Need some help in Ft Worth, TX

So, I got my two new razors in today. Neither of them are new, but I sent one out to be honed and ended up buying another which was to be honed too. Well I tried them out tonight, and Im far less than pleased. When I got them back I was told they were shave ready and that they didnt need to be stropped before using them. So tonight I tried. Neither of the razors seemed that sharp. I was using minimal pressure with the spine about 1.5 spine widths off my face (I suck at angles, so whatever degree that would be). After 3 WTG passes, I still wasnt ready for an ATG pass.

So I decided that since I dont have enough hair to try a HHT, I would try a sheet of paper. The one I took to have honed cut fairly well, but not as easy as I figure it should be. The one I bought wouldnt cut at all unless I pushed and pulled in a sawing motion. At that point, I decided to try stropping and see if that helped. I did about 50 passes on each razor, then tried again with the paper. Each one was marginally better but still not great by any means.

Im thinking that the razors arent honed as well as they could be, because I would feel that even if my technique wasnt perfect, it would still remove a substantial amount of hair. However, if I use my Shavette with my current technique I can get a decent shave in two passes, so Im not entirely sure that my technique is bad. Im thinking its the razors themselves.

So I need some help. Is there anyone in the Fort Worth, TX area who might be able to take a look at my razors and possibly help me out? I really dont want to go back to who I went to originally, especially after seeing the results the first time.

Although straights and shavettes are quite different, if you can get a decent shave with a shavette, you should be able to at least fluke a few strokes of the straight to remove a decent amount of hair. It sounds as if your razors might not be as sharp as they should be.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by TexasShaver

So I decided that since I dont have enough hair to try a HHT, I would try a sheet of paper. The one I took to have honed cut fairly well, but not as easy as I figure it should be. The one I bought wouldnt cut at all unless I pushed and pulled in a sawing motion. At that point, I decided to try stropping and see if that helped. I did about 50 passes on each razor, then tried again with the paper. Each one was marginally better but still not great by any means.

Im thinking that the razors arent honed as well as they could be, because I would feel that even if my technique wasnt perfect, it would still remove a substantial amount of hair. .

---

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...

If you go to the front page of the forum there is an article there called "Beginners Tips" by reading this months article, it will have links there for that last 3 years of them which will branch you out into a ton of other useful info ..

I wouldn't say I destroyed the honing that was done to them because there wasn't much done to them to begin with. Although last night I decided to see if I couldn't get the a little better so I took out the balsa strop I got and did about 30 passes on both the chromium oxide and iron oxide sides then about 60 passes on leather. My W&B was able to shave hair off my arm rather cleanly after that. My Bengall on the other hand could shave the hair but needed to be at a rather steep angle and seemed to be abrading skin off as well and not taking the hair off cleanly. It was better than what it was when I tried shaving my face with it, but I wouldn't call it good by any means.

I talked to Wullie on here briefly last night and asked him if he might be able to help me figure this out, since he is close in locale to me, and he very graciously offered to give me a call and see what we could come up with this evening.

If anything, this is a step in a process of learning who to trust, business wise, in this world. I was perhaps a bit naive in believing blindly that what I had asked to be done was, given that I had no prior experience to compare it too. I should have probably bit the bullet and bought a new straight honed by Lynn from the beginning but the allure of vintage blades took hold of me very quickly. Hopefully I'll get these sorted out soon and all will be right once again.

Visit Wullie, you will learn a lot. Visiting a veteran shaver will teach you more than you could ever imagine & you are lucky enough to find one close by who hones their own razors too. Do yourself and your face a favor and visit that crazy Texan as soon as possible!

My friend, you will learn that you did in fact destroy the shaving edge by cutting paper, shaving arm hair really doesn't mean much, shave prep & angle mean a LOT. The sharp you are used to is where we literally begin with razors. You will get the hang of it & be giving learned advice to folks before you know it...

Quote:

---

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...

.

---

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. :banghead: 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 :roflmao 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.

I would say look up Larry with whipped dog. He is nearby to you and just honed a razor for me which I got an amazing shave from afterwards. I am also new to this hobby and his honing made a significant difference. Also he only charges 15 a blade so it is very reasonable

Well I talked to Wullie and hes agreed to help me out. Talk about a saving grace!

I am planning on eventually buying a full set of hones, Im just thinking its best to learn to shave properly with a real straight before learning to hone. I am also looking at a powered 60-100X handheld microscope type thing.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by TexasShaver

Well I talked to Wullie and hes agreed to help me out. Talk about a saving grace!

I am planning on eventually buying a full set of hones, Im just thinking its best to learn to shave properly with a real straight before learning to hone. I am also looking at a powered 60-100X handheld microscope type thing.

---

Learning to shave first is a very wise choice, enjoy the journey and your visit!