Thread: Razor not sharp??

Originally Posted by Scabby

This is an interesting idea. I guess I should try this before I go to the barber hone. Did you put several layers of tape to make it padded or just one layer?

I just put one layer on there. I used the widest tape i could find and put it on the backside of my hanging strop.. it is not as wide as the strop itself but that doesn't seem to be a problem... I just put it near the edge of the strop.

Maarten

Try playing with the angle of the blade. Most people will disagree but a steeper angle works better on my face. This is qualified saying 'My face", YMMV.

The other thing I do is use a buffing stroke sometimes. You take a one inch stroke then come up 3/4 of an inch and then take another one stroke and repeat. If you do this every section of your face will get the blade several times.

You should never, ever, ever, ever be tugging the razor against your face. That is hands and knees begging for a huge cut. Remember use a light touch with your blade.

Lastly, don't go for BBS on your first pass. Your goal with every pass should be to be a little smoother than the last pass. I will even go so far as to say do a second WTG pass before you go ATG. You should get noticably less tugging. Eventualy it will all fall together and you will get rockin' shaves.

UPDATE!!

I am now pretty convinced that my razor is not sharp. I ordered a razor from the classifieds and shaved with it with much better results. The new razor I got is a 5/8 full hollow and the other one is a 1/4 hollow 6/8. I don't think the width or grind is making the difference because everyone says the Le Grelot shaves well. Let's just hope that I don't ruin the edge on the new one.

I shaved twice with the new razor and got good results. I also shaved a couple times with my old razor after following your advice: I tried changing my stropping technique, stropping with athletic tape, and after this didn't seem to help very much I ran the blade over my swaty a few times.

Can you recommend someone who can hone my blade for me and perhaps look at it and tell me what might have gone wrong (I don't even know if you can tell that by looking at it)? I'm currently in San Diego. Are there any good ones nearby?

Thanks!

If you bought the razor from the classifieds, and it shaves well, and the seller honed it himself, you may want to ask him to hone the Le Grelot for you. I am sure he wouldn’t mind.


You could also check the Member Services in the classifieds, any one of those fellows will do a good job.


I would hone it for you, but I am in NY… PM me if you are interested.