drag

my razor has started to drag a bit it still shaves just,but it is leaving fine stuble no matter what i do or how many passes,i am using a pasted paddle strop with i micron paste on one side and Green Chromium Oxide powder on the other side.
i just tried 40 laps on each side of the razor and each side of the strop and it still fails the hanging hair test miserably,but to be fair in was not that good doing this when i first got it.
the razor was new from the invisible edge 2/3 months ago.
i think it needs honing,can any one recomend a hone to touch up the edge that wont break the bank

ta dave

Sorry but your razor does not shave.

When a razor first begins to deteriorate usually you will get a decrease in the comfort factor and from there it starts to actually shave poorly. At the beginning stage the shaves are still close. That's the time to use a pasted strop or a few passes on a finishing stone. Once it starts to not cut you probably need more of an actual honing.

Are you using the pasted strop hanging or backed by a hard smooth surface?

its a paddle strop

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Originally Posted by thebigspendur

Sorry but your razor does not shave.

When a razor first begins to deteriorate usually you will get a decrease in the comfort factor and from there it starts to actually shave poorly. At the beginning stage the shaves are still close. That's the time to use a pasted strop or a few passes on a finishing stone. Once it starts to not cut you probably need more of an actual honing.

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thanks,what grade stone would you recomend

There are probably three things that could be wrong:

1. You have not honed it enough to re-establish the edge.
2. You have stropped too much and made a wire edge that needs to be removed.
3. The edge has become too rounded to restore easily with a pasted strop and you would be better of going back to the stones.

If I had this same situation I would:

1. drag the edge WITHOUT ANY PRESSURE across a folded piece of newspaper, on the fold, a couple of times to make sure any wire edge that was there is removed.
2. Start stropping on the crox side 20 times each side pasted strop and do a HHT (Ilike HHT's, they are very accurate for me). I would continue to strop in rounds of 20 and retest using HHT up to as total of 100 strokes. If the razor was not getting sharper and still not passing HHT, I would go to the stones and start from scratch.

If it does start to pass the HHT and is getting sharper I usually keep going until it passes an HHT with the folicle hanging in not out. This is much sharper than trying to cut the folicle end off.

i dont have a hone m8,thats why i am asking which one to get lol

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Originally Posted by leadpig

i dont have a hone m8,thats why i am asking which one to get lol

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If you are new to honing you may want to send it off to be honed professionally. Learning to hone takes some time (as I am finding out the hard way). If you must there is a whole forum here focusing on honing as well as the library. The general consensus is that a Norton 4k/8k is a good all around stone that is good for beginners and experts. You may also want to get a 1k grit to set the bevel but it can be done of a 4k it just takes longer.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by leadpig

thanks,what grade stone would you recomend

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Everyone has their favorites. I think the Norton 4K/8K is a great all around stone. But if you are new to this I wouldn't practice on a good razor. I'd send it out and maybe get an Eboy special and practice with that.

All you need is a finishing stone. The Chinese 12k is very affordable. A barber hone would work. A little coticule bout would be fine. Shoot, lots and lots of options for you. I could probably trim the bad boy up on the bottom of a coffee cup.

Check the classifieds.

Don't tackle that razor with anything less than 8k though.

thanks all
going to try the chinese 12k:cool:

I have and use one, it does a really great job. Keep it well lubricated with water during the honing process.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by leadpig

thanks all
going to try the chinese 12k:cool:

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If it is not cutting at all you are going to need more than a chinese natural ( no one knows if its a 12k or not, each stone is different) to bring it back, or you could sit there doing endless laps. Since you seem to be across the pond, look into the naniwa 3k/8k combo stone, should be about 70-75 pounds for you, maybe 80 euro depending where you are. Learn to get a good edge on the 8k side then add the pastes sprays, or a finishing stone later. It will be in your benefit when you need to do more than just refresh a blade later. Try about 10-15 on the 3k, then 20-30 on the 8k, then no more than 10 or 15 laps on the pastes or sprays, then strop and shave.