moving beyond leather

As I'm gradually learning straight-razor shaving, one thing I've noticed is how long whiskers are just as easily shaven as short stubble (maybe even easier). Compared to multiblade razors where anything over a day's growth starts to clog the blades.

So this led me to the idea that the straight razor would be perfect for cleaning up my legs. For anyone hung up on the masculinity issue, I do bicycle quite a bit so that's my cover for what it's worth. :boohoo: I have only ever bothered with it a couple of times over the years because I'm a pretty hairy guy and going about it with a multiblade took forever and led to terrible irritation from all the passes forcing clogged blades over and over the same spots.

The leg-shaving went really well, and it was simply amazing to see such large swaths of skin instantly cleared. Some spots were tricky but in a way it was a good learning experience in that the long strokes helped illustrate blade angle effects and tracking a surface in a way that the shorter face strokes don't. And there was no irritation whatsoever!.

Anyway, to get to the point, the blade didn't seem quite as keen for this morning's face shave. Maybe I didn't strop frequently enough during the leg shaving -- only stropped in-between legs figuring the hair is fine and sparse enough compared to face whiskers. But now I'm wondering if some of the shaved hair getting in the way of the blade might have been a problem after all. Probably should have stopped to clean the blade more frequently.

I did some extra work on the strop and that helped somewhat, but the edge still doesn't seem to be where it was. Under magnification the edge seems ok but there is about a 1mm spot where I think the edge is rolled just a bit. Not sure if it was from the extracurricular shaving or something else.

Is the CrO paste a logical next step? I did get some of the paste with my initial purchase. Though I don't want to use it on my 2-sided paddle strop and will get another strop for the purpose. In the meantime I think I've read where one can use newsprint as a temporary strop. Would it be reasonable to tape a few layers of paper to my countertop, rub a bit of CrO paste into it and strop on that?

Beyond pasting, I'd like to start thinking about getting a stone of some sort for touch-ups. What's a good choice? I am looking for just a single stone at this point. 8K, 12K or would it matter that much? Do all stones need to be "flattened", and how often is that needed if you're just running a few strokes once in a while to keep a keen edge?

Thanks!

When my main shaver starts feeling a bit off I give it 4-5 strokes on a felt with .5 diamond & 10ish on Crome oxide, then the regular leather.

One thing to consider is actually how much more shaving you really did. 2 legs combined are bound to have more hair cutting going on than a single face shave. Maybe beneficial to strop between legs? (not literally!)

As for longer growth, I think the razor only cares about the hair where it gets cut, anything beyond that should be irrelevant. I think a larger consideration here would be the skin & how it reacts to more frequent or seldom shaves.

I've just begun using a straight razor a few weeks ago and have a dozen or so shaves under my belt. I can honestly say that the only thing I've done is strop in between shaves for practice and I have seen no degradation in sharpness of my razors at all. Maybe you banged the edge or something? Don't really know but it leads to the question as to how quickly an edge will become unsharp, does this happen over one day or over the course of a week or more?

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Originally Posted by KenWeir

When my main shaver starts feeling a bit off I give it 4-5 strokes on a felt with .5 diamond & 10ish on Crome oxide, then the regular leather.

One thing to consider is actually how much more shaving you really did. 2 legs combined are bound to have more hair cutting going on than a single face shave. Maybe beneficial to strop between legs? (not literally!)

As for longer growth, I think the razor only cares about the hair where it gets cut, anything beyond that should be irrelevant. I think a larger consideration here would be the skin & how it reacts to more frequent or seldom shaves.

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As I went along I started taking more strokes without cleaning the blade, and then on the second pass with the blade loaded in this manner, some of the hairs cut on the first pass would droop over the edge of the blade. It was just laziness on my part. Initially it seemed like the razor was cutting through even this, but by the end I had to take more care to keep the edge clear.

I ended up with more hair on the floor than when I get a haircut. :p

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Originally Posted by Scookum

I've just begun using a straight razor a few weeks ago and have a dozen or so shaves under my belt. I can honestly say that the only thing I've done is strop in between shaves for practice and I have seen no degradation in sharpness of my razors at all. Maybe you banged the edge or something? Don't really know but it leads to the question as to how quickly an edge will become unsharp, does this happen over one day or over the course of a week or more?

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I might have bumped it somewhere along the line. It's a pretty small spot, maybe 1mm or less in length, and only a small fraction of the width of the bevel,. It's located about 1/3 of the distance from the toe of the blade. Tried feeling with it with a fingernail but couldn't really detect it that way. I only see it when viewing the bevel from one side under magnification.

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Under magnification the edge seems ok but there is about a 1mm spot where I think the edge is rolled just a bit. Not sure if it was from the extracurricular shaving or something else.

