Thread: How do I test the sharpness of a razor?

First of all, I am new to straightblade razors. I have a dumb question. How can i tell if the razors sharp? It works when shaving to an extent. I just don't have a feeling it's not as sharp as it is supposed to be. Yes, I strop about 25 times on leather. I found a video that a member had posted on stropping (cause I didn't know if I was doing it correctly). Any tips?

Thank you

To help us out with an answer could you tell us where you got the razor from?

Purchased off eBay. It says it is a GEO.WOSTENHOLM & SONS-SHEFFIELD ENGLAND. Peerless.

Doesn't look like it has much sign of honing.

Ok. Then it is most likely not shave ready. Your best bet would be to send it out to be proffessionally honed then you'll know for sure that it's not your technique causing you problems. There are many tests to determine sharpness that you can find in the WIKI here.

Oh ya...and welcome to SRP

Unless you want to go trial and error. Send it out for sharpening. Aside from anything else, it'll give you something to aim for if you get into it yourself (clue: this is really important).

Welcome to SRP. Another vote to send it out for pro honing here. You can find members who perform that service for a nominal fee in the SRP member services here . For stropping I don't know about videos but the 1961 barber manual excerpt from the SRP Wiki help files here has some good stuff to go with. It is a PDF file and the stropping info is in the last couple of pages.

You are probably too new at it to know the thumb pad test but that is what I do when I get a new razor. First the TPT and if that doesn't register sharp the TNT (thumb nail test). Down the road you'll learn those and of course the most important one, the shave test.

Indeed. Check out the member services section of the classifieds for someone near you to sharpen it for you. Don't go to a knife shop, as 99% chance they don't know how to properly sharpen a straight razor.