What's New?
ShavingUniverse.com

Register a free account now!

If you are registered, you get access to the members only section, can participate in the buy & sell second hand forum and last but not least you can reserve your preferred username before someone else takes it.

Clicking sound while honing

T

The*Cincinnati*Kid

Well-Known Member
I finally decided to give one of my new hones a test run after lapping, and I am concerned about a clicking sound/feeling that is occuring during the honing process. Should this be a cause for alarm? I am kinda stuck in the mindset that (1)I either need to lap past the inclusion/crack causing the clicking or (2)invest in a loupe with a higher magnification than X10 to determine if it is causing damage to the edge. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. The problem lies within the long/narrow one.
Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!


Thanks
Louis.
 
Matt

Matt

Well-Known Member
Hello Louis,

You can inspect the edge for any damage just with a strong source of light, a 10× loupe will already be of tremendous help. All you do is take the razor with the spine pointing downwards, look at the very edge just as if you wanted to reflect light off it. Twist it left/right, up/down to be sure you won't miss any reflections. Some recommend having the light right behind your shoulder, I just do it with a light hanging low over the table, in front of me. Properly honed and undamaged edge won't reflect a blink, any irregularities should reflect light at some angle and show up. The stronger the light the better chance to see them. I even do it when I dull edge on glass, I take a quick peek at the edge to see if it's well dulled, when I see a shiny line way along an entire length, I know I'm good to go.

Some areas on a coticule may be a tad harder and give a different sound, especially when you do a rolling stroke, and contact area between razor and the hone is much smaller. I experienced it with my La Grosse Blanche, and based solely on the feeling, without actual edge inspection, I dug out a small cavity where I suspected the feared inclusion was. Moron. :thumbdown: Luckily it still does its job tremendously.

Keep us posted.

regards,
Matt
 
Matt

Matt

Well-Known Member
Well, seems like today's post was sponsored by the letters E for "edge", and T for "tremendous". :D
 
BlueDun

BlueDun

Well-Known Member
Louis,
I have a couple of hones - in fact most of them - with the same behavior. On some I hear faint clicks and on others it feels and sounds almost like grinding on a file. However, none of them do damage to the edge and each one is capable of putting a perfect edge to the blade.
If you want to be on the safe side inspect your edge with a microscope as previously suggested. I'm pretty certain that you will be fine.

Cheers
BlueDun
 
Bart

Bart

Well-Known Member
A clicking sound can come - as far as I've experienced - from 2 different causes. Often it does not pose any further problem than the sound itself, hence the first thing you need to do is find out if it imposes damage upon the edge. As been said, magnification and a good light source are required to rule out this possibilities.

1. a foreign inclusion is embedded into the surface of the Coticule.
Examine the sturface with a non-precious razor, while make short strokes. You need to pin point the exact location of the inclusion. Circle the area with a pencil, and look for the inclusion. Use of magnification may be in order here. The inclusion can be pried out. This is explained in the
Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!


2. a small crack runs transversal across the surface.
Some Coticules have very faint manganese lines in the surface. It rarely happens that such a line is not a line but a small crack. In such instance, the crack sometimes changes direction deeper into the stone, and starts running parallel with the surface. If this happens the surface area above that crack will be ever so slightly compressible. It will likely escape attention that while lapping such a stone, the cracked part compresses with each lapping stroke, only to spring back. This result in a minimal, yet abrupt level change at the crack. The razor will notably "click" when it bumps into the higher part.
If this is the case, you need to locate the crack. Fold a piece of high grit sand paper 2 times over, so you get a thicker fold of sand paper and use that fold to lightly sand the crack down. You only need to bring it a couple of microns below the rest of the surface. The clicking sound will be gone, and so will be any possible damage it could do.
For a more permanent solution, an attempt to fixate the Coticule must be made. This is described in Chapter 3 of the aforementioned FAQ-article. Once the cracks are fixated with glue, the surface is no longer compressible and one final lapping will cure the problem.

Kind regards,
Bart.
 
T

The*Cincinnati*Kid

Well-Known Member
Thank you for the replies and advice gentlemen. I opted for the easiest option, wich was to lap/sand down the two lines that were the cause of the clicking so I don't have to worry about checking the edge for damage.

Thanks
Louis.

Coti2pink.jpg
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top