Thread: Honing Help Required

I think it's actually a good question, not that anyone said it wasn't, just thought I'd say it's a good question. Of course, as everyone has alluded, there's a lot of variables (coarseness of beard, technique, hardness of steel, and one not mentioned, stropping technique). You may find that as your technique improves (in beard preparation, stropping and shaving technique) the need to hone may diminish.

BTW, I haven't ground my stubble into another man's. Is this something I've missed? (I'm still only a beginner)...

[EDIT] Oh, BTW, do you strop between passes? I've started doing this (though for a fewer number of laps than the initial pre-shave stropping) and find it beneficial...

Originally Posted by carlmaloschneider

I think it's actually a good question, not that anyone said it wasn't, just thought I'd say it's a good question. Of course, as everyone has alluded, there's a lot of variables (coarseness of beard, technique, hardness of steel, and one not mentioned, stropping technique). You may find that as your technique improves (in beard preparation, stropping and shaving technique) the need to hone may diminish.

BTW, I haven't ground my stubble into another man's. Is this something I've missed? (I'm still only a beginner)...

Are you sure you're Australian?

Originally Posted by Mr. Schneider

[EDIT] Oh, BTW, do you strop between passes? I've started doing this (though for a fewer number of laps than the initial pre-shave stropping) and find it beneficial...

I can hear the little imperfections being pulled gently back in line on my paddle strop. full hollows are obviously much more vocal. the still of night and all that. I agree, Carl. Just 10-20 laps and it sounds clean. I haven't been doing much with this, because I believe that for a man with as sparse a beard as mine it is reasonable to expect a complete 3-4 pass shave without stropping a razor (I have some thick hairs, though).

Hey, Westminster... you take your time to cogitate. I should also mention what is common knowledge (not my own) about coticules having some variance in their speed in cutting power and final finishing potential. You may need to use more laps to truly bring it up to speed. If you think about it, the truer the edge the less quickly it will degrade because there is less resistance to it and less deflection of metal and impactions/dulling. I've purposely taken a number of razors "out" beyond fast, close, safe shaving just to gauge the quality of the steel in them. The more frequently you maintain your razor the better it will serve you (within reason), so you seem to be doing well on awareness of your shaver's condition, maybe it's just not brought back all the way? Carl's right, most of us, even if we can hone early on, still have improvement on the strops... I'm as guilty as any other.

P.S. how long do you soak your whiskers? do they truly feel as soft as they can be (have they felt softer in the past, such as after showering)?

Originally Posted by AxelH

...Are you sure you're Australian?
...

Well, actually I've just lived here for 48 of my near on 50 years, I was born in England, my heritage is German, English, French... :-)

Hi AxelH, thank you for your input their is a lot to consider, I only have the one St8 razor and I thought I was doing something wrong, my stubble is quite course especially around the coate area, I will pay more attention the the pre shave preparation. I've started to do more laps with a slurry then without will see how I get on. Thank you all for the advice regards Ian

okay but please clarify what you mean by the "coate" area.

and, westy, olde chap, your avatar picture is drivin' me bonkers! let's see a close-up low-res of yer mug.

I'd take guess a guess at 'Goatee', and I think your avatar looks very nice Westy, you have very nice breasts...