Thread: Got it sharp...but just not sharp enough. Suggestions?

It's been a while since I posted, but I am always around, reading and learning from you all.

I finally got my hands on a quality razor, marked 'Baubmann-Sohne' from Solingen-Germany.

The blade needed work, and being a cheapo I bought some sand paper: 1000, 2000, 4000, 6000, and 12000 grit.

After working on it, my razor shaved arm hair with ease. I also purchased an APART hone and after a little more work it can now shave arm hair without touching the skin (just dragging it through the arm hair).

I can shave with it, but not very comfortably.

My FROMM disposable straight razor is significantly sharper.

I use a decent shave soap and brush, and I'm familiar with straight razor techniques (using the FROMM straight razor for several years) and generally go for 1 or two passes with grain before attempting against.

At this point, I feel like I'm just on the verge of getting the razor sharp enough.

My strop does have a canvas side, so do I need strop paste? What should I do next? Just throw in the towel and send to a honemeister?

Thanks guys.

There are many way to touchup a razor. What comes to mind for low cost options are:
-Get a professionally honed razor or a razor honed by a very experienced amateur. This will allow you to experience what you should expect to eventually achieve. Having someone show you honing and stropping would be best, if possible.
-Check out your sand papers on threads where persons have gotten good results. See what brand and type of abrasive paper they are using and how they are using it,
-I like to use pasted bench strops 3 x 12 inches for touchup. They are cheap to make and easy to use. CrOx, 3u diamond, 1u diamond, and 0.5u diamond have all worked well for me. Keep your every day linen/leather strop unpasted.
-Try stropping with your hanging strop laying flat on a counter top. Strop as evenly and consistently as possible. Be sure that the leather is clean. Wipe the blade and strop if you feel a gritty feeling. You do not need to go fast, just evenly and smoothly.
-I also use a Norton 8K for touchup and it works well for me. It costs about $ 80 and is widely available. I walked in and picked up mine from the local Woodcraft store. I also get my strop making supplies at Woodcraft.

HTH

In addition to what others have and will write, it's an opportunity to work on your shaving technique. Really.

Life has a way of creeping up on us wetshavers, and it's not uncommon to find that all your razors are "off" just enough that they need touching-up... but you don't have the time/skill/whatever to do so right now. Believe me, even a not-up-to-snuff blade can give you a BBS/DFS... if you know how to use it, how and where to push it (and when not to). Listen: I hate the old "lemons/lemonade" rap as much as the next guy, but that not-sharp-enough straight razor really is. Just give it, and yourself, a chance.

Smooth shaving!

Originally Posted by JBHoren

In addition to what others have and will write, it's an opportunity to work on your shaving technique. Really.

Life has a way of creeping up on us wetshavers, and it's not uncommon to find that all your razors are "off" just enough that they need touching-up... but you don't have the time/skill/whatever to do so right now. Believe me, even a not-up-to-snuff blade can give you a BBS/DFS... if you know how to use it, how and where to push it (and when not to). Listen: I hate the old "lemons/lemonade" rap as much as the next guy, but that not-sharp-enough straight razor really is. Just give it, and yourself, a chance.
Smooth shaving!

You bring up a good point. Maybe it IS sharp enough.

That begs another question: should I expect my straight razor to get as sharp as my FROMM disposables?

Thanks both of you for your help.

This is just my two cents, but it seems like I've found that shaving an arm hair (or making one bend and snap in mid air, or letting a piece of fine silk drift down from the heavens & slice itself in half over the blade, etc., etc.) does not necessarily have much to do with getting a comfortable shave. For example, I can get my Henkel 10-inch chef's knife sharp enough to shave arm hair with a Norton IM-50 (coarse/fine aluminum oxide)...but I wouldn't expect it to leave my face in less-than-mangled condition.

So it might be a matter of going back to 1000 and slowly, patiently, assiduously working up from there. I think I've gotten a halfway decent bevel with wet sandpaper stuck on marble, but my problem with sandpaper is that the razor gets sharp enough to shave the abrasive off the paper, but not sharp enough for a good shave. I think the smaller sized DMT combos give you the most bang for your buck for personal use. They're reliable and fairly user-proof. Last time I checked, there really wasn't much difference in the price point between a pack of high-quality sandpaper/lapping film and a 6" DMT D6EF.

I'll look into DMT. (Warning: Newbie question) What does DMT stand for?

I just showered/shaved and used the razor.

As I stated, it can shave. I played with the angle and it did help a bit. Thanks for that suggestion.

I stropped (25x canvas and 50x leather) then shaved. 2x with grain, 1x against.

While going against the grain, I noticed that the razor was not removing much hair, so I stropped again (25x leather) and, again, it helped, but this was no terribly comfortable shave.

I took about a half an hour. When using a FROMM disposable straight razor, I take 10-15 minutes.

I would like to have someone else take a look at my razor, honing, and stropping techniques. Is there anyone in the Northern Utah area that would be willing to meet up somewhere to do that?

Originally Posted by QuinnFlint

This is just my two cents, but it seems like I've found that shaving an arm hair (or making one bend and snap in mid air, or letting a piece of fine silk drift down from the heavens & slice itself in half over the blade, etc., etc.) does not necessarily have much to do with getting a comfortable shave. For example, I can get my Henkel 10-inch chef's knife sharp enough to shave arm hair with a Norton IM-50 (coarse/fine aluminum oxide)...but I wouldn't expect it to leave my face in less-than-mangled condition.

After reading this i just pulled out my pocket knife that i would be embarrassed to show to a knife guy even...and it shaved arm hair. LOL

Ha. Exactly.
Apamburn, no idea what DMT stands for--it's a good brand name for diamond hones. D6EF is a model number for a 6"x2" double-sided combo hone.

For what it's worth, I agree with those who recommended sending it out to someone for a good sharpening. The answer to your question about whether a straight can be as sharp as a disposable is heck yes. Especially with a Solingen razor in decent shape. My feeling is that if you're not removing hair after multiple passes, your edge probably took some damage somewhere in the sandpaper honing (stropping?) progression you described. I can't remember a time when I had to take a second pass to get a close shave with a properly sharpened razor.

Like someone else said, get a good touch up from somebody so you can see how it's supposed to handle. Then do the bare minimum possible to maintain that edge (shouldn't need to hit the sandpaper....ever).

And you also might try pulling your skin tight & making crazy faces. That was a game changer for me. But then, I'm all old and wrinkly like a shar pei, so maybe it's just me.

Originally Posted by apamburn

That begs another question: should I expect my straight razor to get as sharp as my FROMM disposables?

That would depend on your razor & who honed it.

I think you may find that shaving angle will vary some from disposables to real straights. Try an almost flat angle with the straight. The ideal angle is not far from having the spine touch your face.

If you send it out to competent honemeister you can see what the edge's potential is without guesswork on what sandpaper to use etc.. If you have 2 similar razors you can always keep the pro honed one as a template & also test your stropping .
ie see if you don't degrade the edge post strop. Your barber hone may be enough to maintain the razor.

I'd also guarantee that a competent honemeister won't send you an edge solely honed on a DMT tho they are definitely useful for heavy lifting.

btw DMT = Diamond Machining Technology.

apamburn,

You might want to strop your razor several dozen laps on the canvas (no need to add paste) and then several dozen more on the leather. That will often take the edge from "kinda shaves" to "now that's what I'm talkin' about!"

Best wishes,
Jeff