Thread: I've gone a bit overboard

Got my best shave tonight with the twin.

My web/leather strop came in the mail today. That's sooooo much better than the one that came in my kit from dovo. I have the paste that came with the kit to turn that strop into a pasted strop. I'll do that as soon as I'm sure how to.

Sounds like you have jumped in with both feet. Congrats. I have purchased about 2 doz razors since I started, and have made 8 of them shave ready.Still working on the others.

Originally Posted by jcsixx

I now have seven razors...my wife may kill me. I bought:

dovo invisible edge
j.r torrey
2 bokers (one is a red injun...not sure what the other is...)
j.a. henkels
dubl duck
rogers cutlery

my plan was to get a few different of the highly recommended types to find which one works for me OR to have a seven day rotation. I think I'll add a filarmonica and a wade & butcher at some point.

Does anyone know anything about the Rogers cutlery co? It was my first "shave ready" razor, but it's an 11/16 blade spike point. That's a bit to big for me to use at this point.

That is a fine selection....

Pick one or two that feels right and get 'em honed by a pro.

You mentioned "honing" and it sounded as if you want to hone
these yourself. You can do the math and decide if you
want a set of hones or a single finisher. A professional will
run your razor over $500 to $2000 worth of hones and return
a shave ready razor to you. In my opinion this can be a bargain
especially when you factor in the experience factor...

Maintaining a shave ready blade is almost easy and can be
done with a good canvas+leather strop and a finishing hone
(or sending it back out).

My workhorse hone has been the Norton 4K/8K combo.
Many folk like the finish from the 8K side. I like to
take it half a notch further with a Naniwa Super Stone 12000
hone. In my opinion the 12K Naniwa Super Stone is the
only hone needed to maintain professionally honed razors
for years on end.

I have a Norton 4/8k and follow it with a 12K Naniwa Super Stone.
If I was buying new today I would consider getting all Naniwa Super Stones
because the systematic progression from a single vendor is often smoother
and more reliable.

So if the family budget needs attention sending a selection of
razors out one or two at a time for professional care is a grand plan.

With two well honed blades in hand you can shave well for months
and ponder the next step.

There's plenty of info in the Wiki about pasted strops.

FWIW (from a newbie):

I put a little CrOxide paste on _one side_ of my cloth strop (attached to the leather strop). That gives me either a plain, or pasted, cloth strop. A pain to switch from one to the other, though.

Leave the leather plain.

I have it on good authority that balsa pasted strops give better results that cloth; I haven't tested that, yet.

My problem with pasted strops is avoiding over-use. They leave a nice edge, and it's tempting to shortcut plain-leather honing and resort to the pasted strop too often.

Charles

Thanks for the input fellas.

Could a pasted strop be used to get some of the razors I purchased shave ready? These are the razors that haven't been honed professionally yet...or are pasted strops used only to "refresh" the edge?

I think a few of the blades aren't in horrible condition and it wouldn't take a lot to get them ready.

Short answer:

. . . Probably not.

A pasted strop is great for polishing an already-sharp edge. "Already-sharp" means that it's been sharpened on a stone (or sandpaper) to somewhere between 4000 and 8000 grit. The edge and bevel should look flawless _before you start_ with the pasted strop.

It really is a polishing tool, not a sharpening or honing tool.

I found this in the Wiki:

Using micro abrasive film - Straight Razor Place Wiki

and more-or-less followed its guidance. I found that 2000-grit sandpaper wasn't fine enough as a final grit, but 5-micron microabrasive paper was OK. After the 5-micron microabrasive, I could use a chromium oxide (0.5 micron) pasted strop (and leather strop) and get a good shave.

One warning (to forestall some critics):

You'll need as much skill using sandpaper, as you will using stones. It's cheaper (in small quantities), but it's not easier.

My experience is that a blade that looks "not too bad" naked-eye, looks a lot worse under 10x magnification. It usually requires a full "bevel reset", with 600- or 1000-grit paper.

Most people use sharpening stones -- I just bought my first one, and I'm still working out the kinks.

Charles

Griffon Carbo Magnetic 5/8
W&B 5/8
W.H. Morley 5/8
twins 5/8
twins 5/8
twins 5/8 platinum carbon

Also...got a magneto steel razor...anyone ever hear of that?

The most likely thing I found in a quick web search is:

F. Dick - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

which mentions "Magneto Steel" sharpening steels, toward the bottom. Could be the same company.

Charles