No clue, no microscope, first honing, shave test average

Yesterday I honed my first real blade. It seemed rather sharp, so I just honed it on the coticule, first with slurry, then diluting it. I must have done about 200 laps. The blade didnt feel that sharp on the thumb; it did dig in, but required a bit of pressure. In comparison, the blade hi_bud_gl honed for me will slice in without me even noticing unless I remove the blade from the thumb and use fingers from the other hand to spread the area open.
I did a few dozen more laps on the C w/ water and the blade felt marginally sharper. It did shave wet arm hear effortlessly. It also popped standing hair, some of them (not all), with a ping sound. It felt rough and seemed to pull a little on the hair and ripped / sawed it rather than sliced / split it.
My arm started to feel tired so I replaced the razor and hone with the keyboard and mouse of my PC and logged into SRP. Posted a few stupid comments and scared people in the chat room away. That made me feel better so I started to strop the hell out of the razor on a red and green pasted paddle strop. It felt even smoother on the skin then, so I decided to put it away for a shave test this morning. And I quickly put my sleeve back down before the wife notices that there's hair missing from my arm.
Test shaving it this morning, it felt a little rough but not as bad as the "shave ready" razors I bought at the end of last year. I went WTG and XTG (and ATG on the cheeks only) and got a pretty close shave. I had razor burn for half an hour to an hour and that's it (I have sensitive skin).

Any input / comments? Doesnt it sound like I didnt hone it enough? Like I polished with the coticule but did not get to the very edge during the CWW stage? :thinking:

Does the edge have a smile or is it just all over the place?

I say go back to light slurry passes for a while until those arm hair passes pop easier. If it pulls your (relatively) thinner arm hair, then it will really yank on that coarse facial hair.

sounds like you might have bevel issues. go back to a rougher stone and reset the bevel, then work your way back up.

200 laps is pretty excessive. i only have to do 10 or 20 when I get to that stage, you need to build a proper foundation or all the polishing in the world won't get you anywhere.

The razor got sharper, that means your hone/strop removed metal at the edge. I think expecting to match the edge of your best razors on the first try is a bit of an overestimation.

As to how to progress further, that really depends on what the problem with the edge is. My guess would be it's your honing skill. Magnification may be quite useful.

Looking at the photos it is hard to tell but it appears to me that the edge has a slight frown beginning in the last third going towards the heel. Not quite a frown but a tendency in that direction. Do yourself a favor and pick up one of those cheap hand held microscopes or at least a 30X eye loupe such as these found here.

Microscope will be great idea Jimmy is right.
Please check the edge if you just used 200 laps on Coticle it will not sharpen the edge.You have to set the bevel with lower grit hones or use your lovely DMT'S .YOU DO have to set bevel first.I assume dmt's already brake in .
1 st use
dmt 1200 grit extra fine 50 laps
belgian blue side 50 laps
dmt 8000 grit EE FINE 80 laps no pressure please
go to coticle belgian 50 laps
chro02 strop 30-50 laps
strop and check the blade
Now laps shouldn't be exact numbers just check edge regualarly with your finger touch or hht ok.let us know result.
Be patient and don't hurry up you will get there.

I saw that blade shape too. I thought it might have been a photo artifact. :shrug:

If it is a frown, it's pretty slight and shouldn't make that much of a difference. Maybe.

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Originally Posted by gugi

Magnification may be quite useful.

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Originally Posted by JimmyHAD

microscopes

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Originally Posted by hi_bud_gl

Microscope will be great idea Jimmy is right.

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I think I get the idea :)

Not that nobody never told me before :gaah:

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Originally Posted by hi_bud_gl

buy microscope ok?

