Thread: My razor is too sharp???? I like a duller edge??

I think I'm the opposite. I learned that my first razor that I got that wasn't as sharp as it should have been now that I've honed and shaved with 2 razors I recently picked up (Gold Bug and Dubl Duck Satinedge.)

The Bug was a MUCH better. Cleared my cheek off with the slightest pass. Then I got my DD in the mail...sanded the blade and sharpened her up to try it out and YOWZA! That baby was SCARY sharp! (Got a little cut to prove it )

So I guess I have come to appreciate a scary sharp razor...

As far as dulling it down...maybe running the blade over something to take the edge down a bit? An eraser, or cork maybe? Never tried it tho

Not sure why someone would prefer a duller edge, unless they just want to shave fast and sloppy without slicing their face up

Easy, Glen, to hone a razor to a slightly duller edge, just don't hone the razor to wickedly scary sharp.

Seriously though, for me to get to wickedly sharp, I think I probably obsess over an edge when I hone it more than you probably do given that, hands down, you have WAYYYY more experience than I do in honing. The same would go for all honemeisters in comparison to my ability. I hone my own because I can shave test, refine, shave test, refine, shave test, refine until I get an edge to my full (and then probably most anyone else's) satisfaction and time is of no concern in the process. For fun, I still can't help oftentimes pushing an edge using diamond, chrome ox, newspaper, etc after honing to what I think is literally the max in sharpness.

I have shaved approx ten times with a Feather AC and some new Pro Super blades both on loan last year from Netsurfr. I didn't like the "walking on eggshells" approach I felt I had to take with such a sharp edge. Granted, weepers can be a result of incorrect technique, but they're equally a result of such a sharp edge. I don't tolerate weepers during a shave at all. I seriously wouldn't shave with a straight razor if weepers were common during a shave process. At this point, with my own straights I get a single weeper (usually under my lower lip/chin area) roughly once every 3-4 months. I admit that my shaving technique can be sloppy at times and I've thought more times than I can count during a shave "Ooh, if this was a Feather AC, on that pass I would have nicked myself for sure." With my razors, during such a pass, it's as close to an "almost cut" that I could get. In my rambling, maybe I'm saying that generally my honing allows for the occasional error in my shaving technique and still the edges are more than sharp enough to give me great comfortable irritation free shaves (no nicks, weepers or razor burn....95% of the time).

Sorry for the long post.

Chris L

If I get an edge I do not like I back stone 2 passes on my Apart barber hone and then hone 4-8 passes till I have a slight saw tooth draw on my thumb nail. Then I re strop.

Originally Posted by jreiter22

till I have a slight saw tooth draw on my thumb nail. Then I re strop.

I am confused... it seems like you're saying that if your razor fails the TNT, then you strop it and that's the kind of edge you like

correct me if I misunderstand - I know there are personal preference differences

What I am saying is some time I go through the whole pyramid on my King 4000and 8000 and the razor is not as sharp as it should be or the shave does not feel right.

I then back stone as for an over honed razor. I hone as I was taught by my barber some 50 years ago. The saw tooth feel was the indication that the razor was honed and it was time to strop.

I do not think we were getting as sharp as what is looked for now. I have recently received a coticule and only honed 2 razors on it so I don't know if I will over hone on it.

It was on my mind, I just honed Gugi's "Frank Hess X" razor recently and this might be the sharpest blade I have ever attained....

I mean pure wickedness, however it is soooooo smooth... The edge just glides, barely a hint of pressure and it flat just wipes hair off yer face...
You have to be careful of that wicked spike but the edge is a dream...

Razors like these are the reason it makes me question the "Too Sharp" statement so much... Now I understand if this isn't "your" type of razor, like I said earlier, I don't like wedges... But to call a razor "too sharp" because you either don't like that type, or you don't have the touch to wield it that just doesn't make sense to me....

To say "Yeah that razor is not my cup of tea", "I like a mellower steel /grind/finish" I understand, but to say I want "that" edge duller I don't...
I even understand when somebody says I love the edges off my Coticule, a Shapton edge is to harsh for me, I get that...

Here is an experiment for you guys that have multiple finishers though...
and this is why I am pretty sure sharp is separate from smooth..
Hone up a razor to an 8k shaving level,
set out all your finishers
Do however many stokes you do to finish the edge on one and go shave a patch...
Come back and finish on another and go shave a patch..
Come back and do another and go shave a patch..

Do this however many times you want or can...

Here is what I have found...

The feel is different.
I have never overhoned a blade...

See what you find !!!

I routinely hone a razor up to the 8k level and then shave test. If it is up to my personal spec I will go to a finisher or series of finishers for the next shave. If not up to spec then back to the 4/8 or the equivalent until I dial it in. If I didn't have all of the other hones and didn't enjoy playing with them I could be completely satisfied with the edge I get off of an 8k Norton.

So if I wasn't crazy about stones the Norton 4/8 and maybe chrome ox on balsa or diamond spray on felt would be all I would need..... but I sure do like fooling with the finishing stones just for the sport of it.

Originally Posted by gssixgun

But to call a razor "too sharp" because you either don't like that type, or you don't have the touch to wield it that just doesn't make sense to me....

Try shaving with a baseball mitt on your hand and see if it makes more sense :-)

I have done the experiment you suggest, pretty much any time I get a new finisher that's how I test it, on one or two razors against a representative flight of my other finishers. I agree the feel is different, but I'm not sure that this demonstrates any sort of bifurcation between "sharp" and "smooth". And I don't think that the blades I dislike are overhoned. I haven't overhoned a blade in years, and since the amount of sharpness I prefer in a blade is dependent on the mass and stiffness of the blade this leads me to believe it really is sharpness that I'm reacting to.

I've got two Feather AC's, one stainless and the other brass. The stainless one is lighter, and gives me less trouble with skin thinning. I can happily get away with one or two fewer strokes on the cork for a blade going into the stainless AC.

If I haven't made you understand throughout this mammoth thread why I might prefer a duller blade, then return to my happy morning shaves with my less-than-maximally-sharp edges, and let the rest of you argue it out, because I'm tapped out of arguments.

Originally Posted by mparker762

If I haven't made you understand throughout this mammoth thread why I might prefer a duller blade, then return to my happy morning shaves with my less-than-maximally-sharp edges, and let the rest of you argue it out, because I'm tapped out of arguments.

You're kidding right ??? You're giving up already ??? ..... I'm just joking .... I would have given up long ago. Personally I think the issue is semantics. "Duller" is the word that generates the conflict. My edges are smoother off of a coticule or an Escher than off of a Shapton 15k although the latter may be sharper ...... please nobody argue with my edges. YMMV. Point is smoother is the word... not duller. IMHO.

Originally Posted by JimmyHAD

Point is smoother is the word... not duller. IMHO.

I quite confident that "duller" more accurately describes the type of the edge that I prefer shaving with.