Thread: Straight Razor Hell

Last night I decided to do a hone and figure out whats going on.
This time I used 3 layers of tape.
Finished the hone and went to my old broken in linen strop .
There was some edge break up , just a little but still about 2 tiny points caught the light.
Then I hit my new Kanayama linen strop and the edge degraded even more.
So this edge was stronger with 3 layers but still failing and effected more by the new unbroken in Kanayama strop.
I did some thinking... My edges weren't like this before, my brother used to text me that hed just had the best shave of his life off my honing and I was over the moon with my shaving results.
Then I think I figured it out.
When I first started honing , I tried to copy the Lynn Abrahams Shapton guide but the edges weren't sharp enough. So I started doing more circles and laps but over time I was decreasing my circles and laps , trying to do exactly what Lynn shows in his video.
Eventually I decreased my circles,laps,pressure, to a point where I was getting dull edges.
I then realised and this was about 2 months ago, that Lynn uses a shave ready blade in his videos ,where as I use a dull edge that's been dragged on the stone before honing.
So I thought I was justified in doing near enough double what Lynn does in his videos (with the 1k and 4k) to achieve a nice edge, which has lead me here.
My next test will be a hone doing the minimal actions and see what happens.
Hopefully I can fit a session in tonight ...

I came home from work today and went straight to honing.
This time I under honed the blade, it was sharp but just not very sharp.
I did 50 on the linen and broke up the edge.
The problem was that I strop very fast and on the linen i un knowingly add a touch of violence.
So I re honed the blade still not as much as I normally would. I left out the 16k did some on the shobu then onto the nakayama with minimum slurry ,worked it dry and did 15 laps on the dry like gssixgun did.
I then gave it 60 laps on the leather and had a shower then shaved.
I was expecting a blunt shave.
After the first stroke I was blown away, it didn't feel sharp at all but took all the hair with ease , I followed with an against the grain pass, wow , perfect. (I also tried my new "GEO F TRUMPER" shaving cream ,very nice , could challenge "Truefit, Ultimate comfort")
After a perfect shave I took the blade to the linen ,did 50 and bingo, broke the edge up.
I could just strop slowly on linen but I will never use linen again.
I might just use the suede then the leather but linen is a no no for me..
See! I knew it wasn't my honing
I'm just happy to move forward..
Thank you guys for teaching me a load of new tricks and all your input...

I think you need a real linen before you decide to never use linen again. The vintage linens that I have step an edge up on a routine (weekly use) basis better than anything else I've ever used, and allow me to go almost indefinitely between honings without losing any edge keenness. When I used leather only, I could only go for about 3 weeks before I noticed a drop in keenness on a blade. I've gone 6 months using the linen weekly and only honed that razor because someone sent me a stone to test.

Linen used well is one of the best things to have to maintain a razor, but it has to be a good linen. bad linens and linen substitutes will damage the edge of a razor.

Originally Posted by DaveW

I think you need a real linen before you decide to never use linen again. The vintage linens that I have step an edge up on a routine (weekly use) basis better than anything else I've ever used, and allow me to go almost indefinitely between honings without losing any edge keenness. When I used leather only, I could only go for about 3 weeks before I noticed a drop in keenness on a blade. I've gone 6 months using the linen weekly and only honed that razor because someone sent me a stone to test.

Linen used well is one of the best things to have to maintain a razor, but it has to be a good linen. bad linens and linen substitutes will damage the edge of a razor.

Good to know, I could just use my trusty classic shaving linen, just take it a bit easy on it.
The Kanayama linen is getting put back in its box.

This is an interesting thread. When i started honing razors using fine JNats over a year ago, there was some advice floating around to go from stone to leather. I've also noted that my Herald flax linen component seems to knock the off-the-stone HHT down a bit. I'm currently trying Belgian flax linen from an artist's supply, and the results are that it seems to produce a keener but more exfoliating edge than say the Kanoyama canvas.

So could it be that "back in the day" when people used coarser barber hones, slates, coticules of unknown virtue (with technique of unknown virtue), and so on, that linen was a good idea but that it is less a good idea with modern uber-fine hones like the Shapton 30k/Suehiro 20k, ultra fine JNats, and the finest pastes?

Any comments about the relative value of linen with ultra fine hones?

Cheers, Steve

The only linens I've used that I like are the vintage linens in good clean (unused is nice) condition and that have a mark on them like "silk finish" and have something on them. But what's on them is not abrasive, it's some kind of mix of stuff that's more like a coating.

They bring up the sharpness of everything I've put on them, and leave a very bright edge. Most of the other things I've tried, like cotton felt, etc, I always felt like I was making a lateral move at best with it, some of it (and some not so great leather that wasn't broken in) did knock off some of the keenness. The easiest solution to me, unless I think stuff like that has a chance of breaking in, is to not use it.

When the goods are quality, you don't have to fight them or find secrets to get them to work. That's the mark of ...well, quality goods.

When I go from a silk finish linen to testing someones' stone, almost without question, a hone on any natural stone will bring the edge sharpness down some. That includes honing on vintage japanese barber hones. Over a period of a couple of weeks, use of the linen will bring the edge back up (I use it once a week) and then it will just sort of stay wherever that is.