Thread: Shave Ready....By me!!

Originally Posted by SpicyJem

Nice job! How were you able to tell when your razor needed honing? Was it when a regular stropping didn't improve the shaving experience?

Hi SpicyJem,

Yes basically. I stropped the razor repeatedly but it always seemed to pull. So I got a set of Naniwas (1,3,8,12K), watched a few youtube videos and had a go. Made a few mistakes, but just started back at 1K and worked my way through again. I taped the blade, as I knew I'd need a fair few passes until I'd got the hang of it (not that I have really, plenty more practice needed!).

I didn't really follow any pyramids etc, I just switched between 8k and 12K until the edge felt "sticky" and it passed the HHT all the way down the blade. I probably did something like 5x 1K, 7x 3k and 5x on the 8k and 12k alternately a couple of times.

Then did about 10-20 passes on the pasted strop followed by 20-30 on the leather strop.

Just had another shave with it. After the first pass I could tell it was starting to pull (only very very little), so I did another 10-20 laps on the leather strop and it was back to shave ready again. Did the second pass and then about 10-20 laps on the leather strop before putting it away. I tested the edge before putting it away and it's ready for the next shave.

I'm not sure if it’s usual to need to strop between passes? Not sure if this is something to do with the edge, the blade\metal, or my face? A couple of laps on the strop and its back to shave ready, so I'm happy with that anyway.

Rich

Congrats on your achievement. Great feeling to hone a razor and then shave with it.

As far as stropping between passes in concerned: I've done it a few times on a razor that began to pull during a shave. It cannot hurt anything and I'm certain the senior guys will weigh in and explain why it can happen.

Enjoy the day.

I'm no razor expert but it sounds like maybe a wire edge?

Originally Posted by infamous

I'm no razor expert but it sounds like maybe a wire edge?

Normally not, as I understand it, the edge would just continuously break down again until you put it right more definitively. Congrats to the OP, it is indeed a great feeling to shave off your own edge.

Congratulations. Now you can really call yourself a man.