Thread: Can t get my Boker Silver Steel sharp

Hello everybody;

I have been shaving using SR for close to one year now and there is no way back to cartridge shaving.

I own three SR. A Boker Silver Steel, A Dovo Best Quality and a Wacker The Barber s Bride.

The Dovo and the Wacker are wicked sharp and deliver a wonderful shave. However the Boker does not seem to want to get sharp enough. I have taken it to two different professional honers and nothing.....It shaves and If I insist it will get me to a BBS but is not the same experience as the other two.

Are there quality SR that no matter what wont get sharp enough?

Thanks for your feed back

is the grind different between the blades? maybe it's a perceived sharpness... on the other hand there are blades that are harder to get sharp ... .I had a couple with uneven hone wear that took a little extra work to get sharp

Originally Posted by ecormier

is the grind different between the blades? maybe it's a perceived sharpness... on the other hand there are blades that are harder to get sharp ... .I had a couple with uneven hone wear that took a little extra work to get sharp

hummm...actually I did not think about that...The Boker was honed by a different honer, a reputable one, he used power wheels (i hated it because he left marks in the blade almost by the stamp). Then I took it to the honer that had honed the Dovo and the Wacker and he told me it had a good edge and gave him a go with a shapton 16000. Still it is not as smooth shaving as the other two...

I don´t have enough experience to see the difference between sharpness and perceived sharpness...

It could be the shapton 16k does not agree with you or the boker. Did the honer U.S. The shapton on you other two edges? Ask if he may have a different finish stone to try on that razor.

Originally Posted by JTmke

It could be the shapton 16k does not agree with you or the boker. Did the honer U.S. The shapton on you other two edges? Ask if he may have a different finish stone to try on that razor.

Actually the shapton 16k was used in the other two SR with brilliant results

Originally Posted by Icarusflies

hummm...actually I did not think about that...The Boker was honed by a different honer, a reputable one, he used power wheels...

He used power wheels to hone the blade? Or just to polish the sides (i.e. not touching the edge). If power tools are being used to hone the edge, is this a knife sharpener or a dedicated razor honer? I wouldn't let anyone near the edges of my straights with any power tool.

Quite apart from the potential for pretty explosive disasters should a powered tool catch the razor, there is also great heat buildup when using powered tools on a razor. The steel is so thin that it can heat to the point of ruining the edge's hardness in a heartbeat. If that has not happened, then the Boker should be fine once you get the right combination of honer and stone. They are good razors. If the heat treatment has been damaged by overheating, then I'm afraid you're hooped.

Originally Posted by Cangooner

He used power wheels to hone the blade? Or just to polish the sides (i.e. not touching the edge). If power tools are being used to hone the edge, is this a knife sharpener or a dedicated razor honer? I wouldn't let anyone near the edges of my straights with any power tool.

Quite apart from the potential for pretty explosive disasters should a powered tool catch the razor, there is also great heat buildup when using powered tools on a razor. The steel is so thin that it can heat to the point of ruining the edge's hardness in a heartbeat. If that has not happened, then the Boker should be fine once you get the right combination of honer and stone. They are good razors. If the heat treatment has been damaged by overheating, then I'm afraid you're hooped.

Yes, that was what I was thinking.

Bob

Originally Posted by Cangooner

He used power wheels to hone the blade? Or just to polish the sides (i.e. not touching the edge). If power tools are being used to hone the edge, is this a knife sharpener or a dedicated razor honer? I wouldn't let anyone near the edges of my straights with any power tool.

Quite apart from the potential for pretty explosive disasters should a powered tool catch the razor, there is also great heat buildup when using powered tools on a razor. The steel is so thin that it can heat to the point of ruining the edge's hardness in a heartbeat. If that has not happened, then the Boker should be fine once you get the right combination of honer and stone. They are good razors. If the heat treatment has been damaged by overheating, then I'm afraid you're hooped.

I was not there when they ¨honed¨ the boker but for when I asked afterwards they confirmed. I was told, not by them but by a reputable source, is that this is the way the barbers sharpened their razors many years ago in europe. Of course the razors would not last long.

The company that honed the Boker is one of the two that give this service in Barcelona (where I am right now). The other one is my friend and he uses stones. He is the one who honed my SR´s with the shapton. Again, he also honed the boker with the same stone before and after the power wheel treatment and still did not get the sharpness of the two other.

I would venture to say that you should have a conversation with them about what techniques (and stones) they used to hone your Boker.

I don't care what was done historically, I would NEVER sharpen my edge on a power tool, I screw it up fast enough on a 12k with 0 pressure going slow