Thread: Quit being lazy!!

Originally Posted by CaliforniaCajun

10 round trips, or 20 strokes. Could be excessive, I really don't know.

Whatever works for you. But in my experience, diamond spray cuts really fast. 5 - 10 laps on an infrequent basis is usually enough to keep an edge up and running for a while. And it seemed to make an edge harsh with too much use. That's why 20/shave seems like way too much.

I've read many times that after shaving you should let the blade rest for 24-48 hours because the edge would "raise/straighten oneself" (english is not my native tongue, so I'm not sure which word to use). Going so far as to not even dry the blade with a towel. So I'm wondering about the stropping directly after the shave. I'm new to this, so please correct me if I'm wrong

Rinse the blade in very hot water and carefully wipe on a dry towel, then do a few lap on the strop. The goal is to get the blade/edge as dry as possible so rust and corrosion don't start

Originally Posted by H8Blood

I've read many times that after shaving you should let the blade rest for 24-48 hours because the edge would "raise/straighten oneself" (english is not my native tongue, so I'm not sure which word to use). Going so far as to not even dry the blade with a towel. So I'm wondering about the stropping directly after the shave. I'm new to this, so please correct me if I'm wrong

Originally Posted by H8Blood

I've read many times that after shaving you should let the blade rest for 24-48 hours because the edge would "raise/straighten oneself" (english is not my native tongue, so I'm not sure which word to use). Going so far as to not even dry the blade with a towel. So I'm wondering about the stropping directly after the shave. I'm new to this, so please correct me if I'm wrong

Yes, that's called, I believe, allowing the blade to, "fin". Now, this is what was explained to me, sounds to me to complicate something that doesn't need complicating, but here goes. I was told, like the "fin" on a whale/shark/fish, after a shave the edge can lean one way or another, even somewhat curl, and that leaving it for 24 hours allegedly allows the blade to then correct itself.

That's the story I heard, I'm sure there are many others...I've never heard anything to confirm the theory, so who knows?

Originally Posted by Phrank

Yes, that's called, I believe, allowing the blade to, "fin". Now, this is what was explained to me, sounds to me to complicate something that doesn't need complicating, but here goes. I was told, like the "fin" on a whale/shark/fish, after a shave the edge can lean one way or another, even somewhat curl, and that leaving it for 24 hours allegedly allows the blade to then correct itself.

That's the story I heard, I'm sure there are many others...I've never heard anything to confirm the theory, so who knows?

I've seen a link to some pictures from under the microscope in the article I've read. I'll try to find it again.

H9Blood, That story has been around for quite awhile but I don't beleive it at all.
The only possible benefit that I could even imagine is if the shave did a bit of microchipping to the edge, and if rested in a humid environment possibly the chips would rust away and then be repaired by a good stropping before the next shave.
Like I said, I just don't beleive that resting an edge promotes a healing process.

Originally Posted by Phrank

Yes, that's called, I believe, allowing the blade to, "fin". Now, this is what was explained to me, sounds to me to complicate something that doesn't need complicating, but here goes. I was told, like the "fin" on a whale/shark/fish, after a shave the edge can lean one way or another, even somewhat curl, and that leaving it for 24 hours allegedly allows the blade to then correct itself.

That's the story I heard, I'm sure there are many others...I've never heard anything to confirm the theory, so who knows?

I've always been skeptical about that. What force is causing this fin to correct itself if you don't strop? If it was the springiness of the metal, it would correct A LOT faster than 24 hours. Just seems very mysterious to me and when things get mysterious outside of spirituality, I get skeptical and want to see the science.

Show me the science!

I do 30 linen 60 leather on my unpasted TM Latigo strop following each shave. After 3 years of use, I have noticed that the linen has taken on a very slight grayish tone where it rubs against the razor suggesting to me that the TM linen is acting as a very mild abrasive. I seem to get a keener edge when I use the linen before the leather. The leather used to be blotchy but is now smooth and even looking all over after the long break-in and occasional surface cleaning using a slightly damp cloth.

I refresh my razors on a TM 4-sided paddle strop pasted with 3, 1, and .5 u diamond paste. I also sometimes refresh on my 8K Norton hone.

Originally Posted by CaliforniaCajun

I really do like the .25, although I think .50 is probably good enough. I watched a few "DrMatt357" videos on YouTube where he goes down to .05 micron to get the edge shiny without any scratch marks under a 400x microscope. I called a company that makes diamond spray and he said .05 for a straight razor is ridiculous, because that is only used for tiny computer chips. He suggested I use 1 micron and .25 micron to refine my edge. I ordered a paddle strop from SRD a few months back and just now realized that they included a bottle of .50 micron spray, so I have three grades of the stuff.

So after I finish honing, I do 100 laps each on the 1 micron, the .50 micron, and the .25 micron. This is not for refining the edge, but to see if the hone job will last longer.

In terms of maintenance, before and after each shave I do 10 laps on the .25 in addition to my regular stropping routine. Occasionally (maybe every 1 or 2 weeks) I add 1-2 sprays of the .25 to the felt to refresh the strop. DrMatt357 is pushing a fabric strop with .10 micron spray for maintenance purposes that costs $50. He claims that will extend the life of the hone job for "years." His "perfect" hone jobs are $35. I am improvising a little from his concept.

Actually I believe what Lynn Abrams says, that .50 micron is more than satisfactory but I had the .25 so I'm using it before and after each shave to see how long the edge will last.

I have a 400x USB microscope and the best honed razors I have used (purchased from Classifieds here) don't usually have the mirror finish, so I'm just playing around with diamond spray to see if I can make their hone jobs last longer. I get somewhat of a mirror finish but don't get all the scratches out like DrMatt357.

So do you find your shaves smoother then? Is there any keenness going on or is it pure butter . Oh and do you find the results the same with each razor??

I have been eyeing SRD .25. I am actually thing of giving it a go. How do you like the felt?

Thanks for the feed back BTW

Originally Posted by OCDshaver

Whatever works for you. But in my experience, diamond spray cuts really fast. 5 - 10 laps on an infrequent basis is usually enough to keep an edge up and running for a while. And it seemed to make an edge harsh with too much use. That's why 20/shave seems like way too much.

Maybe I'll try cutting that in half. I was doing that before and after the shave. I'll start doing it after the shave only. I'm really happy with my improvement in honing the past month. I think I'm finally through that "be careful or you'll ruin it" stage.