Thread: Stainless steel razors on Shapton Pros.

I'll try again with stropping on 0.1micron diamonds before next shave and see how it goes. If the shave was great too, then I'll try go to the S30K for 20 passes and shave. It must be either the stone or the razor.

Originally Posted by mrjin

I'll try again with stropping on 0.1micron diamonds before next shave and see how it goes. If the shave was great too, then I'll try go to the S30K for 20 passes and shave. It must be either the stone or the razor.

Okay, it turned out to be the stone. It looks like the Shapton 30K could not handle super hard stainless steel. Did ~20 passes on 0.1 micron diamond, it shaved really well. No alum stings or so ever. I still prefer the shave off my Boker though. I will post some pictures later to end this almost two years saga...

Originally Posted by mrjin

My skin is super sensitive, 3 passes would be too many. So I would always try to reduce the passes to the least and as light as possible, straight edge would be better this case. I have tried the Titan's smile edge but I did not like most of its aspects. It's probably a combination of multiple factors, but you know, I have only tried that many times. I might eventually prefer a smile edge, but so far, it's not quite there yet.

I do understand it's lots of efforts to get something like what in your pic #1 to shave ready. But with Titan, it wasn't the case. After I get it shave ready, the spine is no better than the KN razor below. Unlike your example, Titan's spine is straight, the smile was just created using something like an EdgePro. The geometry was off quite a bit. I'm sorry that I could not see any craftsmanship in it at all.

Attachment 350930
Attachment 350931

I had to fix the spine, why not straighten the edge at the same time? The only thing was that I under estimated the effort needed. The steel was much harder than any other razors I have, it's probably really HRC 70, if not really that high, it will be very close to it. So it super hard to hone, and I had to press it super hard on the diamond plate to fix the spine or it would just keep skidding.

Anyway, I'm happier with it than before.

I was reading back through some of the posts in this thread and this one I guess I didn't notice before. Anyway, it prompted more thoughts.

1) a scything stroke is not harder on the skin. In fact it is a method meant to keep from using more strokes by maximizing the blades contact with the hair at each pass. It is not horizontal, not vertical in relation to the hair it is more diagonal so the blade cuts rather than hacks the hair. It took me a while to get that stroke and it seems wrong to do since you spend most of your learning in NOT slicing yourself. But that is what you are doing, slicing thought the hair, just in a.way that doesn't slice the skin. If you have sensitive skin and can't use too many strokes a scything stroke would help you. It is ,if not the main purpose, the main advantage of a.smiling blade.

2)In your particular case that Titan razor may just not be crafted well but a blade with a complex geometry may not need to be "fixed" necessarily. Typically a smiling blade would have a corresponding smile to the spine but it doesn't have to. You can craft a blade that looks like this


That blade would need a spine shaped like this...


...to get it to hone maintaining a consistent bevel angle. Otherwise it would be too obtuse (IF the edge would even touch the hone) at the ends and not shave well while being too acute in the center and tend to chip. That is even assuming that you knew HOW to hone it in the first place. Most of us would not want a blade like the drawing because it is not pleasing to the eye. Also, it is too complex for the layman to hone so anyone who makes blades would tend to not send that out into the public. You would hone that with a rocking stroke where the edge at the heel contacts the stone at the first part of the stroke but the edge at the toe does not. At the other end of the stroke that would be reversed. This is more easily done with a very narrow stone but it is not necessary. You learn to hone on the first inch or two of the hone to achieve this.

Forgive me if I over explain. I'm not sure where you are in your honing experience. Honing is one of those puzzles that seems easy to solve at the surface as is understanding blade geometry. Once you get some time into it you discover that the puzzle is more complex than it seems. Actually the puzzle itself is not but understanding it fully is. I don't mean to condescend but it is easy to look at the puzzle on the surface and miss the complexity.

Links did not work Paul!

Originally Posted by PaulFLUS

I was reading back through some of the posts in this thread and this one I guess I didn't notice before. Anyway, it prompted more thoughts.

