Thread: First Dull Shave

Well I started with a pre-honed Dovo and it is finally dull. No amount of stropping seems to bring it back. Now it is time to decide what my "refreshing" strategy will be moving forward. I'd like to just buy a 12k chinese and hone it back but I'm not sure my wife would be happy with ANOTHER razor purchase right now. Any suggestions?

You could send it off to a honemeister for a touch up. That would be fairly inexpensive. Good luck trying to convince your wife about poss another razor or hone. Trust me, my other half doesn't have any interest at all in straight razors or why I should buy more goodies. Luckily she is awesome and doesn't ask many questions when new " mystery boxes" show up at the door. Good luck!

If you're going to buy a Chinese 12k you'll need to lap it, so unless you have a lapping plate you'll be spending more money and now the wife will be completely un-happy.

You could opt for some diamond paste.

Where about in Vegas do you live?

Originally Posted by Maximilian

If you're going to buy a Chinese 12k you'll need to lap it, so unless you have a lapping plate you'll be spending more money and now the wife will be completely un-happy.

Ahhh...could I lap it with sandpaper?

Originally Posted by Maximilian

You could opt for some diamond paste.

Would I make a balsa strop similar to the ones I've seen for CrOx?

Originally Posted by Maximilian

Where about in Vegas do you live?

I live in the Southwest part of Vegas. Why do you ask?

Hey, If you do get a 12K and need I slurry, I got em...Check the classifieds.....It'll cut your honing time in half....
But to be honest, The 12K may not refresh your edge, only polish it up...It might, but you may need more...Depends..
Maybe Max can hook you up....

The best "cheap" solution would be to make yourself a Chromium Oxide strop out of balsa wood. Somewhere on the forum there are instructions and you can find the CrO in the classifieds. You should be able to do that for under ten bucks and it will keep you going quite a while before requiring a trip to the hones.

Next best advice would be to try stropping on newspaper...and if that doesn't work try it with a little metal polish such as Maas or Flitz.

For the ultimate consider getting a barber hone...which can usually be picked up for less than the 12k Chinese.

I have a strop with a small strip of Cr0 on one side, is this enough to touch up your blade? If I wanted to get a barber's hone, for prehoned razors, would I need to buy anything else to lap the stone or round of the edges? HOw do you judge a good one on Ebay, etc?

Theres nothing like a good barbers hone.

Originally Posted by Disburden

I have a strop with a small strip of Cr0 on one side, is this enough to touch up your blade? If I wanted to get a barber's hone, for prehoned razors, would I need to buy anything else to lap the stone or round of the edges? HOw do you judge a good one on Ebay, etc?

While you can use a CrO pasted strop to touchup your blade I prefer to use it for removing harshness and adding smoothness. Each time you use the CrO it rounds the edge a little so you end up with a blade that can't be made shave ready with the paste alone and because the edge is rounded will require a trip to the hones. Think of it as you have X number of passes on the pasted strop...then it's a mandatory trip back to the hones.

To judge a barber hone I really prefer to see it in person or at least get a money back guarantee. I look for one that has no chips in the honing area and is not "dished out" too bad. Barber hones are very hard and are a real bear to lap...but on the other hand once you get them flat they tend to stay that way. As for the actual lapping I'm partial to using a DMT diamond hone but you can also use sandpaper. Every so often you get lucky and find one that someone has alreay lapped.

ChrisL sells CrO powder and instructions for $4. I got that and spent another $4 on a piece of balsa. I've used it to extend the life of the edge, knowing that the blade will eventually need a touchup on a hone. This has been helpful while I decide which hones to buy.