Thread: first full shave

Well I finally shaved with a str8. Guess what no nicks. Admittedly it is not the closest shave I have ever had, and there is a little razor burn. However, not as much burn as I got using an electric.

The razor I used is an ebay special that I honed myself. I think that I can get a better shave as I get better at honing. ( Yes I know my shaving technique will also improve). Problem is the equipment that I have for honing. I have a carborundum hone 2.5x4 inches and some 2000 grit sandpaper. I took the sand paper and layed it on the hone, then a few drops of water and 100 strokes in an x pattern. Then 100 on the hone . finally about 50 strops with an old leather belt made from the girth strap from an old saddle.

Any suggestions on improving the honing without spending a lot of $$$

Congrats on the first shave!

The first thing is that the carborundum is almost certainly coarser than the 2000 grit sandpaper. So, reverse the order of honing.BTW, the 2000 grit is roughly equivalent to a 4K waterstone.

Second, if you do not want to purchase a Norton 4/8 hone than the next step is to make an abrasive pasted paddle strop.

The abrasive to use would be in the 2-3 micron size, this would be approx. 8000 grit, and then another paddles strop that is pasted with 0.5 micron paste, either chrome oxide or diamond. I prefer the chrome oxide.

Check with www.handamerican.com or
www.thewellshavedgentleman.com for the pastes and paddlestrops.

Hope this helps,

It looks like I made at least one poor assumption. I had assumed that a 2000 grit sand paper would be about the same as a 2k water stone. However, before I ever bought the carborundum hone I asked questions about it. I thought the answer came from this forum (pre crash) saying that carborundum never had a grit rating, but that it was aprox 7K. I still question weather it is courser then the 2000 grit sandpaper. When I run a finger or finger nail over them the stone feels very smooth, but I can definitely feel the texture on the paper.

Originally Posted by Chander

It looks like I made at least one poor assumption. I had assumed that a 2000 grit sand paper would be about the same as a 2k water stone. However, before I ever bought the carborundum hone I asked questions about it. I thought the answer came from this forum (pre crash) saying that carborundum never had a grit rating, but that it was aprox 7K. I still question weather it is courser then the 2000 grit sandpaper. When I run a finger or finger nail over them the stone feels very smooth, but I can definitely feel the texture on the paper.

A few of the Carborundum hones are that fine, but most are not.
Your razor will tell you which is finer. Go with what that tells you. Then move on to the abrasive pastes for a finer edge.