Straight Razor Honing - W JNO Baker Convex Honing 

Yep, it’s fun the play with. But what I have leaned, comvexing is an advantage with my thinner the grind razors. Not sure I will attempt it with my thicker grind razors or wedges. I have been successful with some of my GD, but they are so thick and stiff. The results are not real consistent. Then again, I could be the issue. Not the stone, razor or methodology.

Thanks, glad you enjoyed it

I did say right at the beginning that most of the work was done on the coticule 🤣. Most of my videos are long winded, and I normally start at the stone before the finisher. I spare most the bottom in work if it’s required.

I shape my curved templates out of wood by hand. So there is room for error, after they dry I have to recheck the curve and touch up with belt sander if needed for consistency. That’s a lot of head ache and worry. I will purchase a Jarrod plate to have that option. But I do plan to eventually to use my wood templates press out some aluminum with my bearing press. If I can do that, I can custom any radius I want, have consistency I desire, and a permanent type plate/template. I still hone flat, and will continue to do so on thicker grinds and wedges. But it’s fun to experiment and play with. I do see good results from my thinner grind razors. I am glad I was able to do it on my own and my way, I learned a lot.

seen Hexe machines working in-person several times (Dovo, Böker, Wacker, NTS, Erbe, and TI all had one and I've watched all those brands make a razors), never seen them touching the cutting edge with them. Doubt the Hexe can accommodate a combination of a large enough wheels pair and/or a big enough separation between the wheels to get to the edge, their use is for hollow grinding, not the edge itself, they leave behind a little undeveloped rectangle the grinders call the 'fin', which is then cut in to a bevel. Don't quote exact #s because was 7yrs ago, but I believe the younger Wacker said Øs range was 25-100mm for the wheels, 25-50mm thick, and I didn't think to ask what the spacing range was for the gap. But that's likely too small for working the cutting edge in any case. I've never seen a novaculite wheel for those things and I've always looked for that. Never took a straight edge to the various wheels' circumferences at arm's length to the light to confirm, but the wheels used did always appear ~cylindrical to me, maybe a tiny tapering off at edges but nothing like 25'Ø across, I'd surely have noticed that. As to the Pike/Norton hard Ark wheels, they were made in more diameters but used by razor sharpeners 7-12"Ø and they were always 1-2" thick...who knows if they were perfect cylinders or if they had a little diameter going along their girth, the info's all but lost to time isn't it. Prior to the Ark wheel, I know that in the UK they used various wheels made of wood or large leathers (like manatee hide) and they'd put an abrasive along the rim for making a bevel, this is detailed in a 1840s English book I found. Whether they were shooting for cylinders or elliptical rims who knows, it doesn't say. A cylinder makes it much easier, certainly. But for many a razor with a bit of warp going across the cutting edge (and I have had many many such razors in my life shave wonderfully in spite of this, in fact my best or least-worst-shave razor's such a specimen from TI late 1990s make), when working on one side of the razor edge you'll either need to use the rolling-X stroke or you'll burn off some excess steel to carve out a perfectly cylindrical type bevel from within an imperfectly shaped piece of metal. The elliptical hone requires some extra skill (to make sure the heel and toe get a sufficient amount of time like the center always does too easily), but the risk of the excess metal consumption and the need for a rolling-X are eliminated. I could see a good argument either way, cylinders for new users or perfect razors and ellipses for more experienced users or more common razors.

@@thesuperiorshave Great info, as always. Just for clarity when you use the Greek letter phi (Ø), that's your shorthand for diameter, correct?

​@@greggallant5058 yes, that's also mathematics' chosen character for diameter

ØK thanks

There are guy who use Atoma and DMT plates in the progression. I have not seen anyone finish on them. They are aggressive, and most of us hone for comfortable shaves. I personally have no experience honing or finishing on Diamond plates so I would hate to speculate or speak much on the subject.