Thread: Shavette curiosity

Well, after three(!) months, my Glen sharpened blade is starting to give a few pulls here, and a couple tugs there. So just to compare honemeister to honemeister, I sent my Hess 44 Stainless off to Lynn. Yup, it's the battle of the heavy weight honers, here, gents. I can't wait to compare the work of these two pros. I hate to say this (naw, actually I don't ) but Lynn has his work cut out for him to match that of Glens. I had the Hess shaving pretty darn well, but my stones put micro chips in the edge that I'm hoping Lynn will get out, as well as put that Honemeister edge on it.

Anyway, I kinda went off on a tangent... I'm planning on the blade I sent to Lynn being the last time I use a honemeister. I'm hoping my skills will be good enough to keep my blades sharp. However, I still would like something that I can compare my work to. So I ordered this: USTURA STRAIGHT RAZOR with 300 DERBY SINGLE EDGE BLADES - eBay (item 170291087209 end time Jan-11-09 05:50:05 PST)

Would using a shavette like this be an adequate comparison as to how sharp my blades are? I ask, because it seems like "the shaving test" is a moving target... I'll sharpen a blade, and think "oh yeah, this baby iz the shiz", then I use Glens blade, and get reminded (schooled, really) about how it should *really* shave. So I'd like something that can serve as a continual reminder of how sharp/comfortable a blade should be.

I'm actually kinda looking forward to giving one a try, really.

And off on another tangent... Glen included a note with the blade he sharpened for me, explaining his processs. He used Shapton stones from start to finish. There is alot to be said about starting and finishing on stones rather than pastes: his edge lasted THREE MONTHS before requiring a touchup. I have done nothing but strop it for three months. It has shaved at least half my face (I shave half my face with his blade, then half with one I've sharpened for comparison) every day for 90 days now. That's value for your sharpening dollar, IMO.

Today I plan on doing a few laps on my Chinese 12k to bring back the edge on my Glen sharpened blade. We'll see how it turns out, but I doubt I'll get that same fine edge back again.

Edit: Glen, in case you're reading this, how many layers of tape should I put on the spine of the razor you sharpened before I take it to the Chinese 12k stone?

Exactly like the letter said my friend, 1 layer of 3m electrical tape....

That should bring it right back, but as we discussed on the phone you haven't used any paste on that edge yet, so hit yer pasted strop without any tape, and you should get a few more months out of that edge before you even need a hone ...

As always there are two schools of thought here, some people believe that just a quick re-fresh on the finish stone now, will keep the edge going even farther...
I would say this, if you happened to have the exact same finish stone as I used (Shapton 16k) then this is the route to take, but that 12k will change the striation pattern from how I finished the edge, so in your case, at this moment, I would go the pasted strop.....

I wonder if I had SWMBO read that line about using the exact same stone you used would hold enough water that she'd let me buy one...

Nope, apparently not. Ah well, to the pastes, then!