you down at the right time.

Video

“It became obvious that for many people there is too much information there. And although the table of the grain size of sharpening stones (gritness of abrasives) given in it will probably be useful to everyone, listing the basic concepts used in sharpening knives, the properties of abrasives and other details is often unnecessary. Perhaps , having read such a comprehensive article, not everyone will find the answer to a simple question: what grit is needed to sharpen his knife? Therefore, I will try to briefly answer what kind of grit sharpening stones are needed for sharpening a knife, in particular a kitchen knife, and how to choose the right stones for sharpening.

Type of abrasive grain in the whetstone

Due to the different properties of abrasives, it is important to choose the right type of abrasive for comfortable and quick sharpening. Diamond or cubic boron nitride (CBN) effectively cuts metal of any hardness. They even cut the zirconium dioxide from which they are made Ceramic knives. Therefore, diamond and CBN stones can be used to sharpen knives of any type, as well as cutters of metal-cutting machines and pobedite drills. Obviously, such sharpening stones must be available, at least for some specific purposes (a drill is dull, it’s faster to sharpen it than to go to the store for a new one). However, due to the excessive sharpness of diamond, the cutting edge formed by a diamond bar will have a distinct notch, reducing its strength. Accordingly, a knife sharpened with diamonds will dull faster than the same knife sharpened to the same sharpness with a less aggressive abrasive. Therefore, if you have to sharpen not only ceramic knives and knives made of powder steels, it is better to sharpen with something else.

The most versatile type of abrasive is silicon carbide. It copes well with hard steels and does not become dull, gradually chipping with sharp edges. The cheapest type of abrasive is aluminum oxide (corundum), but as it wears it rounds and loses its sharpness.

In order to sharpen with cheap abrasives without losing speed, the Japanese make stones from aluminum oxide on a soft, weak bond. The abrasive grains are weakly retained in them and quickly fall out without having time to become dull. Instead of worn-out grains, new ones quickly come into play, the stone is renewed without losing efficiency...

But also quickly wearing down

As a result, despite the cheapness of the abrasive, sharpening on soft aluminum oxide stones can be a more expensive pleasure than sharpening on silicon carbide stones.

However, if you only have to sharpen stainless kitchen knives (which have a relatively low hardness), you can reduce the cost of the process by using not too soft aluminum oxide sharpening stones, for example, Russian ones with hardness C, or European ones with hardness M (English).

Selecting the hardness of the whetstone

Since when sharpening a knife, the abrasive stone (block) is also ground down, for comfortable and quick sharpening it is important to choose the correct hardness of the sharpening stone. Soft stones work faster, but also wear out quickly. The higher the hardness of the knife being sharpened and the wider the sharpening chamfer, the greater the need for rapid renewal of the stone. Classic Japanese knives are made with a single-sided sharpening and a wide bevel made of very hard steel. Soft Japanese sharpening stones are designed specifically for sharpening them. For softer European-style knives (particularly the cheaper Tramontina series), sharpening stones with a harder bond are better suited. With the same efficiency on these knives, they will wear out less. For European knives made of hard steels, which are not inferior in hardness to Japanese ones, but have a narrow chamfer, an average hardness of the binder is needed.

Hardness selection whetstone is often problematic due to the fact that the manufacturer does not indicate it. In this case, you either have to look for reviews from those who have experience using specific sharpening stones (and hope that these people are competent in this matter), or select the right stone by trial and error.

Selecting a whetstone based on the type of coolant

In addition to the hardness of the bond and the type of abrasive, you need to choose the right sharpening stone according to the type of lubricating fluid (coolant). Water stones work faster due to the released suspension (a suspension of water and colored abrasive). However, quickly rusting knives, when using such stones, can become covered with rust right during the sharpening process. Oil stones do not create this problem. But they work slower (often the same stone can be used either with water or with oil, but usually, if the stone is started to be used with oil, it will no longer work with water, like a real water maker). Oil stones are more versatile. If they are also hard like aluminum ceramics, they are very good for processing knives made of stainless steels(aluminum ceramics are most effective for sharpening stainless knives). Due to the versatility of oil stones, it may make sense to sacrifice sharpening speed in favor of versatility and reducing the number of stones (having oil stones, you don’t have to buy a set of fast water sharpeners for sharpening stainless steel, using the same set for all knives).

