Thread: Maintaining the edge for a beginner

Originally Posted by Euclid440

Ok, so all common problems. First the edge is very fragile, as you found, follow advice and keep it away from the sink or faucet. Wipe the lather on a towel or sponge or your hand, (edge away from forward motion), then rinse your hand.

You are probably using too much pressure stropping, again typical. Use just weight of the blade and do more laps, 100. Keep the spine on the strop at all times and stop before you flip. Go slow, about 30 -40 laps per minute. A lap is up and down.

I'll try the higher lap count, and will use the towel I have on hand.

You will need magnification, a good 60X lighted loupe can be purchase for 2-3 dollars, buy 2 or 3 it is cheaper than buying batteries. Search 60X lighted loupe, they are silver plastic, with a LED light.

This will help you maintain your edge, if you are using too much pressure you will see micro chipping or larger on the edge. Do have the chipped razor pro honed, that chip will get larger and will cut you.

You do have all the stones you need for now, the 8k is a great stone. You will need a lapping plate though. You can lap on 320 grit Wet & Dry, the Norton plate is useless and makes a mess. You can buy a good 3X8 DMT for about 50 dollars and is a great investment and will last a life time if you lap under water. I recently bought an I Wood 300 diamond plate and I like it better than my DMT, they are about the same price.

Read up on lapping your stone, there is a lot written on it.

Good to know about the Norton lapping stone! I was seeing quite a bit of videos and discussions on the DMT. I saw the info on marking the stone w/pencil and then flattening. Will I need to do that on the new stones?

I would purchase another razor for practicing and learning to hone, eventually you will have a 3 razor rotation.

As said less is more when touching up and the 8k is a surprisingly aggressive stone and can remove many small chips, if not, then move down in grit.

Yes, I've been looking. I wanted to get one with a different size and/or grind, thinking that would let me experience the differences. The one time I used the Spike, I did notice a difference (some is probably sharpness).

Anyone have any suggestions (a loaded question, huh ?

You can use some Chrome Oxide after the 8k or to maintain you razors on a separate paddle strops. Check the classifieds Glenn had one in the 30-40 dollar range and I think quality Chrome Ox as well, if not SRD has all you will need. There are many threads on pasting strops.

Make sure to use lite pressure when you strop on a pasted strop.

Welcome to the forum, you are making good progress and have made wise purchases. Enjoy.

I'm clueless on the pasted stop stuff. Need to do a bunch of reading. Who is Glenn? I checked SRD and the modular paddle was of stock.

Appreciate all the ideas!

Originally Posted by Siguy

Hi PCM and welcome.

Well, there is a lot here. I may not hit all the bullet points, but I'm sure the fellas will.

Concerning the above statement: I am one of those who bought a board strop 3" from Glen (gssixgun) and swear by it to this day. Originally, I have a 3" hanging strop, but discovered that it had a defect. Now it and it's hanging felt counterpart have CrOx on them. The 3" strop also removed the need to learn the X-stroke right away. While it is a skill that you will need eventually(another contentious firestarter in and of itself), you don't need that variable steepening the learning curve in the beginning.

The board strop does help remove some of the beginning difficulties in stropping, in my experience. The twisting, cupping, etc.

As per refreshing an edge honed by Lynn, I'd double check with him about the last stone in came off of during the honing process. Usually, if CrOx doesn't get your blade to sing again, you can pull out the stone (say, a Nani 12K) and do a few strokes like Lynn on his video. Literally, only takes a few strokes. I definitely would not go down to the 8K level to do a refresh of a blade honed by Lynn. While a person could shave comfortably of an 8K all their lives, most honemeisters bring their edge up to a higher grit for their customers.

As per the shiny spot, if you look top down and the edge of the razor with the edge facing your eyes and the spine farthest away, shine light on the it, do you see and shiny spots as your eyes run along its edge?

I looked closely at it today. It looks like, at the spot mentioned , and a bit closer to the toe, there are small shiny spots. I notice it more looking at the blade from the side, especially on the printed side.

I also see that on the toe (tip) right at the curve, on the printed side, the edge is very slightly rolled toward the printed side. We're talking about 1/16" or less.

This is making sense, as I'm having the most difficulty on the left side of my face, where the printed side is in contact. I've been trying to avoid using the end of the blade, in that area as well. Mostly because I know of the nick, but it looks like here is another factor there.

