Thread: Discouraged

Dave,

No you don't "need" to do an X pattern if your stone is that wide. Some members just go straight across the stone with the heel of the blade leading.

The problem with this is that if the edge has a slight smile or any other irregularity, the whole edge doesn't contact the stone--just a part of it.

The X-pattern helps ensure that the entire edge at least hits the stone at some point.

That said, the X-pattern has some problems of its own when you're using a wide stone, because the toe of the razor is on the stone for the whole stroke. I'm still working on getting an even edge along the whole blade. Right now my middle or toe tends to be sharper than the heel.

Good luck,
Josh

As a fellow newb I can't give you much technical advice but I can tell you two things that have gotten me over the hump of frustration. The first was to use half- or quarter-hollows. That made all the difference for me, esp. w/regards to the chin area. The second thing was to go minimal: one stone, two shave-ready razors (one from John Crowley the other from Joe Chandler) and one practice razor from ebay. I've been learning to hone gradually that way, first just refreshing and maintaining the two workhorses - then last week I got the third up to shave-sharp. It sounds like you've jumped into all of it at once – not only the stropping and shaving (no way around those two) and the honing, but also the restoration, the DIY projects, etc. It's cool that you're going into this holistically, but with so many learning curves at once it's easy to start going in circles.

Lets you and I go through this together . . . get one razor and lets start over with it. Any razor, I don't care which one. Just let me (us) know whether its carbon or stainless.

1. First back hone on 4k

2. Lap the 4K

3. Hone 10 passes on 4K, using enough pressure to hold the razor flat on the hone, about twice the weight of the blade.

Wet your thumb nail and run the razor down your nail and see if its smooth and bites into the nail. Thats running the blade along your nail like your playing a violin (but only one stroke). Try it twice and then post that you've done it or you've failed, or whatever might be in between. Second time, you can hold your thumbnail downward at a 45 degree angle. If the razor slides downward OFF your thumb it ain't biteing. Really concentrate and feel whether the edge is moving smoothly and without any gaps or increases in the drag.