Thread: still feels dull...

Hoping for some advice... I just got my straight back from having it honed by a professional. Not sure what the guy did to it because after stropping (I did 20 passes on the linen strop, and then 50 on the leather) it still feels as though it pulls the hair. Now, I have a Norton 4000/8000 stone. Should I go back to that and continue honing myself, or should I just strop until it passes the hair test? I'm fairly new, so I thought I'd send the razor out to be honed professionally in order to feel what shave ready means, and then maintain the razor from there. The razor does not feel shave ready... I don't think shave ready should be pulling the hairs. Any advice is appreciated.

I'm pretty new myself but I think I can answer this. Assuming the person who honed your razor knew what he was doing, it is probably one of three things. #1. The razor itself is subpar and won't ever take a good edge (what kind of razor do you own?) #2. Your stropping might be bad and could very well dull the razor instead of keeping it sharp. You should have just shaved right after the honing instead of stropping. #3 You need to work on your technique when shaving. (angle, pressure, etc)

first contact the person who honed it.
even a very sharp razor will tug if the blade angle is too steep. the hht is extremely subjective and very little to me.
tell us about your stropping, beard prep and razor angle.

Thanks for the advice. My stropping I thought was pretty good. I have a 3 inch English Bridal, and hold the strop taught with very little pressure if any pressure on the razor as I pass it up and down the strop. I put just enough pressure on the razor to keep it on the strop. My razor is a Timor Blue Steel 6/8. Beard prep, I put Proraso cream on before my shaving soap. As for the angle, I hold the razor at the same angle as my double edge razor. I think at about a 30 degree angle? Should I be doing some passes on the 8000 Norton?

I think Paul is probably right with his #2 and #3 answers. If you stropped the pro honed razor before your first shave with it you will not know if it was sharp or not because you introduced the stropping variable into it. Not saying your stropping is bad but it is there between the edge you received and the edge you shaved with.

I don't know what angle you are using on a DE but when I first started and estimated what an angle of 30 degrees was on a straight I was way off with too big a gap between the face and spine of the straight. Someone on here advised to use about 1 to 2 spine widths between face and the spine of the straight. I tried that and things went much more smoothly.

I would try changing your angle and without stropping the razor try a shave to see if that helps. This early into straight razor shaving I would stay away from the honing stones for a bit, no sense in introducing another unknown into the equation.

Bob

alright, thanks Bob. I will try shaving with a distance of 1-2 spine widths. I thought you had to strop after it was honed? no?

If I hone a razor for someone else, I strop it, shave test, strop it again and tell them to shave with it and not to strop it for the first shave - it takes one more variable out of the equation

Pretty likely that whoever honed it, stropped afterward.

Michael

Originally Posted by Ian2051

alright, thanks Bob. I will try shaving with a distance of 1-2 spine widths. I thought you had to strop after it was honed? no?

Try short light strokes when you do. I take it you were using a bigger gap than 1 to 2 spine widths?

Like the others have said, more than likely a pro honed razor comes honed and strop ready for use. I have shave tested some blades that I have honed without stropping just to see what difference stropping would make. Generally though I strop before a shave but you would not believe how easy it is to dull a blade stropping it poorly. I did just that when I was starting out straight shaving. It is just that shaving with a pro honed shave ready razor without stropping will give you a good idea of what sharp is and when you strop it before use on the next shave if it feels duller in use you then know your stropping is not up to par.

Let us know how you make out.

Bob

Was the razor honed by one of our members , with years of experience , or did you have it honed by your local knife sharpening shop ?