Thread: keeping the blade sharp

Originally Posted by metulburr

i didnt mean i am a noob at looking at the edge, i meant i am a noob at using a microscope and looking at the edge. I know those tricks already. There is no blunting, wire edge, etc. to re-elaborate: There razor is completely sharp and a good shave when i get it off the hone, but after a few shaves later is not regardless of stropping. My question was whether the strop was needed to be cleaned.

This is entirely possible. It doesn't take much to ruin a razor's edge, bad form or a dirty strop will certainly do it. I'd use a soft bristled brush and some slick shave lather to clean the leather up some. Take the linen apart and scrub it separately. See if that doesn't help.

Originally Posted by metulburr

i didnt mean i am a noob at looking at the edge, i meant i am a noob at using a microscope and looking at the edge. I know those tricks already. There is no blunting, wire edge, etc. to re-elaborate: There razor is completely sharp and a good shave when i get it off the hone, but after a few shaves later is not regardless of stropping. My question was whether the strop was needed to be cleaned.

Well if that is the case, why not try cleaning the strop and see for yourself if it makes a difference? I have been using the same strop for about 3 years now and have not cleaned the English linen component but have cleaned the leather component with a little saddle soap.

Can't help with using a microscope to look at the edge as I have never used one. I would agree with an earlier poster that you see far more with a microscope but after a certain point what you are seeing makes no difference to the shave. A case of making mountains out of mole hills. My personal experience is that if an edge looks good under 10X-30X magnification it will shave well after stropping a few times.

You could also try a touch up on a Crox pasted strop when the edge does start to fall off and see if that helps.

Some razors hold an edge longer than others for some reason. Possible that one is one of those that doesn't hold an edge long.

Bob

i was thinking in cleaning meaning using sand paper. But i know once i do that there is no going back. If its ruined it ruined afterwords. Thats why i was asking on here.

To be honest for some reason i never really thought of just saddle soap. Wont saddle soap dry it out in the long run? Should neatsfoot oil be added to treat the leather after saddle soap?

I haven't managed to hurt any of my leather with saddle soap, so there's that. Maybe if you subject it to many cleanings without ever giving it a small drink of oil to replace what you've displaced.

I used 600 grit sand paper to smooth the surface and get rid of the ridges in mine but that really isn't necessary. The sand paper just speeds up the break in, and shold probably not be done if the strop is decently broken in already.

So an update on this....
I seem to have better quality shaves from just the strop alone. Im actually not sure the last time i honed it. But it was at least 2 months ago. I cant really pinpoint exactly the issue as i fixed a few different things.

1) I started using a cloth strop after shaving to clean the razor
2) I lubricated the strop with neatsfoot oil and noticed the strop became much more softer
3) I noticed the strop might be curling. So i account for it by moving the razor every so often to make sure it gets each position of the edge on that part of the curl.
4) I got lazy on honing. So instead of 50 passes, i might of done 25.

Maybe it was a little of each, or one, not sure, but i seem to always have a straight edge now after stropping. Thanks to everyone for the pointers.

Strop before every single shave?

I use two Dovos day-on, day-off.

Last time I honed my razors was 2nd week in July. All I've done since then is strop. Linen 30, leather 50. I usually shave, clean, strop, and then let the blade rest for a day.

I don't strop before I shave. That's probably 40+ shaves on each razor and they are still "shave ready".

I have what I'd call a medium beard and shave 4-5 days a week, but I'm guessing that my beard may not be terribly hard on razors.

Maybe I'm just "lucky"...

seems like my luck, but i shaved the other day, and could not get the razor sharp via strop. So i guess a couple months which i am guessing is about 2-3 times a week shaves was my max so far

I have what is called a tough beard, I can rub the paint from a car from the hair on my face. I shave every day. If my shave after stropping isn't as good as straight off the hones then it's my stropping. Stropping does not hurt an edge if it's done right. I have razors that have gone months with out ever seeing a hone. So take that for what st worth with no degrading of the edge. Your lather and your stropping plus your honing abilities come into play for how long your edge last. Then your razor steel of course.

As to all those laps n a hone to maintain your edge, I can shave with any razor I got or 2-3 weeks and just 3-4 laps down a 12k naniwa, and it is there. This is maintenance routine I was told to do by Glen if you want to always shave with a perfect edge. I personally don't see any degradation at this point, It's all different for some, some think it needs a stone all the time some don't, but if everything is right edges last a long time, my old barber wasn't honing every 10 or 12 shaves, he was shaving guys for a month or so before he even thought about a few licks on his old stone. Tc