Thread: He said he could sharpen a straight razor. He couldn't.

So when I got it back and tried to shave with it, it felt like it was ripping the individual hairs off my face. So, I had to break down and have a go at doing it myself. I pulled out my old Japanese waterstones that I use for sharpening my planes. I have a set of three up to a 6K King Stone. Had to start on the medium first to reset and rebuild the edge which looked completely destroyed. I think he sharpened it on one of those sandpaper things they use on knives, the edge was a wreck. Watched a load of videos online and got to work. When it came off the 6K it was sharp enough to nick me but not quite sharp enough to remove the 'little tiny hairs growing out of my face'. Finally I broke down and ordered a 12K Naniwa. Went back to the 6K as I had tried to shave with it already then finished it on the 12. What an awesome skill to master. I did use tape. It shaved like the day I got it, except that I am better now and I didn't cut myself the 7 times I did on my first try.
Big shout out of Thanks to all you guys on here as I read a lot of this forum before I tried, and got it right the first time. I have been sharpening things with waterstones for over 30 years so I am sure that that helped, but knowing what I needed helped a lot too.
Now I am going to scout the antique/junk shops locally to see if I can find a decent razor to restore.
I also got a double time flattening stone which is an amazing piece. Wish I had known about those years ago, I spent many years flattening my stones on sandpaper taped to the top of my table saw. I also discovered that although the 12K was brand new out of the box it did require flattening before I could use it so beware of that.
Cool stuff and thanks again guys.