Choosing the grit of a whetstone for sharpening a knife

In general, for kitchen knives it is enough to finish sharpening on stones with a grain size of 10 microns (1500 grit according to the Japanese system, 600 grit according to FEPA-F). Although classic Japanese knives, which have very small sharpening angles and are made of brittle steel, and therefore prone to chipping, are best adjusted to 3000 grit (5 microns, F1000). If you sharpen a Japanese knife more roughly, the relatively large teeth on the cutting edge resulting from sharpening will cling more strongly, cut more aggressively, but also break off faster, dulling the knife.

For soft European knives, on the contrary, sharpening up to 3000 grit will be unnecessary, since the edge becomes very thin and on soft steel it quickly wraps like foil and is smoothed. Larger teeth are more durable. However, too large ones will not give the desired spiciness. We need to find a middle ground. Practice has shown that 1500 grit is a good result. The knife begins to cut tomatoes at any angle, even tangentially. So, he doesn’t have any problems with any products.

Having figured out what grit you should finish sharpening your kitchen knife with, it’s time to figure out what grit you should start with.

Some people recommend starting with the coarsest stones. There are many instructions on the Internet that state that you need to start sharpening with a stone of 120 grit, or something like that, and gradually move on to finer-grained stones. However, this method is good not so much for sharpening as for destroying the knife. The coarse grain removes metal fairly quickly. This is good if the knife is so damaged that it needs to be repaired. However, just because it doesn't cut office paper well (the paper cut test is often used to test sharpness), that doesn't mean it needs a rough grind. If the knife has already been sharpened once and has no damage, there is no need to sharpen it with a stone coarser than 240 grit (Russian M63, FEPA-F230), unless you want to soon have only the handle left of the knife. Moreover, even 240 grit is often too rough. Good kitchen knives have a fine blade (the thickness of the blade before the sharpening chamfer begins), on the order of half a millimeter. In order to return them to the desired sharpness, it may be enough to immediately start with a 1500 grit stone.

I specially made a video on this topic, using a knife and a stone, the characteristics of which are publicly available and known to many.

For classic Japanese knives with their small angles and brittle steel, the Japanese themselves recommend starting sharpening with 400 grit (Russian M40, FEPA-F320) to avoid chipping. But, since the Japanese do not wait until the knife becomes extremely dull, they usually start sharpening with 1000 grit (grit approximately between Russian M20 and M14, FEPA-F 400-500).

In general, what grit stone to start sharpening with is an individual question. This depends not only on the degree of bluntness, but also on the width of the chamfer and the brittleness of the steel. The larger the chamfer and the stronger the bluntness, the coarser the starting stone should be to reduce time costs. The more fragile the knife, the “thinner” the starting stone should be to avoid chipping.

As a result, it turns out that to sharpen a European kitchen knife you need stones of 240, 400, 800, 1500 grit. For classic Japanese you need 400, 800, 1500, 3000 grit. The Japanese themselves often use a reduced set, reduced by 1 stone: 400, 1000, 3000. As a result, less space is needed for the stones, the whole set is somewhat cheaper, but sharpening takes a little more time. For a Japanese knife of the European type, produced specifically for Europe, depending on the specific models, the optimal option may be either a set of 240-1500 grit or a set of 400-3000 grit. In many cases, a set of 240, 400, 800, 1500, 3000 grit is good for them.

From my statements about the sufficiency of 1500 or 3000 grit, it becomes unclear for what purpose finer-grained stones are produced. Some “Internet teachers,” apparently believing that since stones exist, they must be used, insist that a kitchen knife needs to be sharpened down to 30,000 grit stones.

