Thread: Back from vacation...shave report.

Thanks, Nenad - I mentioned this to my friend with the Swaty and he gave me the evil eye - it was his grandfather's, so I guess I'll have to spring for a Norton or some King waterstones.

On the honing - I did some more work on the spike point last night and got it to where it had a good even draw across a thumbnail, then touched it up with the 3 micron side and the plain leather side of the strop and tried a test shave. Much improved, but it's still not to the point of passing the HHT.

Well, after plenty more work on the pasted strop, I have both razors where they'll take hair off my leg cleanly and with no pulling. I've also got a Norton kit (220/1k, 4k/8k and flattening stone) enroute from Rockler - many thanks to whomever it was that mentioned their sale!

Test shave in the morning....cross your fingers for me!!

I think you are hydrating enough...so it sounds like it may be the stropping/honing. As for the passes - it depends on the beard...mine (Note the SRP nick) - not happening. Sometimes my stubble gets so hard, I think I could use it to lap a hone ("Why are you rubbing a Norton on your face?" "Don't ask...")


If you are catching arm hairs and cutting them cleanly, then it may be that you just needed your blade touched up. I would still take Nenad up on his offer...nothing like hands-on to get the correct feel for the blades, the hones, and the results.



Greg

It's definitely in the honing/stropping, that's for sure! I've been using the strop (3, 1, and .5 micron) to run the pyramids based on what Lynn mentioned on honing in the DVD, and it's getting smoother and smoother each time.

This morning's shave was much improved. No pulling on the cheeks, and the pulling on the chin was much reduced. I think I'm getting close to a truly "shave-ready" state with the razors. Not BBS yet, but I'll get there.

I'll definitely be taking Nenad up on his offer - it'll be a couple weeks until I can, since ready cash for the taxi to/from Skopje is a bit iffy at the moment after the vacation.

Today's (or last night's, rather) update - good news and bad news.

Good news: More work on the pasted strop and I've got both razors popping hairs at least part of the time (drawing the hair down the length of the razor, not directly against the edge).

Bad news: Knocked a bottle of water over on the desk, splashing the strop. Without thinking, I grabbed a paper towel and wiped the strop dry... brownie points to the first person to guess what happened to the 3 micron and 1 micron sides, before I pulled my head out of my 4th point of contact?

Guess it's a good thing I ordered that Norton stone set!!