Thread: Sharp blade?

Hey guys, quick questions. First the question that lead to my real question. I’ve shaved twice so far with the straight razor I bought at whipped dog. The first time I shaved without stropping because I was instructed to and the second time when I had to shave I read the instruction for the strop I had and it said to use some oil on the strop before using. It was the morning, I didn’t have time to buy this oil and I had to shave so I shaved without stropping. Now I figure I’m being anal, but have I ruined the blade?

This caused me to think about the process to hone. You basically pass the blade across the hone many times x-pattern, opposite of what you would with a strop, edge first, successionally from a low grit to a very high grit stone. Now it seems to me since the advice is to hone every three months or so if your only using one razor to shave every day, that if you hone more frequently you don’t have to start at the lower grit stones and just use the higher grit stone, for less time more frequently. I don’t know what the frequency would be, that I guess would come with trial and error. I actually would love to hone for like two minutes every day, so long as it saves me from honing for hours once every three months, stropping, and I suspect that I would have a perfectly sharp razor every shave?

Sorry to say.
with shaving without stropping will not ruin the blade.
There is no way.
Don't hone the blade etc.
Contact the Larry and explain to him. i am sure he would be gladly fix your issues.
gl

Originally Posted by Knife

Hey guys, quick questions. First the question that lead to my real question. I’ve shaved twice so far with the straight razor I bought at whipped dog. The first time I shaved without stropping because I was instructed to and the second time when I had to shave I read the instruction for the strop I had and it said to use some oil on the strop before using. It was the morning, I didn’t have time to buy this oil and I had to shave so I shaved without stropping. Now I figure I’m being anal, but have I ruined the blade?

This caused me to think about the process to hone. You basically pass the blade across the hone many times x-pattern, opposite of what you would with a strop, edge first, successionally from a low grit to a very high grit stone. Now it seems to me since the advice is to hone every three months or so if your only using one razor to shave every day, that if you hone more frequently you don’t have to start at the lower grit stones and just use the higher grit stone, for less time more frequently. I don’t know what the frequency would be, that I guess would come with trial and error. I actually would love to hone for like two minutes every day, so long as it saves me from honing for hours once every three months, stropping, and I suspect that I would have a perfectly sharp razor every shave?

You are talking about what many people did for years,, you can "Maintain" a razor for years that way, most use a Barber's hone to do that but any shave comfortable stone works...
I personally maintained two razors for over 20 years with once a week touch ups using a very nice White Arkansas stone worked just fine...

Note, that when my razors sustained actual damage I tossed them, in fact that is how I found SRP, I was shopping for new razors.... I had no idea that I could have fixed those chips back then, nor did I have the tools...

You will always need to strop before each shave, no amount of honing will ever prevent that. Also I think you misunderstand, if you are honing every 3 months to touch up you will not need to go to the lower grits or spend hours honing.

[QUOTE=gssixgun;831174]You are talking about what many people did for years,, you can "Maintain" a razor for years that way, most use a Barber's hone to do that but any shave comfortable stone works...
QUOTE]

Thanks for your reply, now first question, if many people did that for years, does that mean, for some reason they stopped? Secondly, when you say you can maintain a razor for years that way, does that mean you can not indefenitly (til you don't have a blade left of course) maintain the razor like that?

Like Glen I had a couple of blades and a barbers hone for years (20 approx) and had good shaves all along, not the great shaves that I am accustomed to now but just as good as using a throw away.

Stropping will make for a more comfortable shave by "conditioning" the edge of the razor before you use it. It's similar to using a knife steel on a knife, if you're got any experience there. So you can definitely shave without stropping, but eventually (I assume) your shaves will get pretty uncomfortable.

The honing regimen you describe is what I'm presently attempting. I wouldn't mind a touch up on a barber's hone every week or so, but I don't have the time/effort/money to learn how to and regularly hone my razors. So I got a couple of barber's hones and I'm giving it a shot - and so far it's worked out pretty well. My razors haven't been as sharp as when they come back from a proper honing, but they're definitely sharp enough to deliver a close, clean shave without any trouble or irritation.

So to answer your main question: yes you can do that, just get a barber's hone. There are a few videos on Youtube on how to use a barber's hone; Gssixgun has one on his Youtube channel.

Originally Posted by thehekler

You will always need to strop before each shave, no amount of honing will ever prevent that. Also I think you misunderstand, if you are honing every 3 months to touch up you will not need to go to the lower grits or spend hours honing.

Well my instructions on the shave ready razor I bought from whipped dog, was to not strop before the first shave, that makes me think that a freshly honed razor does not need to be stroped? I would think that if you pass a few times over a barber hone every day before shaving you would have that freshly honed edge that would not need to be stroped?

Not knowing anything of the microscopic effect shaving, stropping, or honing does to a blade, I would think every shave dulls the blade a little. Again not knowing what is going on, I would think that that dulling process comes to a head three months down the line when it needs to be resharpened, and if you do it every day you never get that incrementally duller blade shave every day?

Originally Posted by Knife

Well my instructions on the shave ready razor I bought from whipped dog, was to not strop before the first shave, that makes me think that a freshly honed razor does not need to be stroped? I would think that if you pass a few times over a barber hone every day before shaving you would have that freshly honed edge that would not need to be stroped?

He probably told you not to strop it because he stropped it after he honed it, and thus you didn't need to.

Honing a razor sharpens the edge (i.e. makes the flat part of the edge, in microscopic terms, less wide) but also causes it to be rough, since you're essentially sanding down the metal on the edge. Stropping helps to eliminate the roughness cause by honing and shaving, which is why you should strop after each honing and shave.

Originally Posted by zappbrannigan

Stropping will make for a more comfortable shave by "conditioning" the edge of the razor before you use it. It's similar to using a knife steel on a knife, if you're got any experience there. So you can definitely shave without stropping, but eventually (I assume) your shaves will get pretty uncomfortable.

The honing regimen you describe is what I'm presently attempting. I wouldn't mind a touch up on a barber's hone every week or so, but I don't have the time/effort/money to learn how to and regularly hone my razors. So I got a couple of barber's hones and I'm giving it a shot - and so far it's worked out pretty well. My razors haven't been as sharp as when they come back from a proper honing, but they're definitely sharp enough to deliver a close, clean shave without any trouble or irritation.

So to answer your main question: yes you can do that, just get a barber's hone. There are a few videos on Youtube on how to use a barber's hone; Gssixgun has one on his Youtube channel.

Ok, I trust you guys, it dosn't make sense in my mind, but if stroping makes for a better shave then I'll strop. I just can't conceive of a sharper blade then a freshly honed blade. By the why I just thought of this, you all are talking about using a barbers hone. I had envisioned using a proper hone, just a higher grit version, like a 8K or 10 even. You figure if I use that every day or week and strop that I would have a perfectly sharp blade for as long as the razor lasts and not have to hone every three months?