Honing & shaving with the Puma Microtome

[JimmyHAD]

So I got this Puma microtome on ebay thinking it was a regular straight razor. There is more about that and what a microtome is here. I finally got around to honing the bad boy and began with a Norton 1K. In doing a few bevel setting strokes on the wedge side I could see I would end with a very wide bevel. I already had my customary one layer of tape on the spine and added two to the wedge side only. So now I have three on the wedge side and one on the hollow side.

I set the bevel using both circle and back and forth (A.K.A. Livi) strokes and X pattern. I was fortunate in that while it didn't come to me sharp enough to shave the edge wasn't damaged at all. I had to work on the wedge side for quite awhile as there was no bevel at all. I finally got it to where it looked good under magnification and passed the TNT.

I began using the 4/8 pyramids. I honed this razor both at home and at work when I had down time. I used the Nortons , Shaptons and the coticule blue and yellow. It depended on my mood and whether I was home or at work. Last night I used the coticule. I was passing the TPT and popping hairs off of my leg to beat the band so I stropped and shaved.

The first pass was okay but nothing to brag about so I rinsed re-lathered and went to the new Lynn Abrams felt hanging strop with the diamond spray for 20 round trips. The second pass was real good but I knew it could be better.

Tonight I did maybe thirty of forty round trips on a Shapton Pro 12K. If it being a microtome wasn't bad enough they had to make it stainless too. It says in the FAQ on the Shapton USA website that the 12K pro is meant for stainless. Anyhow I figured I was where I wanted to be so I went in and stropped 50 linen and 50 leather. It passed HHT and I went in and shaved. Got bbs easily in my regular two passes.

The poor photos ( sorry 'bout that ) show the razor with the layers of tape and after honing. The wider shiny spot shows where the bevel might have been if I hadn't added the other two layers of tape to the wedge side. Happy to say that I made lemonade out of what would have been a lemon.