Thread: When to hone

Originally Posted by Wolfpack34

As Marty says...1st step take a look at the edge. If there are no major problems the my recipe is 40-60 laps on a real linen strop ( I use one that is rubbed with a lead bar).. then 150 -300 laps on good leather. Works every time for me!

Maybe I should do more strops on leather then. I have a linen strop ( kanayama) which I brush with steel wire brush. I don't want to start using compounds.

Stropping works! Work that razor that was good to you a lot on both fabric and leather IF you're comfortable that your stropping technique is sound.

I strop as many as 100 fabric, 200 leather if I feel I'm not happy with an edge and 50/100 routinely pre-shave. Done well it does a lot for an edge. If that fails, try a quality paste on a decent piece of cloth stropping that you set aside for that purpose. It doesn't take many passes on it, then back to regular stropping before using the razor to shave.

I rarely hone, because I can preserve a good edge with no risk...honing I haven't mastered as well yet, so I shy away from messing up my finest favorite ones.

Remember there is such thing as Overkill. DO NOT OVERKILL WHEN HONING RAZORS. Doing so will destroy the razor. Other than that I hone when necessary ( when the strop won't make the razor comfortable to shave with anymore) but if you maintain your edge well then you should never need to hone more than once a year. You should also never need to use anything other than a finisher to reset your Edge.

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I've been using a pasted strop before and after each shave. If the blade still feels off I have a small 'dry hone' barbers hone that I use.



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Additional passes should not = cuts. It's hard for me to guess the reason you're not getting the shave you want. If you're not getting irritation, that in itself is a good sign that at least part of your shave is going well. My suggestion is to try another pass, but only in the areas that you feel safe to do so. If you then get close in those areas, you know that another pass is what it takes to get the job done. If the extra pass fails to shave close, you may have a dull razor.

In the beginning, for me, all razors felt dull. It was not until I got my blade angle right that I started to get good shaves.

A good edge, properly stropped and maintained should last a long time between trips to the hone. I have some that have ben used for 75 or 100 shaves with no honing.

When I started, that was not the case.

If you have no irritation, that probably means your pressure on your face is correct, so I'd suggest short "buffing" strokes in your shaves instead of long sweeping strokes like you might do with a cartridge blade. Stretching also makes a world of difference. Without good stretching you can be "pushing" your skin and beard along ahead of the razor, instead of it staying stationary and you slicing the whiskers closely.

Experimentation and patience are the keys!

I would agree to up the stropping. I usually do 100 linen and 100 leather. I do like stropping though but do believe that it helps. Has the razors performance dropped off or is it that you just can't seem to get a closer shave.

So, you probably don’t have enough magnification to see any issues at the edge, or, and more commonly, you are not identifying issues, that you are seeing.

Here is a good post, of a new guy honing a razor with excellent micrographs of the process, the bevel and edge. Second Try at Honing.

Your edge, if not chipped is probably rolled, a rolled edge will eventually become a chipped edge. Just one swipe can roll an edge, by lifting the spine.

Here also, is an excellent video, on looking at the edge and what to look for and how to check for a rolled edge. You have to check the whole edge with the pin or toothpick not just one spot.

Another test is to lightly run a QTip along the edge, just the cotton, you will feel and see if the cotton snags a chip or rolled edge.

Here

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Originally Posted by eddy79

I would agree to up the stropping. I usually do 100 linen and 100 leather. I do like stropping though but do believe that it helps. Has the razors performance dropped off or is it that you just can't seem to get a closer shave.

I can't tell. :/

Maybe try catch up with Oswald and get him to check it out. If dropped off he could touch it up and if not then you need to work on your technique