Thread: Frustrating problem--razor turns into butter knife

Hey all, I'm a refugee from Robert's forum. I've been shaving with a straight for about 2 years, even shaved my head twice. I have a frustrating problem I can't seem to get to the bottom of.

I start with 1000 grit sandpaper on glass, then progress through Tilly's 3-hone beginner set, then 60 strokes per side on a plain loom strop. I get great shaves, my face is like a baby's butt, and I strut around going "I have MASTERED the straight razor! Lesser-shaved mortals, behold your baby-butt-faced king!"

But then things start to degrade, and eventually (within a month) I need to go all the way back to the 1000 grit to get my bevel back. I can no longer hone the razor on the Lithide hone, or even the Gem hone, & get a satisfactory edge.

Anyone else have this problem? I have a working theory, but I don't want to bias your input. Here are a couple relevant facts:

-- My beard makes barbed wire seem soft & fluffy
-- One of my razors is significantly softer than the other, and it seems to degrade faster.


Thanks in advance,
-Johnny

Welcome to SRP!

Wow, that is a puzzler. IMHO, it might be beneficial to use a .5 paste on a strop first then leather before each shave. It sounds as if your beard might be the monster of razor nightmares. I think you would benefit from the .5 or a few laps on a barber's hone before each shave or at least every other shave. I feel it's easier to keep a razor sharp then to keep taking so far back to 1K and losing so much steel.
I'm sure some of the other guys will jump in with great ideas, right guys? Guys are you there!

I can't help you on this one either, but welcome to SRP!! Once some of the other guys start stopping by I bet you'll get some ideas contributed.....

Considering your beard thickness and that you said one razor is much softer in terms of steel (carbon I'm guessing), have you tried using a stainless wedge? Just thought it might give you different results. Only other thing I could think of is maybe it has something to do with your hones? I'm just not familiar with them, so I don't know.

Another possibility? Razor is oversharpened. Too fine an edge deteriorating in contact with tough beard?

OK I have to agree with some of the above posts, if I am understanding what you have written you are using Barbers hones to refresh on a regular basis.. This might lead to an overhoned or too fine an edge... Or possibly you do need to go to a heavier grind razor... If it were me I would stay away from trying to get to fine an edge on the razor, and stay with this progression... establish your bevel using electrcal tape on the spine( gives a slightly steeper bevel ie: stronger) then a 4k grit stone to sharpen that bevel, then go to a 8k grit for polishing... Then a linen strop then a leather strop, and stop there... (no tape for stropping) Try this and see how the edge holds up... If this still doesnt work then it might be time for a different razor with a heavier grind or maybe SS or a "Ice" hardened edge....
Hope that helps out and welcome to SRP

Hey guys, thanks for the welcome. The heavy beard thing seems to be a genetic complaint. When my father used a str8 40 years ago, he claims that had to hone before every shave (!!!)

I have not tried a stainless (or indeed any) wedge. My harder razor does seem to last longer, though. I have tried skipping the Lithide hone & while the edge is more durable, of course the shave is less comfortable because it is less sharp.

Here's my working theory, though; every now & then I'll be pressed for time (or just lazy) & I don't prep very well. My barbed wire beard wreaks havoc on the edge, which causes me to unconsciously bear down on the blade while shaving and stropping, and so the downward spiral begins.

I'm going to test my theory by prepping more conscientiously, and by paying attention to the amount of pressure I'm using. I've read that some guys only hone once every 6 months! I don't know that I'll ever get there, but I'd like to be able to maintain the edge with just the Lithide.

My loom strop came with a green abrasive coating on one side. I haven't been using it tho because I think it may be coarser than the Lithide, plus it seems to gunk up pretty quickly when I have used it.

Dang, you posted your theory before I could weigh in. Honestly I was going to ask you about your prep or lack thereof. There's the commonly held fact about dry whiskers being the same tensile strength of copper wire of the same thickness. Your whiskers sound like copper would be substituted with titanium.

There is also a commonly held notion that a better shave can be had with a good prep and a lesser quality razor than an insufficient prep and a good quality razor.

My razors dull very quickly if I don't prep my beard well. I would argue that insufficient beard prep is the reason many newbies that receive a properly honed razor report that they feel the razor is not sharp enough after only a few shaves (that and most likely improper stropping).

I wonder what kind of green paste is on your paddle strop that it seems coarser than the lithide? I have a lithide and by tactile feel, I would shoot from the hip and compare it to maybe a 6000 grit stone IMO.

Welcome! We're glad to have you here.

You may find you need to strop with chromium oxide on a strop before the finish leather before each shave if your whiskers are that intense.

Chris L

Yea, thats unusual. I agree with both a too fine edge and lack of prep. I'd say your probably demolishing the edge after a few shaves.

Might be neat to check it out under a microscope and see.

Another remote possibility is that your not drying the razor effectively after shaving.

Your strop could be part of the problem too. Are you keeping the strop taut?

Originally Posted by Johnny J

Hey guys, thanks for the welcome. The heavy beard thing seems to be a genetic complaint. When my father used a str8 40 years ago, he claims that had to hone before every shave (!!!)

I have not tried a stainless (or indeed any) wedge. My harder razor does seem to last longer, though. I have tried skipping the Lithide hone & while the edge is more durable, of course the shave is less comfortable because it is less sharp.

Here's my working theory, though; every now & then I'll be pressed for time (or just lazy) & I don't prep very well. My barbed wire beard wreaks havoc on the edge, which causes me to unconsciously bear down on the blade while shaving and stropping, and so the downward spiral begins.

I'm going to test my theory by prepping more conscientiously, and by paying attention to the amount of pressure I'm using. I've read that some guys only hone once every 6 months! I don't know that I'll ever get there, but I'd like to be able to maintain the edge with just the Lithide.

My loom strop came with a green abrasive coating on one side. I haven't been using it tho because I think it may be coarser than the Lithide, plus it seems to gunk up pretty quickly when I have used it.

AH HA!!!! A loom strop. Chances are you are using too much pressure on the strop. Let the razor rest on the strop and its weight is the only pressure you allow! I would also suggest doing a least 25 laps with this in mind and it will help. That and keep your lithide stone handy. You only need to do three or four laps with it before you strop and you can even use the stone dry. Experiment with using shaving lather on it also. You can do all your blade prep while your lather is soaking your beard. I betcha doing this with the stone and strop along with the prep and you will see a marked improvement. Most of my razors see a stone only every four or five months. I will run them over a barber's hone for three laps about once a month. If you have not tried any pre-shave oil, PM your shipping address to me and I'll send you a sample so you can try it and see if that helps.

What I do for a routine. I shower, dry off except my beard. I place my brush in the lather bowl in the sink and start running hot water into the bowl and let the sink fill up. As the water is filling the sink, I massage in a few drops of pre-shave oil. I then build my lather, lather my face and then place my lather bowl in the sink full of hot water on top of my scuttle. I then prep my razor. After prepping my razor I then transfer the warm lather to the warm scuttle and relather. Then I shave. After each quadrant of my face is shaved I relather my whole face. I only need two full pass for a very good shave. After the shave I rinse the blade in running hot water dry and place in my razor mug not fully closed so it can dry all day. I then rinse out the brush and scuttle. I switch the water to cold, rinse my face, leave it wet and then run a alum block all over the shave area. I let my face air dry as I do deodorant and top knot. By the time I'm done with that my face is dry and I apply after shave then if feel like it, a cologne mist. Viola, this takes me no longer then ten or twelve minutes. Plus or minus a minute for admiring my shave.