Thread: How to sharpen a TI Pierre Thiers LE

Well let's hope this razor isn't too far from shaving sharp. I just received one as a Christmas present from my brother. The trouble for me is I've never shaved with a straight razor before. I thought it would be interesting to try. I didn't realize my brother would lose his mind and purchase such an expensive and historic razor for me to learn how to shave and hone on. Should be fun.

I bought one before Christmas and tried it when it arrived, it was just about sharp enough to shave with out of the box if I was very very careful, but not shave-ready by any measure.

I first tried maybe 20 laps on each side of a paddle strop with 1/0.5 micron pastes and that improved it quite a bit but it still wasn't perfect.

Then I did 20 or so laps on my new yellow belgian coticle, followed by another 20 on each side of the paddle. It's now super sharp and a really great shaver.

As others have said, when honing it's just like any other razor as it doesn't rest on the gnarly looking hammered part.

Originally Posted by Kavall

Well let's hope this razor isn't too far from shaving sharp. I just received one as a Christmas present from my brother. The trouble for me is I've never shaved with a straight razor before. I thought it would be interesting to try. I didn't realize my brother would lose his mind and purchase such an expensive and historic razor for me to learn how to shave and hone on. Should be fun.

Well, I can suggest you keep the razor away for a while, and get another one to learn the ropes of straight shaving, especially if no one is showing you what to do, and you are learning this all alone... Chances are that the razor will need a bit more tweaking, and since you are just beginning, you don't want to ruin it...

Nenad

Originally Posted by Kavall

Well let's hope this razor isn't too far from shaving sharp. I just received one as a Christmas present from my brother. The trouble for me is I've never shaved with a straight razor before. I thought it would be interesting to try. I didn't realize my brother would lose his mind and purchase such an expensive and historic razor for me to learn how to shave and hone on. Should be fun.

Get a cheap one to practise your honing skills.
Buy a second hand one on the forum here.
you'll have a good razor that doesn't cost anywhere near as expensive as your TI.

Otherwise you are guaranteed at least a couple of scratches in the blade when you do a lap on the stone and accidentally lift the spine or start with the spine off the stone or stop with the edge off the stone.

I did that a couple of times by accident in the beginning. The scratches do not detract from the shaving experience itself, since they are very small and in the middle part of the blade.
Still, it'd be a shame to do this to your TI.

Bruno I think you just described one of my biggest fears of honing on it. I've most certainly thrown a scratch or two across the blade of some of my carry knives. I could care less about scratching a Benchmade that was bought for the purpose of heavy use, but this razor seems a bit of a shame to have something like that happen to it.

Now to try to find a really inexpensive but decent quality razor to learn on. I guess I'll check the trading section here first.

Thank you everyone for the advice. Now, anyone have any tips on convincing the wife that I NEED to spend more money?

I agree with everyone else about learning to hone on a less expensive/rare razor, but I see no need to put your new TI on the shelf. That is a beautiful razor and deserves to be shaved with. Treat that bad boy to a serious honing.......send it to Lynn. It is only 20$ plus shipping. I think everyone would agree that once Lynn puts a nice bevel on that razor it will stay sharp longer, and respond better when it needs to be refreshed.

I just completed my very first razor honing on a Bengal (5/8 sheffield spike) that Garythepenman graciously donated to me awhile back. I am very proud to say I did a great job. It is all about soaking up the information from the gentelmen of SRP and taking your time. The first razor I ever owned (J.A Henckel 5/8 round) was honed by Lynn so I knew what a sharp razor should be. That same razor honed by Lynn was done back in May 2006. It has yet to see a hone again. Alan (AFDavis11) refreshed it once on a pasted paddle (Chromium Oxide) before I had any gear. Then I refreshed it on Chromium Oxide once I got my gear for Christmas. That is 8 months of shaving as it was the only razor I owned until Christmas. They do not call Lynn the honemeister for nothing.

Yeah, when my TI arrived it had an edge, but wasn't ready to shave. I was also a bit displeased with the uneven bevel on it.

The note in the box indicated that the metal used for these blades is so special that only the man who forged the steel, Misseur Thiers, is capable of honing it. Incredible.

Do Blade you are saying I'm gonna have to die to get it honed up , last time I checked Pierre isn't doing any honing anymore.

Also yes, it appears I'm taken care of in the way of razors. I should have a honed razor and a "need to be honed" razor coming from Josh, and I picked up an ebay W&B that is either going to be honed by another forumite or I'll use that as my next lesson in honing. So I should be pretty comfortable before I go laying hands on the TI. And I have honed cutting implements before, years of experience with pocket knives (benchmades mostly ATS34, M2), kitchen knives (Wustoff mostly), and wood planes.

Originally Posted by Kavall

Do Blade you are saying I'm gonna have to die to get it honed up , last time I checked Pierre isn't doing any honing anymore.

I have 3 theories on this topic:
1) If those were his rejects, and you can't get yours shave ready, they tell you "well, you're not Pierre Thiers" when you call to complain
2) To make people who hone their own blades extra-proud "first there was Pierre Thiers, now there's me " It's also a challenge for the stubborn ones
3) To add some mysticism for collectors

Originally Posted by Blade Wielder

The note in the box indicated that the metal used for these blades is so special that only the man who forged the steel, Misseur Thiers, is capable of honing it. Incredible.

I don't remember that note in my box, but the french aren't exactly noted for their modesty.

I found my Pierre Thiers to be quite easy to hone up, you just have to be careful because of the wierd spine.