Thread: and another person joint the club of the obsessive shavers...

hi,

well now I wanted to get started with a straight razor and kept reading and since I like todo things right the first time and not buying better and better razors. Well I got a nice set and messed up:

1 x Vulfix #850 Pure Badger Shaving Brush
1 x Illinois #827 "Russian Leather" Razor Strop
1 x PRESHARPENED DOVO "Renaissance" SS 6/8
1 x Shaving bowl + soap
1 x Norton 4k/8k + 1k/320? + falttening
1 x the DVD

well now I got impatient while watching the DVD and though, well let's start to strope it...

Guess what I stropped in the wrong direction (about 120 times in total...) and now the razor is dull (well it does not pass the HHT but cut's into the nail quite nicely) and the shave was more like skinning my self and I stopped quickly.

So I guess I have to hone it now and learn to be more patient. So my guess would be to use the 4k/8k in a pyramid pattern? I don't have a 'slurry stone?' so far. So how do I get the stones slurry? (they come in the mail tomorrow)


thanks for your help guys!

Originally Posted by berlinguyinca

hi,

well now I wanted to get started with a straight razor and kept reading and since I like todo things right the first time and not buying better and better razors. Well I got a nice set and messed up:

1 x Vulfix #850 Pure Badger Shaving Brush
1 x Illinois #827 "Russian Leather" Razor Strop
1 x PRESHARPENED DOVO "Renaissance" SS 6/8
1 x Shaving bowl + soap
1 x Norton 4k/8k + 1k/320? + falttening
1 x the DVD

well now I got impatient while watching the DVD and though, well let's start to strope it...

Guess what I stropped in the wrong direction (about 120 times in total...) and now the razor is dull (well it does not pass the HHT but cut's into the nail quite nicely) and the shave was more like skinning my self and I stopped quickly.

So I guess I have to hone it now and learn to be more patient. So my guess would be to use the 4k/8k in a pyramid pattern? I don't have a 'slurry stone?' so far. So how do I get the stones slurry? (they come in the mail tomorrow)


thanks for your help guys!

Welcome to SRP, I'd let a honemeister hone it for you initially, you'll get a great edge and then have a reference for when you begin to hone yourself at some point in the future.

G'day &Welcome.
I'd agree on getting someone else to hone it for you at this stage. Buy a junk razor for practice and do lots of research first.
I'll let the Norton users answer the slurry question.

+1 on letting a honemeister help you with that. You can find ads in the classifieds (member services). I disagree on learning how to hone on a junk (Ebay) razor. You may want to simplify the learning process by getting a razor that has not other problems. A new razor or a razor from the classifieds would probably the easiest one to learn with. It seems crazy but it makes sense when you think about it.

Al raz.

well since the razor was originally shave ready I thought I just have to 'fix' it. I have quite some experience honing my shun knives, so not really worried about it.

thanks for your help so far.

Honing a razor is an art. If you are up to the task, go ahead though.

Al raz.

You may not need a slurry unless you have damaged the blade, if you didnt tear the strop to shreds the edge may be alright, use the stone with water and do some research on honing technique. But I have to agree with the others, sending it out at this point would be the best option.

Hi welcome to SRP. Since you say you have read a lot I assume you have read this ? If the DVD you have is the one by Lynn Abrams that is great. There are more videos here as well.

If you stropped 120 times it wouldn't have been in the wrong direction since you wouldn't have a strop left.

If you want to try honing the razor yourself I suggest that you put one layer of electrical tape on the spine and start with the Norton 4K.

I wouldn't use the slurry stone at this stage of the game if I were you.

Go to the Wiki at the toolbar at the top of the page and you can read the sharpening tests and pyramid tutorials.

As others have suggested sending it back to the vandor to be honed once again might be best if things don't work out for you.

Originally Posted by berlinguyinca

well since the razor was originally shave ready I thought I just have to 'fix' it. I have quite some experience honing my shun knives, so not really worried about it.

thanks for your help so far.

First of all, welcome to SRP

Someone has to "fix it", your razor that is. Go ahead and give it a try, but watch the honing section of the DVD several times before you do. You might as well have good advice before you start on your razor rather than after you have a problem.

The point you are missing in the advice everyone is offering is that by sending the razor to an expert you will know what to expect from a shave ready razor. Your razor might just need a little touch up, something you may very well be able to do yourself, but you won't have a point of reference to compare it against.

Good luck and let us know how it's going

Wow, 120 stropping strokes in the wrong direction is actually an achievement. Not a good achievement, but defiantly noteworthy!!! Is there anything left of that poor thing? Sweeny Todd would be very proud of you. Depending on how cut up the strop is, it may do more damage to a properly honed blade at this point.

Knife sharpening is a completely different beast than razor sharpening and honing. Skills will translate to some extent, but they are not the same. Your knife skills will not help you much honing a razor.

Read up here, you will find everything you need to get the job done right. A reference blade honed by a pro is very nice, and is the ideal way to go. If nothing more, it will get you shaving sooner. Knowing what a good edge feels like gives you a good goal to shoot for in your own learning curve. However, you can get it all eventually on your own if you don’t rush and realize you are going to blow it a few times before you start getting it right. Just don’t be extreme in anything, especially when that blade is moving across your face.

Slurry will build from just working the stone with your razor.