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Quote:

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Originally Posted by hi_bud_gl

Microscope will be great idea Jimmy is right.
Please check the edge if you just used 200 laps on Coticle it will not sharpen the edge.You have to set the bevel with lower grit hones or use your lovely DMT'S .YOU DO have to set bevel first.I assume dmt's already brake in .
1 st use
dmt 1200 grit extra fine 50 laps
belgian blue side 50 laps
dmt 8000 grit EE FINE 80 laps no pressure please
go to coticle belgian 50 laps
chro02 strop 30-50 laps
strop and check the blade
Now laps shouldn't be exact numbers just check edge regualarly with your finger touch or hht ok.let us know result.
Be patient and don't hurry up you will get there.

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Ok, thank you again, I'll do as you said and we take it from there. I'm buying a microscope today. :)

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Originally Posted by Cornelius

I'm buying a microscope today. :)

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I just bought a microscope online. Should be here some time next week.

that will resolve soooooooooooo many questions.

Cornelius, when you do the TPT it shouldn't cut you. Touch the blade very lightly and if it is sharp it will grab the skin. If it is dull your thumb pad will slide along as if it were on ice. The duller the more it slides and the sharper the more it grabs. I was told to use a new DE blade to practice the TPT and that helped a lot. You'll like the microscope.

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Originally Posted by Cornelius

I think I get the idea :)

Not that nobody never told me before :gaah:

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yes, that's also about the only way we can get some objective information on the blade over the internet, so it's kind of a prerequisite for troubleshooting. but you'll probably be able to tell the issues when you look at it yourself :)

Thank you. :) It will be the first time I'll use a microscope, so I'll have to figure out how much to magnify and then be able to identify what I'm seeing. I have an approximate idea from the pictures I've seen on here, but having you guys look at the images sure is a huge help. I hope the microscope I bought is ok. Sounds ok from the specs with the magnification, resolution and USB port, but I'm unsure about the lighting. We'll see. Thanks again! :tu

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Originally Posted by Cornelius

Thank you. :) It will be the first time I'll use a microscope, so I'll have to figure out how much to magnify and then be able to identify what I'm seeing. I have an approximate idea from the pictures I've seen on here, but having you guys look at the images sure is a huge help. I hope the microscope I bought is ok. Sounds ok from the specs with the magnification, resolution and USB port, but I'm unsure about the lighting. We'll see. Thanks again! :tu

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You might need to add a desk light to really bounce that light off the edge and reveal the bevel. Regardless of your method I am lookin' forward to the pics.

You might try using a permanent marker to paint the bevels of the razor before honing on the Coticule. After 5-20 laps you will be able to see if your Coticule is actually working the edge. You can reapply the ink as often as needed throughout the honing process.

• If it isn't yet working out to the very edge, then go to something like 1200 to 4000 to set the edge.
• If it is working the edge, maybe your downward pressure is a bit too heavy.

When I first started honing razors, it was difficult to convince myself that super-light and even finishing strokes really do make a great difference.

This is something you probably did: Is your coticule lapped flat?

Good luck,

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Originally Posted by joke1176

You might need to add a desk light to really bounce that light off the edge and reveal the bevel. Regardless of your method I am lookin' forward to the pics.

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That reminds me :gaah: I have a softbox (light tent) and 2 5,000 K light sources, I should be alright by putting these next to the microscope. :)

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Originally Posted by Sticky

You might try using a permanent marker to paint the bevels of the razor before honing on the Coticule. After 5-20 laps you will be able to see if your Coticule is actually working the edge. You can reapply the ink as often as needed throughout the honing process.

• If it isn't yet working out to the very edge, then go to something like 1200 to 4000 to set the edge.
• If it is working the edge, maybe your downward pressure is a bit too heavy.

When I first started honing razors, it was difficult to convince myself that super-light and even finishing strokes really do make a great difference.

This is something you probably did: Is your coticule lapped flat?

Good luck,

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Good suggestion with the marker - in the beginning, that's probably all I need. I've read about it, but never tried it. Will do, thanks!

Yes, the coticule is flat. I bought it lapped from Bruno on here, drew a pattern with a marker onto it, lapped it with the DMT 325 and realized it was flat as promised. :)