Thread: Newbie Needs Opinion

Originally Posted by Barry2

Hi : Glad to see that you agree there is no reason for the horizontal stabilizer to rest on the stone. Not a single person on the web has stated this.

- - - As for the angle, seems to me that it would a case of the sharper the angle the better as in safety razors, but that contradicts the reality that straight razors are made with a spine Again, nobody is willing to come out and state categorically that maximum sharpness requires a certain angle. . . . . Why ? . . . Probably because even the experts don't know.

If you dig around a bit I think you will find that a 17 or 18 degree bevel angle is what is aimed for with a couple of degrees latitude/tolerance on either side to be in spec. There are formulas for figuring that out too.

Bob

Originally Posted by Barry2

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- - - .
- - - It should be noted that purchased blades for straight razors are extremely thin . . . . so again, why is this ? I have tried everything I can think of on my 4000/8000 stone and am unable to shave with it.

Excuse me Barry if I am misunderstanding you but what do you mean by "purchased blades for straight razors" ? are you talking about blades for Shavettes?

Oops, 'scuse me. I meant to say that the angle of the leading edge on safety razors is extremely narrow. Why should it be any different for straight razors ? . . . . yet it seems that because the manufacturers put a spine on the straight razors, they are telling us that this is the correct angle. I don't get it. I am tempted to grind the spine down to a small thickness.

Originally Posted by Barry2

Oops, 'scuse me. I meant to say that the angle of the leading edge on safety razors is extremely narrow. Why should it be any different for straight razors ? . . . . yet it seems that because the manufacturers put a spine on the straight razors, they are telling us that this is the correct angle. I don't get it. I am tempted to grind the spine down to a small thickness.

My guess is that if you narrowed the spine down the bevel would become very frail and fail easily. You would have a wider bevel with little support for the edge. Take a blade with a 5.5mm spine and 18mm width from the spine wear to edge = 17.6 degree bevel angle and thin the spine only by 2mm you wind up with a bevel angle of 11.2 degrees.

Bob

I should have also added that while DE blades are extremely thin they get lots of support and stiffening from being clamped in the DE razor head.

Bob

- - - Thanks Bob, I have approximately the same by my calculations. So then, it seems that approx. 11 degrees is what we should have when finished.

- - - To change course a bit, I have a stainless steel blade that I have been struggling with, trying to get an edge that is fit to shave with. Most of the folks on the web decry stainless and say that Sheffield steel or other high carbon blades are far easier to sharpen. Would you agree with that ?

Originally Posted by Barry2

- - - Thanks Bob, I have approximately the same by my calculations. So then, it seems that approx. 11 degrees is what we should have when finished.

- - - To change course a bit, I have a stainless steel blade that I have been struggling with, trying to get an edge that is fit to shave with. Most of the folks on the web decry stainless and say that Sheffield steel or other high carbon blades are far easier to sharpen. Would you agree with that ?

No, I would not agree that stainless blades are far harder to sharpen. I have several stainless razors in rotation and none were far harder to hone than carbon, possibly a bit but not by much. All took a nice edge and shave as well as my carbon blades.

We are getting off topic here and maybe you could start another thread on the subject so we don't hi jack the OP's thread.

Bob

Originally Posted by BobH

No, I would not agree that stainless blades are far harder to sharpen. I have several stainless razors in rotation and none were far harder to hone than carbon, possibly a bit but not by much. All took a nice edge and shave as well as my carbon blades.

We are getting off topic here and maybe you could start another thread on the subject so we don't hi jack the OP's thread.

Bob

- - - I haven't yet figured out how to do that.

Click "Forum" at the top left of the screen (under the SRP logo)
Then decide which section you would like your thread to be in and open it
Then click on "Post New Thread" Top left (Under the "Forum" tab)
Choose a title for your thread and bang away

Hello everyone, tonight shaving was almost excellant(it's night in here). I focused on stroping first more then before and felt the difference(closest first pass ever). Then I tried different stretching/flattening methods on my cheeks and pay extra attention on hair grow directions also try not to apply much pressure when I go across the grain I also found a grip that suits most for XTG on right side of my face(for now).
My neck is tricky because of hair grow directions but I've solved that long ago. My only problem is mustache area left, WTG is not enough somehow and XTG seems imposible. I don't want to lose my vital body parts of course
Thanks everyone for the support.

Originally Posted by Chinaski

Mine is not but the name of the character I was inspired long ago is Henry. You got the novel, didn't you?

Which one? He used that name in damn near all of them.