Good Day Gents,
As a relative newb straight shaver, and a full-blown newb honer, I wanted to share an experience today that was especially refreshing. After getting my first ever straight for Christmas last year (Ralf Aust) that was Shave Ready from SRD, I immediately rolled the edge on my new strop. I knew that since I was eventually going to need to be able to hone my own blade, there was no time better than the present to get started. SRD offered a free honing with my new blade, but I didn’t have anything to whittle with if I sent it off, so I decided to get myself a backup plan. I ordered my second razor, a “sight unseen” razor from Whipped Dog, for something shave ready to compare with my attempts at honing.
Like some others I have read about on SRP, I watched videos, read posts, and tried to educate myself as much as possible before beginning. I purchased a Norton 8K/4K from a local woodworking shop and thought about things a little longer. I finally took the plunge and tried my hand. I don’t know how it happened, or what I did, but somehow I came up with a refreshed blade that was an acceptable shaver as far as I could tell.
Flash forward to the present. More recently, I have tried to refresh my blade time and time again, but with lackluster results. I knew there was probably some finer finesse that I was missing, but I wasn’t giving up. Today I decided to try again. I didn’t figure I would need to reset a bevel because that should have been done long ago, so I concentrated on the 8K. After a few X strokes and a few times washing off the stone, I had a revelation of what I had seen on a honing video. The guy suggested that on the final passes of the blade, to dry off the stone with a rag. I had thought it was beneficial to keep the stone saturated throughout honing. So far I wasn’t getting anywhere, so what the hay, might as well give it a try. I dried the stone with my rag. Although there was no water ponded on the stone, the stone was still plenty damp. I took 10 more light laps and “Serendipity Baby,” I got the difference between hunting knife sharp and razor sharp. With the excitement of my newfound technique, I immediately touched up my Whipped Dog the same way, which yielded similar results. I went to the parlor to strop up both straights, then shaved with the Ralf Aust. Truly this was a good shave. No nicks, no blood, just BBS. Now, I know this didn’t happen by accident, but I seem to have been in the right place at the right time to get good results. I’m guessing I have enough time in the mirror to have developed a technique of some sort, so when I got a good edge, I could really get what I wanted, and boy did I. Turns out I not only got my blade refreshed, buy my spirits, my shave, and more.
I realize a lot of newbs think they are going to pick up straight shaving right off, and that’s fine. Nothing wrong with determination and fortitude, you just have to know what you are volunteering for. I personally was raised to take responsibility for my actions, so I take what I get. But I thought sharing this little tidbit of something I’ve discovered honing might help some other poor slob like me who’s out there going it headstrong alone, determined to pick himself up by his own bootstraps…or razor strop in this case.
