My first sharpening

I decided that after about 6 weeks of use, it was time to attempt to sharpen my blade.

A little background on how I came to this conclusion. I bought the blade for the classifieds here and it was shave ready. I have always had problems shaving with it on the right side of my neck and chocked it up to being a newbie. I also noticed when I strop that one side would "sing", I don't believe that it is a singing blade.

I figure what happened is that I improperly stropped it when I first got it, so I sharpened today and it seemed a bit better. I still didn't get a close shave in some areas like the chin, but that will all come with time.

Here are some pics and steps that I followed to sharpen

1) I used my Norton 4/8k stone with about 25 passes on each side.

2) I stropped on the good side of my strop for about 60 passes. This strop was my great grandfathers, It has two sides, a sharpen and a fine. I only uses the one side because of a huge gash on in the leather on the other side of the strop.

3) I cut a piece of cardboard, mixed up some Chrom Ox paste and did about 25 passes on it. I think I will use a piece of balsa wood next time for more stability.

4) I then re-stropped for about 60 more passes.


Here are the pics (I don't know anything about the blade, it only says made in the USA on it)

-Quick Note: The One side of my strop is in horrible condition. The other side works great...There are two pieces of leather sewn together at the top. I use the thinner piece to sharpen as the thicker piece is all chewed up.

--The blade does cut hair, I believe my poor technique is what caused the blade to pull more on one side. After a few passes on the hone, it seems to not pull as much. I believe I have my stropping technique down a little better now.

--Anyone know of a decent strop for about 35 bucks?

OK, so much to talk about. First, which side of the strop are you using, the sharpen or the fine side? I'm concerned about the way your strop does not lay flat. That could give you some problems during the stropping stroke. Hopefully you are stropping on the fine side if only one is being used, as the sharpen side might not be adequate for finish stropping. I'm all for old strops, especially if they have a family connection, but you also want one that works well. I'm not sure that one is in proper shape yet.

Next, did you lap your Norton hone? I have 7 of them and not one of them came flat. If they have not been lapped, it is unlikely you are getting uniform cutting on your blade. Hopefully you are using an x-stroke.

Regarding your cardboard. I'd agree, yes balsa would be better. If you want to go the cardboard route, you need a piece that is flat. Something like the inside of a cereal box would work if you glued it onto a flat board. The cardboard you used looks way too wavy to function properly. Also, you should have the chrome ox all the way up to the edge of the cardboard. The way you have it, I don't see any way you could possibly reach the full length of your blade.

I just took another look at the strop. I see that the finish side is the gouged side. Is the sharpen side fabric or leather? I'm guessing that it is really dirty linen, cotton, or canvas. If so, you really need a new leather strop or else you need to do some major reconditioning of your leather strop.

Both sides are leather. I am not sure which side is finish and which is sharpen. When I got the strop from my grandmother, the stitching that held them together was in bad shape. She sewed the hanger back onto the leather.

The one side that is ate up is the thicker piece of leather.

The other side (the one that I use) is thinner leather, but it will lay flat and does not have any cuts in it

Does one side feel more rough than the other?

The good side feels like it is the smoothest.

I think the Illinois 627 can be had for around $35, at least there was a sale somewhere a while ago.
What about the reverse of the 'good' side? Could that be used for stropping?

I'd use a whole lot less CrO - just a shaddow of it is plenty. But the important part is on the hone, I'd say concentrate on getting a good shave from the hone only, once you get there you can add the paste and see if you like it better.