Thread: Straight Razor Hell

Originally Posted by bill3152

IMO the photo showed a chip from a stone particle that was too large. Probably from aggressive tomo slurry raising. If you have 3 layers of tape on and the particle was there, you would have the same chip. Wire edge is something else completely from what the photo was showing. IMO too many strokes on the 4k, will not result in a wire edge after progressing to the 8k, then 16 then nakayama. Any one of those stones is capable of removing the foil or wire by itself.

Hi, that's why I said ive learnt a lot from this thread, creating a slurry softly being one of the things ive learnt.
I go through those stones then hit the linen and get a wire edge, if its not from over honing then it must just be the thin angle of the razor.

I was just thinking about this thread, Honing a Hart right now, I might head to a Nakayama finish just to see what happens

Originally Posted by gssixgun

I was just thinking about this thread, Honing a Hart right now, I might head to a Nakayama finish just to see what happens

I hope you don't see a foil edge after stropping, or I kinda do

Originally Posted by JOB15

I go through those stones then hit the linen and get a wire edge, if its not from over honing then it must just be the thin angle of the razor.

there was no polishing compound on he linen right?

when I see a bur on the bevel setter I know it is set, light passes with a leading edge get rid of it and I get to a coti. I thought that making strokes with the edge leading prevents a wireedge to form

Originally Posted by Bram

there was no polishing compound on he linen right?

when I see a bur on the bevel setter I know it is set, light passes with a leading edge get rid of it and I get to a coti. I thought that making strokes with the edge leading prevents a wireedge to form

Compounds I use not my friend,
sorry ill speak normally..
this is what I cant figure out , there is no wire edge , the blade is immaculate , then I strop on linen and it appears

Try another linen strop, perhaps your strop has something on it, or too much pressure.

Originally Posted by Euclid440

Try another linen strop, perhaps your strop has something on it, or too much pressure.

I suppose its worth a try, it is a new strop, a Kanayama 90000 .
I never checked the edge after final stropping before, just tested how it pops mid level arm hair.
Saying that though, I never have issues with my edges to make me check after stropping previously .
I've added too many variables at once , a new stone and a new strop.

Maybe, I'm just creating super delicate edges that just can't handle linen.
The problem is that I'm working and can't experiment until the weekend
I feel like quitting my job..
Honing is more important :/

A couple of things I can think of:

1) Can you shave arm hair at skin level off the 1k stone? If not, your bevel isnt set correctly.
2) Can you feel the razor starting to cut hair off the 4k stone floating about 1mm above the skin? Thats usually my benchmark for being done on that stone.
3) Try doing just 10 light pressure laps on the 8k, and then test shave. If all is well at that point then do 10 light pressure laps on the 16k.
4) Try your J-Nat without slurry - I've had a few of them and some play well with slurry, some dont. Generally those made out of softer clay type stone tend to work better with slurry and the harder more granite like stones tend to prefer no slurry.

My Maruichi worked with slurry and I did 15 strokes with a light slurry, then 15 with just water. My Asagi is just 30 with water, no slurry at all. That might sound a lot of strokes, but I'm using basically enough pressure to keep the blade flat on the stone, thats it.

And then when you strop, just try doing 30 linen and 60 leather and see how that comes out.

Good luck and keep us posted!

So I was thinking of your thread as I was honing a Hart

Some things that came to mind

The Fragile edge is a classic overhoning symptom so the question is WHY ????

1. Excessive pressure while honing
2. Way to many laps
3. Using to many stones
4 Wrong geometry
5. Bad steel
6 Lifting the spine while stropping or excessive pressure


Looking at your case in specific, the two easiest to control

Eliminate the 16k from the system and go to the J-nat after the 8k which Stubear also gave a great recommendation in his post above with #3 see how well it shaves at the 8k level

Add 2 layers of tape and do your finishing routine right now, and see if the edge holds


But you are going to have to eliminate the possibilities one at a time until you solve the issue, changing multiple things in each session just gets frustrating


ps: no issues with honing this Hart through the Nakayama

Using 2 layers of 3M 700 tape

Set new bevel on Chosera 1k using light slurry, this was simple light bevel set, not any heavy grinding
moved to Chosera 5k using light slurry dilute to clear about 20 laps
moved to Chosera 10k and again light slurry dilute to clear about 20 laps
moved to Nakayama medium slurry no dilution continued working until dry, using combination of Pigtails and X strokes, getting lighter and lighter until dry,,, razor has a sweet haze finish now.. while dry, I then did about 15 super light laps with just enough pressure to keep control of the edge on the stone, the laps are so light that the dry powdered slurry does NOT lift off the stone.. Very edge of bevel changes to mirror...

Strop on Linen/Leather test shave...


Above just for reference it is not a honing recommendation

Originally Posted by gssixgun

So I was thinking of your thread as I was honing a Hart

Some things that came to mind

The Fragile edge is a classic overhoning symptom so the question is WHY ????

1. Excessive pressure while honing
2. Way to many laps
3. Using to many stones
4 Wrong geometry
5. Bad steel
6 Lifting the spine while stropping or excessive pressure


Looking at your case in specific, the two easiest to control

Eliminate the 16k from the system and go to the J-nat after the 8k which Stubear also gave a great recommendation in his post above with #3 see how well it shaves at the 8k level

Add 2 layers of tape and do your finishing routine right now, and see if the edge holds


But you are going to have to eliminate the possibilities one at a time until you solve the issue, changing multiple things in each session just gets frustrating


ps: no issues with honing this Hart through the Nakayama

Using 2 layers of 3M 700 tape

Set new bevel on Chosera 1k using light slurry, this was simple light bevel set, not any heavy grinding
moved to Chosera 5k using light slurry dilute to clear about 20 laps
moved to Chosera 10k and again light slurry dilute to clear about 20 laps
moved to Nakayama medium slurry no dilution continued working until dry, using combination of Pigtails and X strokes, getting lighter and lighter until dry,,, razor has a sweet haze finish now.. while dry, I then did about 15 super light laps with just enough pressure to keep control of the edge on the stone, the laps are so light that the dry powdered slurry does NOT lift off the stone.. Very edge of bevel changes to mirror...

Strop on Linen/Leather test shave...


Above just for reference it is not a honing recommendation

Many thanks.
I'll start with the extra tape and go from there.
I'll report my findings