Thread: Is my razor sharp enough?

Originally Posted by ultrasoundguy2003

When I think I am there.
I lift my shirt and shave my belly hair. Lotsa area there LOL.
My wife calls me patches.
No hair left on my left hand and arm and its easier then bending over to shave my leg
Rt hand dominant .Lt side of my body is a hair-less wonder.
If you can shave you belly and not eviscerate your self you done good.

I do this too, but my wife calls me nuts.

Holy thread resurrection!

"Patches"

[QUOTE] ..."Back to my questions: how do I know the blade is properly sharp? Is it possible to trash a professional hone with poor stropping - even if I'm not cutting the leather or banging the blade on metal?"...

Yes, it is possible to trash a properly honed edge with poor stropping; definitely, which is why often the advice is to NOT strop a razor you've just received that's been professionally honed. Generally, I've found that whenever I've recieved a razor where the seller has stated it's ahve ready it has indeed been shave ready. Problem is, if you just then have the one razor, it'll dull over time; even discounting the fact you may dull the edge by poor stropping. What may happen there is that after a while, it still shaves, but not as well as it did, and you don't REALLY notice as it's dulled over a fair length of time; you're 'lulled into a false content with dullness' so to speak.

So, how do you NOW know your razor is sharp enough; now you've forgotten what a really truly shave ready razor feels like?

Best idea in my opinion is buy more than one razor. Get a professionally honed razor followed by at least one other professionally honed razor. Use predominantly one of those razors. Let's call that razor 'B'. The other razor we'll call 'A'. Protect the 'A' razor as your 'standard' or benchmark.

Buy a Shapton 16kor similar; it's really the only hone you need at this stage.

When the 'B' razor feels less sharp than the 'A' razor use the Shapton 16k (after learning how) to bring it back to par; as little as 10 strokes can be enough. Keep using mainly the 'B' razor, but keep testing it against the 'A' razor (i.e. use the 'A' razor only once a fortnight, or once a month). When it dulls (in my experience a razor will stay shave ready for months) bring it back to par using the Shapton 16k.

You can swap razors ('A' becomes 'B') when they're both shave ready; but remember they're different razors (unless of course you buy two the same or even a set) and will act differently.

I basically did this when I started but had three razors for some time. I kept one as a 'Sunday only' ('A') razor (it still is BTW). Luckily for me, that one was a Klas Törnblom. The Swedish steel is very hard, so it keeps its edge for a long time; it's good I think to maybe choose a Swedish razor as one's test ('A') razor.

I gradually learnt to also use a Norton 4/8, but I still, after several years of SR shaving, use it very rarely; it normally for me comes down to just a refresh on the 16k.

BTW, we're all different in regards to hair growth, etc, so other people's razors may dull faster than mine (I have quite a light beard). I also rotate these days 6 straights and a DE. I use of the straights (the Klas Törnblom) just once a week and use a DE these days up to twice a week. Generally I don't shave Saturdays. This might give you an idea of the use my razors get.

I now keep a 'honing journal' documenting every time I hone a razor. This allows me to actually KNOW what I do and advise accordingly. I think last time I looked a razor took about three months before I needed to give it a few laps on the 16k.

Hope this is helpful.

Carl

Just realised I'd already replied to this thread, sorry...

Originally Posted by meperry64

Can someone please answer this specific question? How do we test to confirm the blade is properly sharp and ready to shave.

I understand all this takes patience and practice to develop technique, which is what makes straight razor shaving so compelling. The part that worries me is trying to develop that technique with an ill-prep'd blade where I can never get off the ground.

I'm concerned at the very least I may not be stropping correctly (width of strop, linen vs. leather, # of strokes, etc), but at worst that my inexperience may be killing the professional shave-ready hone and so I need to start thinking of going back to the beginning and learn to use the stone. I'm not afraid of the stone, I just want to know when it's necessary.

I realize there are many here who are sufficiently experienced that you "just know" your blades are well-prep'd and ready after honing and stropping.

My specific question: what test(s) of the blade for adequate prep did you use as you developed that experience - how do you know when the blade needs add'l or adjusted stropping vs. how do you know when it's time to hone - where you were able to proceed with confidence that your blades were ready and so allowed you to focus on face prep, lathering, blade angles, etc.

Thanks for any more guidance.

Super late reply, but for anyone who read through like me, this may benefit you...

I had the same problems/worries listed above, but didn't want to send away the razor. So I focused on technique...

...and found significant improvements after doing so. It was definitely not the razor sharpness (though it probably could have been honed a little better).

If you can get at least one good pass down your cheek, it's probably sharp enough.

Here's what I focused on:
* Stretching the skin. This was a huge one for me. Buy an alum block if you don't have one. They're super cheap and great to help you. I stretched my skin in the opposite direction my hair was growing, and that made my hairs stand up. One pass with my thought-it-needed-sharpening razor took them out and gave me the coveted baby butt smoothness.
* Angle of the razor. Experiment even going with 45 degrees so you can see what angle really works for you. Just be careful. For example, for me to go ATG and even XTG in some areas, the blade is almost completely parallel to my face.
* Watch barber shave videos. I don't mean the How-to videos (you've already watched those plenty, I'm sure). I mean the barber shop videos advertising for a specific place. They usually give a close-up of the shave itself. Look at how much they stretch the skin, how short the strokes are, and the angle at which the razor is to the skin.
* Mapping out hair growth. I didn't break out a pencil and paper, but I very closely studied how my face hair was growing. I didn't realize how wacky it grew.

If you're sure your technique is good, and you're noticing a decline in quality shaves, then it might be time for a touch-up honing. Otherwise, it's likely your technique.

Think about it: we've spent years shaving, and now we're trying to change all that muscle memory. We're basically learning to shave again!

The HHT is not definitively the indicator of shave readiness, but I've found that the correlation is pretty strong. If my razor won't cut a hanging hair at least half the time, it's time to CrOx it.

Still all according to who's hair and how you do it I can make a knife cut a hair,, but I can tell you this with my wife's hair or mute the HHT doesn't cut and my razors are done by on of the best out there and they shave with out any effort smooth and clean , don't put faith in much more than the shave test, or maybe look at the edge under magnification. Tc

As someone else on this site (can't remember who) said once,"I've had some bad shaves off razors that passed the HHT test, but I've never had a good shave off one that didn't". Sums it up for me too.

I see Lynn's videos where he is shaving his arm at mid length. I have two professionally shaved razors from two respected sharpeners and neither will shave at mid length? I am going to buy a razor from Lynn to act as a standard. I have Shapton stones 500, 1,2,4,8,16 and 30k and cannot get a razor scary sharp. I am wondering if this is a myth. I am getting razors that cut hair, but not like Lynn's videos.