But let's figure it out, do you need it, even if the companies that produce these stones claim that you don't need it? The Suehiro company, which produces stones of 30,000 grit, claims that higher than 1500 is not required for a kitchen knife. Hoji Hattori, president of the Masahiro company, in this video, referring to classic Japanese knives, says that sharpening above 3000 grit is not required for them either.

Of course, for microsurgery, where ciliates have to be dissected, stones of 30,000 can be useful. 15,000 grit stones can be useful for sharpening razors. But on a knife, chisel or plane, no one will notice the difference between 15,000 and 8,000 (2 times less grain). There are, of course, people who claim that they notice the difference between 8,000 and 15,000. But I think this is the result of self-hypnosis (if not deception). Because in theory there should be a difference, they want to believe that they feel it.

The 8000 grit stone gives a nice clean mirror. Such a stone is needed either for decorative purposes, or to give maximum sharpness to high-hardness tools that work on hard materials (for example, chisels). No person will notice the difference between 3000 grit and 8000 grit for any product. Accordingly, kitchen knives do not require stones with a grit value higher than 3000. However, if the knife is hard, you can add a small amount of sharpness to it by sharpening it on a stone of 5000 - 6000 grit. It’s possible even 8,000 - 10,000. But this is not so much for sharpness, but for a decorative effect. After 8,000 or 10,000 grit, cutting efficiency may decrease due to the smoothing of the teeth on the cutting edge. Some people, in order to get a mirror chamfer, but not lose cutting efficiency, after sharpening at 8000, sharpen the stone with 5000 or 3000 grit, slightly increasing the sharpening angle. Thus, the main part of the chamfer on the knife remains mirror-like, and aggressive teeth appear at the very edge. All this “dancing with tambourines” naturally takes a lot of time. And, in addition, a lot of money, because the higher the grain size of the stone, the more expensive it is (more overhead costs for crushing, sifting, preventing clumping, obtaining uniformity, etc.).

And now it’s worth asking yourself the question, are sharpening stones with a grit above 3000 necessary?

If you sharpen just to cut, you don't need such stones. If you enjoy the process, you don't mind the money, and you sometimes have time to meditate on the sharpening process - why not? It is healthier for your health to spend $400 on a 30,000 grit sharpening stone than to drink it.

But before you think about buying expensive fine-grained stones, get a basic set from 240 to 3000 grit (possibly 120 grit in case of a damaged knife). Over time, you will become clear whether you are ready to spend time on more fine sharpening, or there is not enough time even for the set that is already in stock.

Abrasive pastes for sharpening knives

Abrasive pastes on leather, felt and other materials are not needed to sharpen a knife. The purpose of the pastes is to polish the surface. They don't add any spice. Often they even lick the teeth, making the knife duller. With careful control, paste on hard, smooth leather can compensate for the lack of fine-grained stone (around 8000 grit). But this replacement will not be effective and is justified only if it is impossible to purchase it. If there is a stone, the paste is not needed for sharpening at all. For surface polishing only.

Sometimes on the Internet you can find videos in which people quickly sharpen knives on leather with paste and, thereby, return their sharpness. But this sharpness is fleeting, as it appears mainly due to pulling out the burr. As soon as the hangnail is crushed (and this happens very quickly), it disappears. This means there is no point in sharpening with paste.

You can often see people straightening razors on their skin...

But, firstly, they edit the skin without paste, and secondly, a razor is not a knife. It is important for a razor to not have teeth so that it does not cause irritation. And editing the skin just smoothes out the teeth and removes any remaining burr, making the razor less aggressive. At the same time, they “pull back” the razor with the skin, just as they “pull back” the braid with a hammer. But for a knife, loss of aggressiveness is not necessary, just as drawing is not needed, since the drawn edge becomes thin, like foil, and quickly crumples, dulling the knife.

You can polish the knife with paste after sharpening. But it will cut worse than before the paste. You can remove the burr on the skin after fine-grained stones. But on the skin without paste, and with just a few movements, so as not to overdo it and start pulling out the metal. But just for sharpening, paste is not needed. Just to add more shine.

What specific sharpening stones are best to choose for sharpening?