Maybe too much pressure, and/or the strop twisting (hence the inquiry on the paddles).

I would think that the "ding" was caused by the sink contact. I'm a little surprised it hasn't significally affected the shave. I've never been able to strop something like that out. IMO, only honing will straighten that ding out again.

Well, I've been avoiding that part of the blade a bit. As soon as I get my loupe, I'll look at it again, and then send it in to Lynn.

Very nice blades, btw!

Oh, quick query. Just out of personal interest, I was wondering why your were going to send the other blade out to Dovo? Are they offering free honing or something?

In no order at all,

Siguy

ps-Finding a mentor in your area will be one of the best pieces of advice that any beginner could take. Wish I had... May want to get a little more specific in your locale profile.

The Dovo Best Quality, I got as a XMAS gift, and it came from SRD, and has a free honing. That's the one with the newbie issues.

The Spike I bought from the classifieds (magpie). I only used it once, and was very pleased. It too is well sharpened.

Thanks for the info!

So, you got a very nice Christmas gift purchased from SRD. Did you know that your order came with a guarantee?

From the SRD site:

"Every Straight Razor you purchase from us has been Professionally Honed by Hand at NO CHARGE to you! You will also receive a certificate good for your first Re-honing of the razor Free of Charge!

No one else offers you both these services free of charge!"

Why mess around? Send it out now. The quicker you send, the quicker you get back. Just sayin'

Post back

Yes, I'll put more info area in sig. I'm in NH, near the Manchester area.

Originally Posted by Siguy

So, you got a very nice Christmas gift purchased from SRD. Did you know that your order came with a guarantee?

From the SRD site:

"Every Straight Razor you purchase from us has been Professionally Honed by Hand at NO CHARGE to you! You will also receive a certificate good for your first Re-honing of the razor Free of Charge!

No one else offers you both these services free of charge!"

Why mess around? Send it out now. The quicker you send, the quicker you get back. Just sayin'

Post back

Oh yeah... I'm planning on using that. I wanted to get the loupe (next week), so I can closely inspect the blade (and the Spike as a reference), so that I can learn more about my mistakes.

I would caution you about the use of the Norton lapping stone, mine was not at all flat. I used 80 200 and then 400 grit wet dry to get then nortons truly flat. If you are ok with learning to hone on your shaving razor go for it, otherwise send it out and find a cheapo to learn on . Happy adventures

@HardCase, yes others are mentioning concerns about the Norton flattening stone. I'll look into the DMT or iWood. I definitely want to give the honing a go, but am taking my time to get the needed items, read up on it, and form an approach. It sounds like I could use Cr-ox on a strop, and then, if not adequate, go to a 12K. I'll be sending in my Dovo for honing, as I have a coupon for that.

My current thoughts are to try to take the two blades I have, and keep their edge up (stropping as first line, then maybe pasted stropping, and then finishing stone as a further level when the edge is not as desired). IOW, trying to deal with minor things for starters. I'm thinking of getting a third blade, and I'm thinking maybe I can start honing on whichever of the three are in worse shape (sharpness wise).

I'm thinking, for now, it's best to avoid blades that have additional challenges (not straight, warped, severe dings, etc), and maybe just try to get simple maintenance down. Then, work towards bevel-settings and more on the honing aspects as I go along, and my experience improves.

That's where my head seems to be at right now...granted, additional reading and input may change that !

Sounds like a good plan, I always try and do the least damaging corrective actions 1st. Unless of course it's a blade to learn on then I will go over whichever process I'm working on until I think I've got it down.

Originally Posted by pcm

I definitely want to give the honing a go, but am taking my time to get the needed items, read up on it, and form an approach.

I wish everyone new to honing had your attitude and approach to the topic. It shows to me that you've already been reading, but more importantly, approaching the subject with flexibility of someone without rigid pre-conceived notions on the subject.

Hats off to you.

Unless I missed something there is another factor to consider in your journey on SRP. You are not alone in NH. I looked up membership in your state and here are a number of qualified senior members (sorry, no Mentors there yet) that can, and are most likely willing to give you a couple of one-on-one hands on honing pointers and lessons. They are:
nessmuck
Sheajohnw
Whimpy

PM them to see who is willing and closest to you and arrange a session. Beats out all the reading and videos by a long shot.

Good fortune on your shaving journey.