Thread: After you gasp, on to the answer

I started out believing very similar to you, Headcrowny. I was passionate about my abilities with my Spyderco Sharpmaker, it had a picture in the book, talked about being able to sharpen razors in the video and there was no way I was going to sink a nickel into anything else until I tried it... Surprisingly, it shaved... It felt like it was peeling my skin, underlying tissues, nerves and a couple layers of bone with it but, doggone it, it shaved! The thing I did do was have a Shave Ready (off the Classifieds here) razor to compare to prior. So, within my first pull down my face I knew I was completely wrong in my belief and now completely humbled in regards to my ability sharpening razors. But, to make sure my Ego got the point I did my normal full 2 passes with it and then just to make sure the point stuck with me hit my face with a little alcohol based aftershave... I think I actually transcended time and saw into the future... Kinda like the opposite of dying... I was completely immersed in my current situation and could easily follow the rabbit hole of where this course of action would take me were I to continue down it. I started buying honing gear within a week of doing this, BTW!

I think you should go for it as well.. What you are reading from everyone else is the Fatherly approach to answering your question and it is likely all from a ".. been there done that.." kind of position. Think back to initial conflicts with your Father/Father Figure when in puberty... They were probably just trying to save you from yourself the majority of the time but from your perspective at the time there was just no way you were going to listen/pay attention. I think many things are like that for Guys... At some point, if you are insistent on pursuing a course of action, your Guy Friends just have to smile, pat you on the back and say, "We're here for you when you need us, Buddy. Go for it!"

I would try really hard not to take offense to any answers... This is a Gentleman's Forum essentially (.. still haven't figured out if Gentleperson's is a word to be used yet..) and so people are going to try to help you where they can and, when you are passionate, that can come across as something negative... It is definitely not! People are just trying to help and, on the off chance you are going to stumble upon a paradigm shift that affects the next few thousand years of honing, they want Front Row Seats.

I think you have a good plan but the one thing you need to have is a comparison... Make sure you have a Shave Ready Razor to try shaving with and that may take some time itself as learning to shave with a Straight Razor is a journey itself... But, you could likely do one short pull straight down your sideburn area and be successful enough as a comparison. You could, in fact, buy a Shave Ready Razor... Give it a couple passes to make sure you know what that feels like... Breadknife the blade or use whatever technique to dull it then try your sharpening process and see how it compares... Unless the heat from the friction affects the temper on the very thin steel, you'll either be able to buy the proper gear and hone or send it someone and for around $20 have the razor back to where it was before.

Try it and have fun... Just realize that, with so many people urging caution, don't sink much money into your practice blade unless you are willing to lose the money and the razor.

Shaving and the journey of knowledge should be a fun thing... Go easy and enjoy it... Successes, mistakes, near misses, epiphanies and all!

Shawn
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Originally Posted by Headcrowny

? I'm confused. First off, you assert I don't want help. How do you conclude that?

Ok, what sort of help would you like?

I asserted what I did based on what seems like resistance on your part to take any of the advice offered.

Sorry if that gets you upset.

I wish you the best of luck and hope you take my advice to arm yourself with a solid calibration point or two.

I really didn't mean to draw this sort of response from you.

Originally Posted by Headcrowny

So here's the question.

Title started with the word "gasp". You anticipated the replies.

Has anyone ever tried, with a cheapie blade, to do the blade sharpening in a ChefsChoice diamond wheel with Asian blade capability (15 degree bevel)?

Yes, experts replied, with predictably bad results.

Seems to me that it should work pretty well.

No, everyone said. I said, "doomed" but only based on a few months razor honing experience and decades of commercial knife design, sales and manufacturing. I say, go on and try like everyone else but, I also say folks here are both well informed and extremely polite. I also say, "When you don't want to hear the answer (you anticipated), why ask the question?"

These are really well-informed, polite people here.

If in doubt - try it out!

I've tried sharpening razors with just about every knife sharpening system there is. If there's a faster or easier way, I'm all for it.
There's nothing wrong with looking for something easier, faster, or better.

For me, after all the stuff I've tried, I still do it the traditional way. It's what works best for me.

I think an automated "static" sharpening system would probably work well enough on a "perfect" razor - grind, symmetry etc. So long as you can find one of those, and your sharpening system can take a fine enough stone, I cannot see why you couldn't do it with a certain level of success.

The thing is, I haven't run across too many "perfect" razors - there's always a level of variability even in factory produced ones. Unless the sharpening system has the ability to adaptively adjust its angle as the width of the spine varies, or lift the heel when it senses the toe is being missed on one side, or change the angle on the hone when it perceives it may be necessary, or adjusts the pressure on the stone as the grit increases to tease out a better edge, I just don't think it will ever replace or even come close to approximating the kind of edge that can be obtained "by hand" as it were.

I am all for experimentation - my career involves, among other things, advising people on how to go about doing it to get the most informative results possible for their question of interest. The first thing anyone considering an experiment should do is research the background, become as familiar as possible with the important variables, and review and critique previous work in the area. If at that point there is an identifiable gap in our knowledge, then by all means design an experiment or two that will help fill that gap.

If you reckon there's a gap in our knowledge here, go for it I say.

James.

Originally Posted by Headcrowny

Wait, you warned me?

Originally Posted by edhewitt

Yes, see post #12. It wasn't a WARNING, but it was an implied warning. Please note at this point that I shouldnt really ever be taken that seriously. And that I am new to it all to.

You guys crack me up. Come on Ed you're just making it up now aren't ya ...

Originally Posted by Headcrowny

Yup, no arguments from me. I'll be finding out soonish; the test eBay blade is on its way.

ooooooeeeeehhhhh!!!! can hardly wait for the results. Just having fun is all ......

Gasp!

Originally Posted by Headcrowny

So here's the question. Has anyone ever tried, with a cheapie blade, to do the blade sharpening in a ChefsChoice diamond wheel with Asian blade capability (15 degree bevel)? Seems to me that it should work pretty well. A plus is that it will handle smiling blades without an issue.

No, for the same reason that I have never tried sharpening a razor with an angle grinder.

Even if that contraption would not chew up the edge something horrible, the honing angle would not be alinged with the spine because you're freehanding it and you'd never be able to keep everything perfectly symmetrical while moving the razor.

Originally Posted by Headcrowny

? I'm confused. First off, you assert I don't want help. How do you conclude that? Because I posed a question? And then responded to posts? That's how academics behave and it's how knowledge is accrued.

Yes. But otoh, academics can't help but sigh after the nth person comes along with their crackpot theory.
You're hardly the first to come up with ideas like this. Or the lansky system, or any of the other things that have been covered in the past. Just because it is new to you does not mean that we don't have good reasons to say 'just don't go there'.

Firstly, many of the seniors have the knowledge to assess your idea and judge it based on their experience. And secondly, you're completely new to this, and don't have the skill to judge whether something is just 'really sharp' or truly 'shaving sharp' which is something else altogether.

You are the nth person with a mathematical proof which you think proves that 1+1=3. And we know that after a lot of arguing from your side and pointing out errors from our side, 1+1 will still be 2. Just because academics dismiss 1+1=3 out of hand does not mean they are wrong.

I remember when I didn't understand just how sharp and smooth a proper straight razor is. My skin learned me that one.