Thread: Newbie Question....Touch up hone, or good stropping session?

Before I started honing I would strop on a newspaper which helped a lot in my opinion

If your stropping technique is good -- you keep the spine on the strop, and don't press hard on the edge -- then:

. . . Give the razor a _good_ stropping -- like 100 laps fabric, followed by 200 laps leather.

If you're lucky, that may help restore the edge.

If that doesn't work, and you have a pasted strop (leather, cloth, or balsa, 0.5 micron CrOxide or diamond), do 10 laps on the pasted strop, and test the edge.

If that doesn't work, you'll have to rub it on a rock.

Charles

PS -- this is a re-phrasing of an earlier suggestion. The principle is:

. . . Remove only as much metal as you _must_ remove.

So I have been honing and stropping a little bit everyday (been kinda busy with class) and today I had a bit more time and my razor passed the hanging hair test. I guess now I can find out if anything else might be influencing the premature dulling aside from newbie technique lol. Gonna go get ready to shave and see what happens.

I picked up a barber's hone on e-Bay (probably 12k or so) and use that once a month, 7-8 strokes blade leading. I use a pasted balsa wood piece once or twice a week, about 10 strops on that (spine leading). I found that keeps the edge on the thing. It's easy to roll the edge though. I was just lucky I didn't do that when I started. I read about it and then wondered whether I'd already made the mistake.

Amazing how many of these questions have occured to me. What a great resource this is.

Do you use your barber's hone with water or dry?

When I used a barber hone I would use the same lather I would on my face.