1) a scything stroke is not harder on the skin. In fact it is a method meant to keep from using more strokes by maximizing the blades contact with the hair at each pass. It is not horizontal, not vertical in relation to the hair it is more diagonal so the blade cuts rather than hacks the hair. It took me a while to get that stroke and it seems wrong to do since you spend most of your learning in NOT slicing yourself. But that is what you are doing, slicing thought the hair, just in a.way that doesn't slice the skin. If you have sensitive skin and can't use too many strokes a scything stroke would help you. It is ,if not the main purpose, the main advantage of a.smiling blade.

2)In your particular case that Titan razor may just not be crafted well but a blade with a complex geometry may not need to be "fixed" necessarily. Typically a smiling blade would have a corresponding smile to the spine but it doesn't have to. You can craft a blade that looks like this


That blade would need a spine shaped like this...


...to get it to hone maintaining a consistent bevel angle. Otherwise it would be too obtuse (IF the edge would even touch the hone) at the ends and not shave well while being too acute in the center and tend to chip. That is even assuming that you knew HOW to hone it in the first place. Most of us would not want a blade like the drawing because it is not pleasing to the eye. Also, it is too complex for the layman to hone so anyone who makes blades would tend to not send that out into the public. You would hone that with a rocking stroke where the edge at the heel contacts the stone at the first part of the stroke but the edge at the toe does not. At the other end of the stroke that would be reversed. This is more easily done with a very narrow stone but it is not necessary. You learn to hone on the first inch or two of the hone to achieve this.

Forgive me if I over explain. I'm not sure where you are in your honing experience. Honing is one of those puzzles that seems easy to solve at the surface as is understanding blade geometry. Once you get some time into it you discover that the puzzle is more complex than it seems. Actually the puzzle itself is not but understanding it fully is. I don't mean to condescend but it is easy to look at the puzzle on the surface and miss the complexity.

Thanks for reviewing the thread again and providing the drawings.

1). I've no doubt your method will solve my problem better so that I don't even need a 30K edge. My beard isn't that thick and 2 vertical/horizontal passes would clear it nicely, leaving very little areas to detail. I guess it will take quite a few attempts before I can manage it.

2). I think we are on the same page. I know how to hone a curved edge and I have done a lot with knives, but not much experiences with razors. Regarding the the Titan, the bevel angle was too obtuse, I still feel it is a little bit too obtuse even after thinning the spines. And the spine was not only too thick but also not even. It was much thicker at the tip. See pics below for what exactly I meant. Excuse me for the bad drawing, had to use mspaint with mouse.




I could have done rolling/rocking strokes at the edges of the stone to get it honed up, but knowing what to do is one thing, getting it done as expected is another. As I didn't like the ground already, I would rather get the geometries right, straighten the edge and do whatever I do with straight edge ones. Then I realized that I could not get it done quickly enough and I need a good diamond plate with continues surface. So I put it away and forgot it completely until last week. Since I had to fix the spine anyway, so I straighten the edge too.

Originally Posted by Johntoad57

Haven't ever heard of a Titan straight razor. Hope you figure it out.

I actually don't know much about them neither. I bought their most expensive one, but I don't really like its ground at all. Saw it from this form and decided to give it a shot but it turned out to be bummer.

Titan razor is one step above. Gold dollar. Or maybe two steps as they put wood scales on them.

The time and energy, and money you've put into those worthless chunks of steel, would've been better used on restoration of a good, vintage blade that will hold an edge and shave like your wanting them too.

Just saying.

RSO's from China have always been tossed at us here. Not even a worthwhile subject.
A fact which was established long ago.

A sticky on the subject here from 2010. I do think Bruno was being too kind! . A view of the likes and thanks might convince some.
Still, lots of stubborn folk waste time and forum space on a regular basis......

https://sharprazorpalace.com/razors/...ar-razors.html

Originally Posted by sharptonn

RSO's from China have always been tossed at us here. Not even a worthwhile subject.
A fact which was established long ago.

A sticky on the subject here from 2010. I do think Bruno was being too kind! . A view of the likes and thanks might convince some.
Still, lots of stubborn folk waste time and forum space on a regular basis......

https://sharprazorpalace.com/razors/...ar-razors.html

Lol, did not notice it really...