There is no definite answer here, since it depends on what knives you sharpen. If it's inexpensive, you can look for Russian bars made of aluminum oxide, or even better, silicon carbide (more universal), 120-3000 grit. Then you can compare with the price of Chinese Taidea and YJSHARP bars on Aliexpress. I have not used the mentioned Chinese sharpening stones, but I have seen many positive reviews about them. Judging by the reviews, Chinese corundum bars are less salted than Russian corundum bars. Above 3000 grit you can take Taidea or YJSHARP, but personally I prefer natural stones. I don't like to soak a bunch of rocks, and natural rocks generally don't require pre-soaking.

Inexpensive natural stones can be purchased on Aliexpress.

If price doesn't matter, you can just take the Naniwa SuperStone kit and not have to wonder what it costs.

To regularly maintain working sharpness, you need a stone of approximately 1500-3000 grit. It must work without soaking in order for it to be as convenient to use as a musat. Spyderco Fine (diamond powder, boron carbide, aluminum oxide or, in extreme cases, silicon carbide, it needs to knock down the gloss from the grinder), White Hard Arkansas (lapped to about 1500 grit), Chinese “Red Ruby” and Chinese slates for 2000-3000 grit.

Trying to replace the whetstone with musat will not give long-term results. After several adjustments with musat, the knife will still have to be sharpened normally, starting with relatively coarse stones. And when using a sharpening stone of 1500-3000 grit, the chamfer is completely worked out, and coarser sharpening is not required.

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Sharpening stones are used with grit 320, 600, 1500, but sharpening to razor sharp does not exceed.

Judging by the 1500 grit stone and the absence of a sharp edge, I assume that this is either a matter of too much pressure on the stone or that the grits are Chinese.

If you have Chinese stones ADAEE or similar, then they should be compared to sandpaper.

Those. The grain size for 320 is M45, 600 is M25, 1500 is M13.

As practice shows, shaving starts from M10-M7 on a hard ligament and M7-M5 on a medium one. Of course, there are talents who can force the M14 to work, but that’s what they are talents for. This is about synthetics.

Tell me, what influences sharpening to razor sharpness the most, what is the most important thing in this matter?

Pressure, pressure and more pressure. Even the thinnest abrasive can bend the edge.

Therefore, the first thing we learn is not to squeeze and remove the burr. Second, turn over what you are sharpening more often; it’s not for nothing that our sharpening heroes spent so much time on turning mechanisms. Well, the third is the selection of abrasive. If the blade does not shave on JiS200 - P3000 - F800, adjust the pressure. And of course all your stones must be aligned.

Is it worth buying a fine-grained stone, such as ACE 3000?

As far as I understand, we are talking about Chinese “ruby” ceramics? If yes, then it’s worth it, there’s no doubt about it. It is sintered aluminum oxide. The abrasive is very cheap if you search for it on Ali or Ebay using the words "3000 ruby ​​Sharpening" ", then it will cost up to 200 rubles with delivery, be sure to check the dimensions so that they are 150*20*5. The whole problem will be to grind it in; the bars most often come crooked. I spent three days on my first one, although I polished it on simple river sand. Apply the grid with a marker; a pencil will not help here. After drawing out the plane, it should be finished using KK F600 powder. As a result, you will get a bar that is enough for you and your children, its production is minimal, and it chews steel well. It’s hard to call it a finish, more like a pre-finish. However, I finish the 50-55hrc kitchen on it, but to be precise, on the second one, which is ground in F1200 powder. Work with it using Vaseline oil from a pharmacy, or better yet, olive oil.

Pasta is a personal choice. I won’t impose it, but if GOI is needed, it’s only for razors; it rips out pieces from stainless steel and polishes out flaws. Chromium oxide causes the metal to “flow”, as does jasper and baicalite, and on free grain this is not always good. If you want a paste, then try aluminum or iron oxide on a hard lap (on the same “ruby” ceramics). When your hand learns to regulate the pressure, you can use leather or a sling, but it’s better not to abuse it.

