Thread: Hone gone after 3rd shave?

Hey all,

After my lovely experience yesterday evening shaving both head and face with my W&B, I tried to re-live it this evening. However, it did not go as well at all, as I felt that the blade "stuck" a bit. Even when going WTG.

I stropped after shaving last night, and before shaving this evening. The only changes I did were using TOBS pre-shave oil and the TOBS sandalwood soap instead of Proraso cream only. I did manage to get a rather good lather with the soap, albeit with more bubbles in it than with the Proraso.

So,which is more likely:

1. My beard is so coarse that 2-3 shaves are enough to warrant a re-hone?
2. I don't know how to strop properly?
3. The soap is not as good a lather for me as the cream?

Best,
Dave

Hello Dave,

A few bits of info would help - one being how the blade was honed - specifically was alot of pasted stropping involved? Another bit would be what the stropping regimen was - how many on what kind of material. Finally, does this behavior differ from your experience w/ other razors attempting to do the same thing?

There is also a 4th possibility that perhaps the head shavers could weigh in on - shaving the head involves ALOT more wear on an edge than shaving the beard. How head shavers deal with this, I'm not sure. If I understand correctly, Birnando & Mikael denude their domes w/ a str8. I hope they can come in and shed some light.

There's a lot of things that can go wrong with straight razor shaving, and I've always found it hard to narrow it down myself. I could be shaving preparation, honing, stropping or technique. The key is to start removing variables with process of elimination.
With prep are you making sure to get a warm and wet towel or rag over your face two to three times? I have some serious business whiskers and I have to do that part three to four times. Or were you relying on the creme or soap to soften your skin for you?
I find the most reliable way to test if a razor is properly honed and shave ready is the forearm hair test. Just give part of your forearm a quick little shave, you want the hair to pop off or at the very least melt off.
As far as stropping goes just make sure your strop is taught and take your time. I've found stropping a bit slow doesn't really hurt anything.
Hope some of this info helps!

Originally Posted by pinklather

Hello Dave,

A few bits of info would help - one being how the blade was honed - specifically was alot of pasted stropping involved? Another bit would be what the stropping regimen was - how many on what kind of material. Finally, does this behavior differ from your experience w/ other razors attempting to do the same thing?

There is also a 4th possibility that perhaps the head shavers could weigh in on - shaving the head involves ALOT more wear on an edge than shaving the beard. How head shavers deal with this, I'm not sure. If I understand correctly, Birnando & Mikael denude their domes w/ a str8. I hope they can come in and shed some light.

Thanks,

The guy I purchased the blade from wrote the following:

Honing progression in steps:
1. (Synthetic hones) 1.2K - > 8K -> 16K+(Fenslers Ruby Hone)
2. (Natural stone) SCHWEDENSTEIN 12K+ (rare german stone related to thuringian, leaves an edge as sharp as an Escher/Thuringian but smooth as a Coticule)
3. Few easy laps with 0.5 micron Diamond Paste on strop (>30K+)
Stropped on finest Burgundy leather strop, shave tested, cleaned and desinfected and stropped again.

This is my first straight razor, so I can't really comment on other razors. I have one other that is also claimed by the seller to be shave ready, that I'll try tomorrow.

/ Davd

Hey Steelstubble,

Your nick would suit me well also.

Originally Posted by Steelstubble

With prep are you making sure to get a warm and wet towel or rag over your face two to three times? I have some serious business whiskers and I have to do that part three to four times. ...

I did try to shave straight out of the shower, albeit a very hot one. I did not use a hot towel in between passes. That's one factor to try for next time.

The blade was sharp enough to at least shave the hairs on my knuckle, which should be similar to your forearm test.

Thanks for the help. I'll be back for an update after trying the towel!

/ Dave

I'm kind of curious as to that honing progression...if he went to 16k+ in the first step then why drop back to a 12k+ hone? I'm no hone expert but maybe some of the more knowledgeable gents can chime in but I've never heard of a Fensler Ruby Hone or a Schwedenstien or a Finest Burgandy Leather strop for that matter. I could be wrong but I kind of wonder if that razor was honed properly.
Ok..I just looked up those 2 hones and they are real...lol...my wrong. But I would still wonder why you would drop down in progression.

you shaved your head and your beard?
If you shaved full head it is very possible to have to touch up the blade, the hair on the head is tougher than beard hair and the edge will degrade faster.

I suggest another possible issue - shaving technique. If you have only recently begun shaving with a straight razor, you might have experienced a better shave when your shaving angle was better, or your length of strokes, or different tactics and techniques that seemingly worked so well one day and not so well the next. Making those motions consistently effective from shave to shave takes much time and practice.

I don't mean to guess whether other issues with your razor or lather or stropping might be at fault - it's just harder for me to diagnose shaving inconsistencies at a distance when consistent shaving technique itself hasn't yet been established.

Also though I like your plan to use the other shave ready razor tomorrow

As a new str8 razor shaver I may be able to give you a few of my lessons learned.
1. I have noticed that if I don't strop my razor properly I will get some tugging. I can tell when I have stropped properly on how pleasant of a shave I get.
2. As for pre shave I usually do everything properly but in the cases I haven't done the pre shave prep very well I still can get a good shave with little trouble.
3. I have shaved with my razor over 10-15 times and the hone is still going strong. P.S. I have a fairly thick beard, no baby face here :P
4. My thoughts on if it needs re-honing are: If you could shave with it once and it shaved well then it was honed properly.
The edge should last for more than one shave regardless if you shaved your head or not, but I don't know for sure.
If after you stropped it and somehow you really messed it up then maybe it needs to be re-honed.
5. My recommendations: strop on linen side focusing on proper technique then strop on leather side. Pre shave prep and then shave just your face making sure you use correct angles. If it still doesn't shave well send it to a pro to be re-honed.

Good luck,
D

I am a newbie with a straight and won't comment on that aspect of the shave. What caught my eye was the use of pre-shave oil and then soap. I am an experienced DE shaver and learned early on that pre-shave oil and some soaps don't mix. Even if you get a lather, it probably is not slick and lacks cushioning. I have found that oil will work well with some creams, like Prorasso. I would start with the minimal prep and add items and see how it goes. Don't change too many things at one time. This I learned the hard way. When I DE shave I wash my face with MR GLO and enjoy it and the shave. When I started with a straight, I found it just didn't work and caused a lot of stutter. Every thing you try will work for you or it won't. It doesn't matter if others are successful with it, if you're not. Good luck.