Thread: Full Rotation of Oilstones

On a whim two days ago, I prepared a new razor (new as in never honed or bevel set) only on the brown stone. Someone used it for razors before I bought it, but they had completely allowed the surface to load slick. It's settling in, though. So I set the bevel with it just using some pressure, and then took some light strokes, linen and then strop, and I shaved with it the next day.

It was borderline dangerous around my chin and lips because it didn't quite have the keenness to shave that area safely. Downright dull compared to what I'm used to.

So on a whim, the next day after the linen and strop, I took 20 light passes with light mineral oil (fairly thick stuff for a razor) and I went at it again with the linen (but lightly) and then the strop again.

I shaved this morning, expecting to see a small improvement. I was shocked - I can't really say that the edge off of any of the other stones I have has been any sharper for any shave.

I figured the way I was using it after cleaning up the edge with the linen was that those light passes were like a barber hone. The wire edge and trash was gone from the first honing because of the linen and stropping on leather. I figured like a barber hone, it would remove some of the rounding that occurred from the prior linen and strop, and maybe it'd get a little sharper from thinning the edge. I cannot believe how sharp the razor actually was, though. No razorburn, no resistance around lip and chin and a very clean shave.

So I did it again tonight, and I'll see tomorrow if it's any better. I can hardly believe it. I microscoped the edge - keep in mind I reduced this picture 50% vs. some of the other pictures online. You can see the deep marks that are on the bevel, but it doesn't look too bad because this stone is not too coarse. It's just not fine enough to provide a good shave without stropping the edge.

I'm inclined to try this technique with some marginal stones now, including other faster cutting natural stones (like suita) that don't provide a very good shave straight off of the stone, and even with a linen only provide a fairly smooth but very dull shave.