The Glorious Past and Elite Present of the Straight Razor

Many of our readers ask us how to sharpen a straight razor, how difficult it is, and how does sharpening this truly rare tool these days differ from sharpening a knife? In this article we decided to answer all these questions.

So, before we talk about the basic technological techniques for sharpening a razor, a few words about what a razor itself is and what it is used with.

Until recently, the straight razor was the only tool of its kind with which, until the mid-20th century, a man could get rid of facial hair. With the active development of the cosmetology industry and the widespread distribution of safety razors, the straight razor is gradually leaving the market and losing its former position. The art of shaving with such a complex tool, together with the art of sharpening it, is gradually becoming a part of history and disappearing from everyday use. This was probably due to the acceleration of the pace of life in society - when modern people no longer had enough time to shave and periodically sharpen their razors.

Since then, the use, and even more so the sharpening of a straight razor, has become the lot of the elite, a kind of hobby and an element of a lifestyle - leisurely, stylish and measured. And, of course, the number of experts who could tell and properly sharpen a straight razor has greatly diminished.

Anatomy of sharpening: skins, belts and stones

So, sharpening a straight razor is not at all the same as sharpening a regular knife - primarily due to the specifics and purpose of this thin tool. The cross-section of a razor blade is characterized by rather sharp concave slopes, which widen towards the cutting edge in order to converge into the thinnest blade. This design allows you to make the blade as sharp as possible, and at the same time shave hair most effectively without damaging the skin. Moreover, if the knife is allowed to be sharpened slightly roughly, and the sharpener sometimes stops on a stone with a grit of 1000# - so the knife’s cut turns out to be quite aggressive, with a good and high-quality cut - then such sharpening is unacceptable for a straight razor - after all, the main thing here, despite The name of the tool is human safety.

Let's start with the fact that sharpening a straight razor can be done in three ways: sharpening on stones, sharpening on sandpaper, and sharpening or straightening on a belt with various abrasives. Each of these methods has its pros and cons. Sharpening on sandpaper is the easiest and cheapest way. All you need is sandpaper of various grain sizes, water, a solid base and glass to create a completely flat surface. However, in stores today it is difficult to find skins whose grain size is less than 2,000 - 2,500 thousand. And for a straight razor, this grain size is quite small. Therefore, having sharpened the razor on the sandpaper, you will no longer have to sharpen it with a belt.

Theoretically, the razor can be edited on any sufficiently velvety leather belt with regular GOI paste applied to it. However, it is certainly better to use specially sold belts for straightening razors. Working with the belt is simple and does not require special skills, allowing you to quickly finish the razor. However, professionals say that sharpening on a belt is much less effective than sharpening on stones. The blade will be less sharp and the cutting edge less durable. As a result, a person who often sharpens his razor on a belt will have to do this regularly - once every 2-5 days, until the razor requires a new sharpening on the skins.

The most reliable, correct and durable method of sharpening a straight razor is still sharpening with stones. It is in this way that all instruments are usually sharpened in sharpening workshops, of which there are very, very few left throughout Russia. However, this method is at the same time the most difficult - as it requires large quantity practices. For those who are just starting to learn how to sharpen a straight razor, experts warn: most likely your first experiments will be unsuccessful. And only after some time you will get good enough at it.

In addition to the fact that the method of sharpening with stones is the most effective and most complex, it is also the most expensive, since high-quality stones are quite expensive today, and for a full sharpening cycle - such as to turn a dull razor into a sharp one enough for a comfortable shave, you will need the entire range of stones ranging from 300#-400# to 10000#-12000#. However, they allow you to achieve the maximum possible from the razor.

Time to Collect Stones: Stone Sharpening Basics

So, before sharpening your razor, you need to make sure the blade is clean and free of rust. If there is rust, it must be removed before sharpening.

