Thread: Need some help in Ft Worth, TX

Originally Posted by gssixgun

Whatever honing was on the razors before was destroyed by the Paper Cutting test... They now for sure need re-honing

Straight Razors don't cut paper, knives and other tools cut paper...

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My thoughts exactly. I will admit I tried the "cutting paper" sharpness test when I was first starting out with straight razors that did not seem to shave well. They certainly did not shave any better afterwards, but man, they cut paper so smooth and easily. Ahh, the joys of learning never cease. Meet with Wullie and you'll learn more in person with hands on tutoring than you will just by reading. Let us know how it goes.

Plus 3 I do believe, Meet with Wullie, a little face to face time will teach you more than months of reading here ...

Well I will admit that Im not the smartest person as of yet when it comes to straight razors, but Im still failing to make the connection as to why cutting an inch of so of hanging paper would completely destroy a razor blade. Maybe my logic doesnt apply here, but I would think that given papers thickness and coarseness compared to a human hair, especially facial hair, that there wouldnt be much of a difference between cutting the two. Im also a bit worried because if cutting paper ruins a blade, then in turn, nicking a strop which is far more coarse than paper would also destroy the blade. Likewise, so would cutting skin. I understand that a blade is fragile due to how thin it is made during honing, but it is still steel. Granted sharpened steel will still dull over time, I would hardly think that a cut through paper would do it instantly.

What makes my ideas even more questionable as to what Im reading is the fact that prior to all of this it would barely cut hair and after I could reasonably remove hair from my arm. Granted the hair on my arm is probably finer then the hair on my face, it is still hair.

I will talk to Wullie though and see what he recommends or says. I wasnt aware that he hones his own razors, so maybe that will be beneficial.

Forget about everything you know in regards to a knife. A knife is a knife and a razor is a razor, two completely different tools.

You did not destroy the razor, but I'm sure you did some damage to the keen "shave ready" edge. A razor that has been used for a while and ready to be rehoned is more than likely sharper than any, I repeat ANY, knife you have ever handled. That paper trick is cool to show, but not something I do to any of my tools...but I have done it as well in the past.

Cutting skin or a strop is NOT harder on the edge than paper, but rolling the edge on a strop is bad too. A razors edge is designed for one thing, cutting whiskers/hair. Their edge is amazingly durable, but fragile at the same time.

Go see Wullie.

Revisit this thread in 6 months of using your straight, you will be amazed on what you will have learned. It will be one of those moments.

Look up Whipped Dog. Larry is in Arlington. He helped me out a bunch and honed a razor for me.

Just another crazy Texan here, but have you considered investing in at least a finishing stone or a barber hone for touch-ups? I've only been at this for 2 months or so, but my honing success came along more quickly than my shaving success. I've got 8 razors now and about 5 of them are now up to standards, while I'm still working with the other three. Some of it is that each blade type requires a slightly different shaving technique, which had perhaps initially complicated my learning curve, but what I've found that they all have in common and achieving a proper honing technique has given me a feel for these blades that I don't think I would otherwise have.

Another idea is an eye loupe. After looking at my best edge and then the results of my honing efforts, I'm getting more out of feeling the drag with a thumbnail test and looking through a 10x loupe at the edge itself to gauge sharpness and being able to identify a successful shaving edge. I have yet to be able to do a "hanging hair test" with any of my razors, but like I said, 4 or 5 of them are really shaving great now. (either I'm not doing the HHT right, or maybe my own head hair is just not a good candidate for the test?)

I find that just a few laps on my Shapton 16K served well enough to considerably improve at least two of the so-called "shave-ready" razors I've received in the mail. After all, when they say "shave-ready", they mean for THEM. Maybe they're used to shaving off an 8K? Who knows? A few sellers will actually say what their finishing stone is, but most aren't using anything with a spec as fine as my Shapton, so, while grit specs are sort of a funny thing and don't always translate directly from one brand to another or from US stones to Japanese stones, I'm pretty sure the Shapton 16K is among the finer ones, so since I have it, there's no reason why I shouldn't take all my razors to that level.

Furcifer, yes I have looked into hones already. Im looking into getting a set of Norton WaterStones as well as some sort of finishing hone. I know that eventually I want to be able to hone my own blades without having to have them sent off every so often to be done. Right now, this close to the with the holidays just passing it may be a little while before I buy them though.

Im not entirely sure what type of stones were used in honing these blades, but I do know that when I left them, neither had any real hone wear and now it looks to be a bit significant on the spine. I wasnt aware that the spine wore down so fast on each time honing. And I dont want to bash anyone here, but I believe the honing on my razors may have been passed on to a kid to complete, not saying that kids do or do not have the skills to hone a razor, but that kind of worries me a bit.