Honing problem

[ryansoulman]

Hi Guys, I'm fairly new to shaving with a straight razor. However i did by all the necessary kit to properly begin. I have a Sheffield straight razor from the Uk which came shave ready, after using it a few times and stropping it, it became dull and seemed like it needed honing. I have three stones

Shapton 1000 grit
Shapton 5000 grit
Shapton 12000 grit

I oroperly set the bevel with my 1000 stone like in one of Lynn's videos, then proceeded to the 5000 then the 12000 to finish. it felt sharp, but when i tried to shave it was pullung me. So i tried honing again, and still the same. What could i be doing wrong?

Any help would be great

Thanks guys

Ryan

[JOB15]

Hi Guys, I'm fairly new to shaving with a straight razor. However i did by all the necessary kit to properly begin. I have a Sheffield straight razor from the Uk which came shave ready, after using it a few times and stropping it, it became dull and seemed like it needed honing. I have three stones

Shapton 1000 grit
Shapton 5000 grit
Shapton 12000 grit

I oroperly set the bevel with my 1000 stone like in one of Lynn's videos, then proceeded to the 5000 then the 12000 to finish. it felt sharp, but when i tried to shave it was pullung me. So i tried honing again, and still the same. What could i be doing wrong?

Any help would be great

Thanks guys

Ryan

Wow, where to start.
Set the bevel on the 1k ..
Make sure it cuts arm hair.
No light reflecting from bird's eye view of the edge.

Thats half the battle, then move on to polishing.

That's my I'm at work and have no time answer.

[RezDog]

As a beginner you have a long jump from 5K to 12K. It is a doable jump but it is a hard place to start. You should have a good loupe. Learning to shave and hone at the same time is a tough journey. You might want to consider getting someone else to hone that blade. Your location is not listed so I have no idea who to tell you to contact. http://straightrazorpalace.com/class...wcat.php?cat=4 is a place to start. If you can find a meet or a local mentor that would be best. When you are honing a straight razor the bevel set is the foundation for your entire edge.
http://straightrazorpalace.com/honin...ggestions.html this thread has some really good pictures of the edge during the progression.

[BobH]

Welcome to the forum. I had the same reaction as JOB15, "Wow where to start", when I read your post. When I started to learn to shave with a straight razor I also decided I was going to learn to hone at the same time also. All I had to go on was the vids available on the net and no mentor near me to help. It was a loooong hard learning curve. It's not impossible to do both at the same time and you could easily be quicker on the up take than I was but just be prepared for a ton of frustration.

Most things relating to shaving with a straight razor appear deceptively easy to do. You received a shave ready razor, used a few times stropping it as you went along and now it is dull and tugging. Could be it became dull quickly through poor shaving technique and/or poor stropping technique. Both shaving and stropping appear easy to do and I did the same thing myself when starting out. Learning to hone is easily a notch or two above that in appearing deceptively easy till you try it the first time.

Personally, I would send your razor out to be honed until you get proficient enough in shaving and stropping to make an edge last. Get a couple of good condition vintage razors to practice honing on and use you good razor as a guide for the type of edge you are trying to achieve honing. If at all possible find a mentor near you for some in person instructions on shaving, making lather, stropping and honing. That should make things easier and shorten the learning curve.

Bob

[Kees]

If you started off with a shave-ready razor and you did not destroy the edge through clumsy stropping or whatever, you only need the 12K to get it going again.

[BeJay]

Sounds like you rolled the edge while stropping. Until you understand what happened to your edge, honing may be futile. The spine of the razor must be in contact with the strop at all times. Lift the spine while the edge is in contact, and the very fine edge will bend. If it's honed to perfection and you roll the edge, it's not going to shave. I would recommend sending it out to get honed. While you're waiting for it to come back, practice your stropping technique. If you want to learn to hone from the bevel set, I'd recommend getting a couple beaters to learn on. Very thin hollow grinds are great for learning because you will see your results sooner. I'd also recommend that you get an 8k stone for your progression. As RezDog said 5k to 12k is a big jump.

[Euclid440]

Yup, more than likely, you only needed a few laps on the 12k. But that is water under the bridge, and now you have to deal with the edge, you have.

How did you determine the bevel was set?

Get some magnification, 60x, and look at the edge. Straight down on the edge. If you see any, any reflection, the bevel is not fully set.

Ink the bevel, tape the spine and stay on the 1k until you are removing ink all the way to the edge and the bevels are meeting and not reflecting light.

Dollars to Doughnuts… your bevel is not fully set…

Here is a good post on what your bevels and edge should look like under magnification. Second Try at Honing.

Post 42 shows what a near set bevel looks like and the following Post 42, page 9 is close, Post 51, page 11 shows, a fully set bevel.

[onimaru55]

Welcome to the forum. I had the same reaction as JOB15, "Wow where to start", when I read your post. When I started to learn to shave with a straight razor I also decided I was going to learn to hone at the same time also. All I had to go on was the vids available on the net and no mentor near me to help. It was a loooong hard learning curve. It's not impossible to do both at the same time and you could easily be quicker on the up take than I was but just be prepared for a ton of frustration.

Most things relating to shaving with a straight razor appear deceptively easy to do. You received a shave ready razor, used a few times stropping it as you went along and now it is dull and tugging. Could be it became dull quickly through poor shaving technique and/or poor stropping technique. Both shaving and stropping appear easy to do and I did the same thing myself when starting out. Learning to hone is easily a notch or two above that in appearing deceptively easy till you try it the first time.

Personally, I would send your razor out to be honed until you get proficient enough in shaving and stropping to make an edge last. Get a couple of good condition vintage razors to practice honing on and use you good razor as a guide for the type of edge you are trying to achieve honing. If at all possible find a mentor near you for some in person instructions on shaving, making lather, stropping and honing. That should make things easier and shorten the learning curve.

Bob

Add a couple more notches if it's a Sheffield wedge with a bunch of hone wear

[bobski]

When you receive your 1st pro honed razor, the last things you need are hones. You need a 3 inch strop, and nothing else. With those two items, you should be right for 8 weeks. When you feel your razor is tugging etc, you don't need a bevel setting stone such as a 1k. All you will need is an 8k stone. You only need to re-fresh the razor, not re-profile it with a 1k stone. Like most blokes if you have all these hones you want to use them. Patience.

[Kees]

When you receive your 1st pro honed razor, the last things you need are hones. You need a 3 inch strop, and nothing else. With those two items, you should be right for 8 weeks.

I don't think that is a general rule. After 5 or 6 shaves my edges are no longer comfortable and I like to do a touch up. I have never managed 8 weeks with one edge.