Time to Rehone?

so..its been a fun 4 months with my 7/8 Sheffield
(Thnx for the purchase sham!)

I have a very coarse beard and this afternoon I went for a shave..my thoughts..it tugg'd in certain areas..for some reason under my chin going up...usually that never "tugs"..watcha guys think?..just certain areas and going up "tugg'd"..but going right to left and left to right straight movements didn't have much effect..I'm feeling like it's time to hone her up again..any thoughts or suggestions?..My wife had a good point..I don't have soft whiskers so after months of use 2-3x a week before I got my other 2 blades as of last week..I would go through more "shave wear"..lol
...too bad there isn't some sorta "get ready to hone" visual..lol..but I guess thats called scraping if you know everything else is correct...:shrug:

(yes I have 2 more newly honed blades in case)


pcdad

After that time period from shave ready, I would say its ready for a touch up. If you've got other shave ready blades thats great so you can send it out for honing.

Have you used pastes at all? And do you have a finisher or a barber hone? FWIW, you could try and touch it up yourself, its definitely something I'd recommend learning.

My rule of thumb is , when the razor isn't shaving as well as it should , it's time to give it around 5 strokes on my finish hone . Don't try to milk more shaves out of the razor , hone it .

I don't wanna start teaching myself to hone on my own blades..I would rather later in life try with cheap blade to practice on...I have nothing cept my razors n double sided paddle strop n soaps..so I have nothing like pastes/hones..etc..I'm only into it 4 months

pcdad

Quote:

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Originally Posted by pcdad

I don't wanna start teaching myself to hone on my own blades..I would rather later in life try with cheap blade to practice on...I have nothing cept my razors n double sided paddle strop n soaps..so I have nothing like pastes/hones..etc..I'm only into it 4 months

pcdad

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To be honest, touching up is the best way to learn honing IMO. Remember that touching up and honing are really two completely different things. All you are doing is polishing an already sharp edge. You could buy a barber hone for under 50 dollars and use 4-6 strokes which I doubt you'd go wrong. Or a Naniwa 12K and do 10-20 strokes, if you want to purchase from SRD.

I personally dislike pastes and while I don't discourage them, you will need to use a hone at some point as pastes are only a quick fix at best - they will round an edge eventually.

Re: Time to Rehone

+1 to the barber hone. Today my Mentor Del1r1um demonstrated and confirmed that I was using my Swaty correctly. It's quick, easy, and effective. Best of all----if I can do it, so can you!

Gerald

I took a look on SRD's hones..they go from a 200 grit to 1000?...which is a better grit for a 7/8 Sheffield blade?..or does it not matter?..or what about a Japanese or Chinese hone?


pcdad

You want a 12K Naniwa, which is 12,000 grit. They are very user friendly. Chinese 12K hones are also very good and financially friendly! They just take alot more strokes. I'd go for the Naniwa - less strokes = less room for error at this stage.

+1 to scipio and grsparks, the barber hone is the cheapest and most efficient way to go, 3-6 round trips and you are ready to shave!

It has been about 6 weeks, so a touch up may be in order.

I would buy a barber hone, then a packet of CrO & some balsa form the hobby store. I think I have seen some people sell prepasted balsa with a little packet for the future too.

This setup should keep you going for a long time.

whats balsa?..buy a barbershone..chromium oxide and balsa?..why not just buy a barbers n work on some honing..would a barbers hone be good enough for all 3 of my different razors?..im watching some barber hones on ebay..tryin to find the best ones in best condition..isnt easy..any pointers?

1. Sheffield 7/8
2. Henn 5/8 (tad under)
3. Duble Duck 6/8


pcdad

Sure, if you get a good one and like the edge of fit; you will probably be happy.

I would get one from glen. He cleans em, laps 'em, and evaluates 'em.

