Thread: ouch

I have a razor that I've been shaving with since I started straight shaving. It's given me bbs, comfortable shaves up until recently. I had it honed by a honemeister from the forum and now it hurts like crazy to shave with. What's up with that? Is it a technique issue or is it possible it was over honed? I don't understand.

Your razor is probably sharper now. Ease up on the pressure and see if that helps

I have to apply some pressure to shave atg. If I don't the blade just sticks.

Did you mess up the stropping?

Not that I'm aware of but I wouldn't rule it out.

Originally Posted by bulldog

I have to apply some pressure to shave atg. If I don't the blade just sticks.

Then either you've dulled the blade, or you are doing something wrong. ATG does not require brute force, cf. Advanced shaving techniques for the straight razor - Straight Razor Place Wiki.

Unless I'm misunderstanding something here it seems to me you have been shaving with this honemeister honed razor for some time now? Or did you just get it honed?

If its been a while it may need a touchup now. Razors don't stay sharp indefinitely.

If it was recently honed and you are experienced and all that then something is amiss with it.

Originally Posted by bulldog

I have to apply some pressure to shave atg. If I don't the blade just sticks.

Has that always been the case?
How was it when you first bought it? How was it just before you sent it to be honed? (I assume you had it done for a reason.)

The problem could be it is now sharper than you've had it before. Depending on how it was finished this could make it too harsh for your taste.

Originally Posted by thebigspendur

Unless I'm misunderstanding something here it seems to me you have been shaving with this honemeister honed razor for some time now? Or did you just get it honed?

If its been a while it may need a touchup now. Razors don't stay sharp indefinitely.

If it was recently honed and you are experienced and all that then something is amiss with it.

I had it honed recently.

Rajagra, I had it honed because I can only hone up to 8k. I was hoping it would be a better quality shave being honed to higher grits. It was honed up to 30k from the honemeister.

I adjusted my shaving angle from a 5 degree to about a 25 or 30 degree while shaving atg and that yielded much better results. I think maybe that's what the problem was.

Bulldog, are we talking about the razor that was honed at the NC get together? If not, how does the problem blade compare to that one?