Before you start sharpening your razor, there is one very important thing to understand. important rule. The blade is always placed flat on the stone, so that both the back and the cutting edge always touch the abrasive. This is incredibly important for the reason that in cross-section the blade of a straight razor is a blade with concave slopes - a kind of reverse lens - where the protruding parts are the cutting edge and the back of the razor. The position of the blade flat on the stone guarantees a constant sharpening angle along the entire length of the cutting edge and the longest possible use of the razor. If, during sharpening, you give the blade an additional angle - either with your hands or with a piece of electrical tape glued to the back - this can permanently ruin the razor, or at least bring it to a state where it can take a very, very long time to fix it. for a long time: Due to unnecessary tilting, the original angle will be changed, becoming more obtuse (and therefore less sharp), and ultimately can lead to damage to the instrument.

Let us repeat once again: when sharpening a razor blade, the cutting edge is ground parallel to the back - that is, the blade lies FLAT on the stone. Only high-class professionals who want to preserve patterns or inscriptions on the backs of particularly expensive straight razor models can set a small angle at their own risk when sharpening a straight razor.

In addition, there is one more important point. The sharpening of the razor should be uniform along the entire length of the cutting edge. Therefore, professionals advise either buying stones that match the width of the blade, or sharpening them crosswise. That is, when sharpening, guide the razor not directly across the stone, but somewhat obliquely, so that the entire blade is used in one stroke.

Let's get started!

After we understood these simple, but very important points- We begin to sharpen the razor.

Sharpening a razor on stones can be divided into three stages.

The first is working with coarse-grained stones to reduce the cutting edge, remove excess steel, and rough sharpening

The second is a gradual transition to medium- and fine-grained stones, softer sharpening

The third stage is finishing, grinding on the finest-grained stones, and also testing for razor sharpness.

At the first stage, when working with coarse-grained stones, it is permissible to move the blade in both directions, that is, both forward with the tip and backward - this will speed up the process of initial rough sharpening. However, it is worth considering that when changing the abrasive to a new one, an incredibly important action will be to remove the burrs that inevitably form during such sharpening. Therefore, the last 20-40 strokes on each rough stone should be blade forward only. In the future, on medium and small stones, only this technique will be possible: moving flat across the stone with the blade forward, with crosswise movements.

It should also be said about the pressure exerted on the razor blade when sharpening. When sharpened on a rough stone it should be quite noticeable. However, the coarser the stone you use (provided the abrasive is of good quality), the less effort you should apply. Ultimately, your best effort should be to simply let the blade rest on the stone under its own weight - and sometimes lift it slightly so that it just barely touches the plane of the stone.

By the way, about the plane: You need to be very careful that the stone on which you sharpen your razor is as smooth as possible. So that there are no bumps, depressions, or abrasive chips on it. For the same reason, it is necessary to thoroughly rinse the razor blade before changing the stone, and not soak the stones in the same container - getting larger grains of abrasive sand on a finer-grained stone can lead to very ugly scratches on the blade and ruin the entire sharpening.

In addition, it is also important to remember that the razor does not like sudden changes in grain size. That is, when changing a stone from a coarser-grained one to a fine-grained one, it is worth maintaining such an interval so that the grid values ​​on the next stone do not exceed twice the value of the previous one. The smaller the transitions between stones, the better results you will achieve.

Quality control: methods for checking razor sharpness

After completing the sharpening process, you need to check how well the blade is sharpened. Of course, it is impossible to determine this visually without conducting tests. Therefore, cutting hair is considered one of the safest and most revealing checks. The test process occurs as follows: The razor blade is fixed on the table with the cutting edge facing up. Then a hair is taken (any hair, from the head or body), and with a slow, gentle movement it is brought to the RK. At the same time, the hair is kept straight, no unnecessary sawing movements can be performed. The hair should only touch the blade. If the hair then splits into two parts, we can assume that sharpening is complete and you have achieved sufficient sharpness.

There is another test that can be used to check the sharpness of a razor - running a pad along the cutting edge thumb. However, for inexperienced sharpeners this experience is always quite traumatic and rarely passes without cuts. Therefore, we recommend that you beware of checking the sharpness of the razor in this way, at least at first.

Still have questions? Ask them in the comments to the article and we will be happy to answer them!