Honing & Stealing

[mikemeatman]

Hi, I'm into my second week of straight razor shaving, witch is going very well. My question is I'v ben a meat cutter " butcher" for 19 year's. I have knifes I use every day that haven't ben on a sharping stone in ten year's do to a good steeling they get thou out the day on my steel. I'f you have a good Stropping routine before & after every shave how often do you really haft to hone them???
Thanks', Mike

[gugi]

well, it depends on the razor, the beard, the shaving technique and the stropping.
i have razors that haven't been honed for over a year, but again when you have as many as i do none of them really sees much action.
sounds like you can find out though.

(btw, stealing is very different from steeling )

[JimmyHAD]

Read the 4th post down in this thread. The whole thread is well worth the read but the fourth post down addresses your question I think.

[mikemeatman]

I have a new Dovo 5/8 special. I'm currently using the small strop that came with my set. I do about 35 to 40 passes when I'm done shaving & 35 to 40 the next day before I start. I am expecting my 3" Heirloom Artisan Red Latigo strop from Tony any day as well.

[Quick]

Generally speaking. 3 to 4 months? Maybe longer before needing a touchup.

[Bruno]

I don't like to specify timeframes, because it depends on how many times per week you shave, and how many razors you have. The best way would be to express it in # of shaves.

And it depends

A colleague of mine, whom I converted to straight razors, has a very tough beard.
He has 1 razor, and no hones, and he has used that razor for nearly a year now.
But he has a tony miller 4-sided paddle strop, with 0.5, 1, and 3 micron pastes, and he has developed a weekly routine for touchign up his razor on that to keep it sharp.

This way he will never need a hone as long as he doesn't damage the edge.
But stropping on leather only will not be enough. If you have a pasted strop, you might be able to get by without ever having to put your razor to the stone.

[underdog41187]

I was just wondering what is a pasted strop used for?

[JimmyHAD]

I was just wondering what is a pasted strop used for?

Paste of various grits applied to a flat bed or hanging strop do the same as a hone and remove metal to sharpen a razor. Usually used to dial in or touch up an already sharp edge.

If you go to the Wiki at the tool bar above there are tutorials on that and other essential stuff for you to take a look at. Check out the forum index for shaving and honing videos as well. Welcome to SRP !