What is Balsa Wood?
Easily make a pasted balsa strop - Straight Razor Place Wiki

Quote:

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Originally Posted by pcdad

whats balsa?..buy a barbershone..chromium oxide and balsa?..why not just buy a barbers n work on some honing..would a barbers hone be good enough for all 3 of my different razors?..im watching some barber hones on ebay..tryin to find the best ones in best condition..isnt easy..any pointers?

1. Sheffield 7/8
2. Henn 5/8 (tad under)
3. Duble Duck 6/8


pcdad

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I don't think Lynn sells barber hones..does he?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Scipio

To be honest, touching up is the best way to learn honing IMO. Remember that touching up and honing are really two completely different things. All you are doing is polishing an already sharp edge. You could buy a barber hone for under 50 dollars and use 4-6 strokes which I doubt you'd go wrong. Or a Naniwa 12K and do 10-20 strokes, if you want to purchase from SRD.

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+1. Just keep it super light and you'll do fine.

You might find a barber hone in the classifieds... A Nani 12K would also work for touch ups, and I know SRP sells those.

As for judging when to do a touch up - it's pretty obvious you're in need of one now, but usually I judge the shave-readiness of a razor with a WTG stroke on my sideburn. I can tell by the resistance if I need to hone or not. It removes all of the other variables and let's me judge just the edge itself.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by pcdad

whats balsa?..buy a barbershone..chromium oxide and balsa?..why not just buy a barbers n work on some honing..would a barbers hone be good enough for all 3 of my different razors?..im watching some barber hones on ebay..tryin to find the best ones in best condition..isnt easy..any pointers?

1. Sheffield 7/8
2. Henn 5/8 (tad under)
3. Duble Duck 6/8


pcdad

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Dont worry about all of the extra stuff, just get a good barbers hone and it will work for any good razor.

as of now..I am watching on auction 2 "Swaty" razor hones and a "Boss" Barber hone..done in 2 days
Funny thing is..plenty of ZeepK hones also..yea I hear anything with that word is a "no no"

pcdad

Dad -- you can try this right now and it may be all you need at this time:

Take a thin section of newspaper -- thee to six sheets would be fine -- and lay it flat on the edge of a table or your kitchen counter (you could even tape it in place). For the top sheet, try to pick a page of advertisement that has lots of ink on it. That's important because the carbon in the printer's ink is a mild abrasive. Strop 100 - 150 strokes on the newspaper (one pass each side of the blade = one stroke). Then do your usual stropping on your hanging strop.

Since your razor is just now beginning to show evidence of losing it's keenness, stopping on newspaper (as a substitute for a pasted strop) may be all that it needs to recover the edge. I have yet to buy a pasted strop. I do the above and it works fine for me.

Give it a try -- it's not something that you need to wait for it to arrive in the mail.
Namaste,
Morty -_-

I have heard of that newspaper idea..my thoughts are:...well..there is artificial ink..will come in contact with the blade and yer skin..dunno if its something I wanna send into my blood stream..IMOO

ok...I have decided to send her out to Max to be honed..I think Lynn is really booked for awhile ;-)

I thought to myself (as I always do)...I realized if I wanted to hone em myself..which I am sure one day I will!..I really don't have much space for anything else in my bathroom..nor in my condo..wife n 18mo old took over most of the 1,800 sq ft..yea that's women for ye!..but I'm ok with it

For now..whats $20 and a week or so that lasts me about 4 months with 2 of my other razors to use in the meantime?..for now..til me n the fam getta house n get "comfy" with real living space..
...isn't that why one would get more than 1..the others to be used for the time being?..Thnx everyone for your thoughts/ideas/opinions!

PcDad

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Scipio

To be honest, touching up is the best way to learn honing IMO. Remember that touching up and honing are really two completely different things. All you are doing is polishing an already sharp edge. You could buy a barber hone for under 50 dollars and use 4-6 strokes which I doubt you'd go wrong. Or a Naniwa 12K and do 10-20 strokes, if you want to purchase from SRD.

I personally dislike pastes and while I don't discourage them, you will need to use a hone at some point as pastes are only a quick fix at best - they will round an edge eventually.

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Good stuff here...thanks!