Thread: Help!

I'm nowhere near a shaving demigod, I'm just a man with a razor right now... but I can definitely say that this is NOT the way it is "supposed to be" during your shave. My shaves are, for the most part, smooth and tug free. There's no pain or discomfort involved unless I'm stupid and not paying attention and manage to nick myself and even then there's no real pain due to the sharpness of the blade

I'd definitely suspect your stropping technique. It's very easy to ruin the edge on a blade with bad stropping. You can also ruin it by improperly cleaning the blade after you are done (don't just wipe it down with a bath towel and run it along the edge, for example). I would suggest doing a video skype session with someone here and having them show you a good stropping technique as well as critiquing yours. It would be even better if you live close to a member who can help you in person.

Str8 shaving isn't rocket science, but it's also something that requires practice to get down. In the old days we would've learned this from our fathers (or an uncle in my case since my dad got killed when I was 3) but nowdays we're trying to rekindle a nearly lost art so we have to help each other.

-- Gary F.

Thanks everyone!

I was quite 'let down' after the shave from hell. I glad to know it's not required

I'm about to lap the blade a few times on the 60K grit paper that came with the hone and try again. I'll let you know what happens - hopefully not from the emergency ward.

Bob

Originally Posted by JAG

I'm about to lap the blade a few times on the 60K grit paper that came with the hone and try again.

60K paper? Are you sure? I thought plain old paper was around 10k grit?

60,000 grit - that's the claim both on their (HandAmerican) website and on my packing slip. Is this unreasonable? I'm just as new to the whole sharpening business as I am to straight razor shaving. I really don't know.

As for my razor woes:

Today I did 10 laps on the aforementioned paper and then about 30 on the red latigo strop that came with the system.
The consequent shave was much improved!

Four passes with no cuts and no irritation to speak of. I really concentrated on keeping the blade flat and was amazed that it cut at all - but it did. While this has been the closest shave with the straight that I've had so far there is still room for improvement. To come mostly from better technique I expect.

I felt much better about what I was doing. It's encouraging to witness improvement.

A question: Does the principle of reduction of the beard apply to the straight razor shave as well? It seemed to me that I was hearing the same cutting noise as I went over and over the same area (it just got easier to do so).

All in all, I feel pretty happy right now Thanks for all your help - it makes a difference.

Bob

P.S: I don't have Skype capability available to me and I'm slowly moving to the Calgary, Alberta region so for the time being I can't make contact with a veteran for in person mentoring But the help here and most of all your encouragement goes a long way. Thanks again.

I've never used the handamerican stuff, didn't realize their sandpaper went that high. If they say it's 60k grit then that's what it is. Glad the razor is better, but it does sound like it still isn't quite sharp enough so you may want to give it a few more passes tonight. For this kind of thing where I'm just refreshing the edge, I strop the blade beforehand to make sure the edge is straight. There's no point removing more metal than necessary.

Yes, reduction generally applies to straight shaves as well. Everybody does their passes differently, but most people seem to do at least two unless they're in a hurry.

mparker762:

Thanks for the tip. I tried it today.

I stropped about 30x then went bak to the 60K grit for 20 laps and then stropped again just before shaving.

It made a difference to be sure. Also my skill seems to have improved a little so all in all the shave was very good. (4 passes - the last one with water only, no nicks/cuts that survived the cold rinse, no lasting irritation)

I wonder though if I can still do better. I've read that you can wreck the edge by overhoning just as easily as by bad stropping and I certainly don't want to back to where I was last week.

Is there a way of telling when you are getting close to the optimum sharpness for a particular blade?

Bob

answer: Thumbnail test ...then shave with it!

read here for Thumbnail test:

http://www.classicshaving.com/articl...90351/4057.htm

There is one universal test for sharpness, and conveniently enough it is also the ultimate test: how well does it shave?

There are proxies that can be used during honing, but they all have their problems. The hanging-hair test depends on your hair, and doesn't work for lots of people. The thumbnail test generally works but is a binary test. The thumb test generally works and can tell you degrees of sharpness but takes awhile to develop the feel, so it's not helpful while learning to hone.

How does your face feel after a shave? Any razor burn? How are you getting the nicks you mentioned -- when putting the razor down, when trying to shave under your nose, or are you getting them on open skin? Is there any pulling on your whiskers when you shave? All of these are signs that your razor isn't quite sharp enough and you're having to use too much pressure to make it cut.

If all these are fine, then your blade is probably sharp enough -- it may not be honemeister sharp, but it's "shaving sharp" nonetheless, and will serve you well while you work on your stropping and shaving technique. In a month or so you can send your razor out to Lynn or Joe for honing, or (even better) buy another razor and send it out to them, so you can have something to compare your hone work with while you work on your honing technique.

If the blade isn't sharp enough, then you might want to drop back to a lower grit -- 8k or so, and work your way back up. Those high grits are usually used for polishing an already sharp edge, not sharpening a dull one. All the cases I've heard of overhoning have involved high-grit abrasives (usually 0.25 micron diamond pastes which are similar to your 60k paper).

Thanks.

I tried adding some laps on the 60K this morning before my shave. A little rougher than yesterday but not in " @#$%!#$ that hurts!" category at all.

Tomorrow I think I'll try a few laps at a coarser grit before bringing it up through the 60K.

It's coming along though. I get the impression that it's going to take some time to get good at it and therefore I shouldn't get too ambitious with what I'm trying to do (get a perfectly smooth shave, cut down on the passes it takes etc.)

That idea about getting some other razors sharpened by <insert name of your favorite honing god here> to have for comparison is a good one. I've found some old razors in 2nd hand stores that might do - they need a little work though.

Bob

Bob