Thread: Trouble Honing Razor and HELLO!

I'm new to straight razor shaving and I have two JR Torrey razors. One honed up quickly and seems to shave nicely. The other is the Torrey Damascus. Has anyone had any experience with this razor? I can't seem to get it to pass HHT.

Albert

Welcome to SRP! There's a wealth of info from some pretty knowedgeable guys. From what I have read, Damascus steel blades are generally pretty hard steel that can take quite a bit of work to get honed up but are supposed to hold an edge incredibly long. I cannot speak from experience, however. I am sure some others can be of more help. Welcome and good luck!

The term "Damascus" on the blade is only a model name. That is not Damascus steel.

The ease of passing the HHT will vary a bit from razor to razor. But... your razor looks like a "vintage (old)" razor. Be sure to remove the oxidised steel from the edge. If it is not removed you will not be able to obtain a good bevel, which is necessary to pass the HHT. Try a test shave now and that will give you a baseline for comparison for further work.

That's what I thought. Doesn't damascus steel generally have the characteristic layering?

The oxidized steel is long gone - I reset the bevel on 1000grit wet/dry, and took it to the norton 4k/8k.....but the results are pretty poor. Of course, my honing technique can't be all that great as I've only had straight razors for 4 days.

Originally Posted by randydance062449

The term "Damascus" on the blade is only a model name. That is not Damascus steel.

The ease of passing the HHT will vary a bit from razor to razor. But... your razor looks like a "vintage (old)" razor. Be sure to remove the oxidised steel from the edge. If it is not removed you will not be able to obtain a good bevel, which is necessary to pass the HHT. Try a test shave now and that will give you a baseline for comparison for further work.

Originally Posted by fotoguru

That's what I thought. Doesn't damascus steel generally have the characteristic layering?

The oxidized steel is long gone - I reset the bevel on 1000grit wet/dry, and took it to the norton 4k/8k.....but the results are pretty poor. Of course, my honing technique can't be all that great as I've only had straight razors for 4 days.

First, try a shave test with the razor. This will give you a baseline for future comparison.
Try slowing down your stroke to one second for each direction on the hone.
Be sure to refresh (lap lightly) the hone before each honing session.


Just some ideas,

I think my new quest in life will be to educate people about two things, 1-damascus steel does not exist anymore and 2-the patterns people think are what characterizes damascus steel are results of the manufacture which in the old days of real damascus production were removed as undesirable artifacts. All this stuff we call damascus is damascus pattern. To produce damascus you would have to duplicate the exact mix of steel that was used hundreds of years ago and that has been lost to history and that is what really makes it damascus not the patterns. Its like the tail wagging the dog.

At any rate I would just keep with the usual pyramid routine and keep checking by test shaving. use a magnifier to ensure the ege is clean and there are no micro chips being produced and the blade is not warped. Keep us informed of your progress.

Well, I took my time and went through the 4-12k, stropped it up and it's splitting hairs now. When I took it to the 8k norton, it seemed to lose all semblance of an edge... It was only after the linen strop that it would pop hairs.

Originally Posted by thebigspendur

I think my new quest in life will be to educate people about two things, 1-damascus steel does not exist anymore and 2-the patterns people think are what characterizes damascus steel are results of the manufacture which in the old days of real damascus production were removed as undesirable artifacts. All this stuff we call damascus is damascus pattern. To produce damascus you would have to duplicate the exact mix of steel that was used hundreds of years ago and that has been lost to history and that is what really makes it damascus not the patterns. Its like the tail wagging the dog.

At any rate I would just keep with the usual pyramid routine and keep checking by test shaving. use a magnifier to ensure the ege is clean and there are no micro chips being produced and the blade is not warped. Keep us informed of your progress.

Sounds like you've pretty much got it. I noticed you've got some hone wear offset at the wrong angle towards the tip. Once that is corrected you shouldn't have any trouble.

Welcome to the forum . . . where in MD are you? I'm in MD quite a bit.

Yeah - I couldn't tell from the pictures on ebay that it had such wear at the tip. I've got a few wapi's coming soon - so I'll probably end up using them most of the time. Couldn't resist the deal.

I'm up in Columbia. What brings you up to Maryland?

Originally Posted by AFDavis11

Sounds like you've pretty much got it. I noticed you've got some hone wear offset at the wrong angle towards the tip. Once that is corrected you shouldn't have any trouble.

Welcome to the forum . . . where in MD are you? I'm in MD quite a bit.

My Mom lives in Silver Spring and I went to school in Burtonsville.