Thread: 1st time touching up an edge

A little bit of a burn this morning after shaving and I seemed to have to work harder during the shave. This evening I tried the HHT and it failed all along the blade. I got my 2nd razor in the mail today so now I have an edge to compare too. It passed the HHT with flying colors. I watched Lynn's video for about the 4th time on honing and tried my new Naniwa 12000 grit stone. I made 15 passes followed by 20 on the canvas strop and 40 on the leather. Wow pops the hairs right off.
My beard is not that heavy and I'm only 3 weeks into this so I must have rolled the edge learning to use the strop. Actually I'm still learning but improving.
Can't wait to try it tomorrow morning.
I just might be getting the hang of this This would be so hard to learn alone. Sure glad for the help.
Karl

Sounds good! I'd double up on the stropping, but that's just me.

Originally Posted by ace

Sounds good! I'd double up on the stropping, but that's just me.

At least! After honing an edge its nothing for me to do 100 laps on linen and then again on the leather.

After a touch up on the hone , I strop 40 on linen , and 80 on leather . Otherwise , I do 20 on linen , and 40 on leather . I'm one of those guys who touches up my razor at the first sign that it's losing it's edge . So I hone more frequently than some of the other guys . I usually do 5 laps on the Shapton 15k , and then 10-15 on the Nakayama Asagi (Japanese natural hone , or J-nat as some call them) .

I touch up on the Nani 12K also, but then use Crox and .15 carat on strops. The do the 100 laps on linen or felt and 100 on leather. Sounds like your on your way.

This mornings shave went well. No burn. So I've learned to tell when the edge needs to be touched up. Or at least to recognize when the quality of the shave has degraded.
Still working on the ATG shave. I thought I'd have the most trouble with my chin but I'm not having any real issues with that area. I'm having the most trouble with my neck. Shaving up I can't seem to keep the pressure even. Think it's a confidence thing. My hand is just not steady enough yet, especially my left hand. So at this point I cheat and finish up my neck with my DE.

Originally Posted by karlej

My hand is just not steady enough yet, especially my left hand. So at this point I cheat and finish up my neck with my DE.

That's not cheating , that's smart . Your skill will increase with every shave . It's that learning curve thing .

I use my pasted strop to do the touch ups to keep the blade sharp. 40 laps on the canvass and 70 on leather does a good job in between shaves.

Each blade has its "sweet spot" of what you have to do to keep it tuned just right for you.

Pabster

I have pastes but have only used them once. They work, but I like to go with the Shapton 16K and at least 100 laps on plain leather.

Originally Posted by karlej

A little bit of a burn this morning after shaving and I seemed to have to work harder during the shave.

I'm only 3 weeks into this so I must have rolled the edge learning to use the strop.

Congrats! As you've indicated above, you've learned when a blade requires a touch up, though if you were getting some razor burn you might want to touch up a little sooner the next time.

I don't think you rolled the edge, most likely naturally dulled from use. If you had rolled it your blade would hardly shave, if at all. 3 weeks in, with newbie stropping and shaving technique, is pretty good and probably about the time you'd want to refresh the edge for best results.