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These damage spots can be from light contact with a fingernail, putting the razor down on a hard surface fully opened or fouling the edge on the scales on closing.

As for some of your other questions, it would help to know what your razor is & how it was finished. The latter would be good to know if you aim to reproduce it's previous condition. It may be best for you to learn how to use an 8k hone but if the razor was finished on a 30 k, it may be a bit of a challenge for you to reproduce that edge. Mind you it may well be a challenge even if you have the exact same gear as whoever honed it.

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I ended up with more hair on the floor than when I get a haircut.

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Hair on the floor ? You did use lather , yes/no ?

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Originally Posted by onimaru55

These damage spots can be from light contact with a fingernail, putting the razor down on a hard surface fully opened or fouling the edge on the scales on closing.

As for some of your other questions, it would help to know what your razor is & how it was finished. The latter would be good to know if you aim to reproduce it's previous condition. It may be best for you to learn how to use an 8k hone but if the razor was finished on a 30 k, it may be a bit of a challenge for you to reproduce that edge. Mind you it may well be a challenge even if you have the exact same gear as whoever honed it.




Hair on the floor ? You did use lather , yes/no ?

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Lol, yes there was lather. The "floor" in this case being in the shower stall.

The razor was professionally honed to start. I am not looking for ultimate perfection at this point but a path that can keep the razor shaving nicely in-between major hone jobs.

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Originally Posted by Nubo

Lol, yes there was lather. The "floor" in this case being in the shower stall.

Had me worried. :p

The razor was professionally honed to start. I am not looking for ultimate perfection at this point but a path that can keep the razor shaving nicely in-between major hone jobs.

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We have members who have kept razors going for years with just a barber hone so that is an option. An 8-12k stone may suffice also.

Well, as an interim measure I thought I'd give the "balsa strop" a go with the Chromium paste. But, no joy finding an applicable piece nearby. So I gave it a go with some paper.

Took an 8 1/2 x 11 piece of printer paper, folded in half lengthwise and then taped it taut on my formica desk, even with the edge. Then colored it in gently with the CrOx "crayon", which showed it to be reasonably flat. Stopped adding paste when the paper was still fairly lightly loaded, and then rubbed everything with another piece of paper.

Did 5 easy laps with the blade perpendicular, then 2 more with it at a bit of an angle, to present different features to the strop, if that makes any sense?

Checked again with magnifier and could no longer detect the "burr" or "rolled spot" (sorry not quite sure of the terminology). The bevel seemed shinier, as did the "hone line" along the spine.

Cleaned up the blade and then stropped on my paddle; 15 on the scrub-leather and 40 on the hard leather. Will strop again right before next shave as usual, but that won't be until tomorrow night due to very early start tomorrow morning.

It's cutting hanging hairs, fwiw. Interested to see how the shave will go.

Thinking of a 12K stone for touch-ups at this point. BTW, what grit is a "barber hone", or is that a different concept altogether?

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Originally Posted by Nubo

Thinking of a 12K stone for touch-ups at this point. BTW, what grit is a "barber hone", or is that a different concept altogether?

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Yes it is a different concept. They are fired like porcelain & work by their nature of being mostly abrasive content. Where they would fit would be governed partially by abrasive size & by how smooth they are polished. Some can even set a bevel so choosing the right barber hone is VIP.

The next shave went better so the paste seems to have done its thing.

Of course there are a lot of variables changing, including my overall skill/knowledge in using the blade, which is improving though certainly has a long way to go. I'm now past having to use the cartridge around the mount/chin area and even venturing into against-the grain for that area. Nowhere near perfect but gaining confidence.

I can see this whole idea of reaching, maintaining and improving shiny, sharp steel is going to become a "thing" for me. This is going to adversely impact my theory of "saving money" as the Return on Investment starts to extend past any reasonable lifetime.... :hmmm:

Good save on the printer paper and CrOx. As long as you don't let the edge go too far, or actually ding it on something, a Naniwa 12k could be a good hone for you. It's almost as fast as a barber hone, but unlike them is full size (about 8 x 3 inches). Barber's hones are usually sized to fit in a coat pocket, about 5 x 2 or sometimes even less. If you want to bring ebay blades back to life, you'll need a 1k bevel setter, a 4k/8k or similar, a means to flatten them, and a bunch of practice.

Yes, you have discovered the hidden truth about return on investment. Now, hush! Don't spoil the fantasy for the other guys! Or, more important, the excuse for their wives. Once you've got a good hone collection going, you can increase your ROI by buying more razors and honing them yourself. But that's a question for calculus, and beyond there be dragons!

Best wishes to you, and happy shaving.