Thread: Dry honing with strop paste trick

Originally Posted by Joed

If you are looking to put CRO paste on something hard, like the 12k Chinese you would do better putting it on something that would not cut the metal courser than the CRO. Maybe something like etched glass. I've never been a fan of mixing polishing grits and am anal about cleaning anything being polished before moving to a finer grit. But if CRO on a 12k works for you...

I appreciate your point but, without actually trying it yet, I suspect that the reason it might work is because of the tendency of the Ch12?K to glaze over. The CRO might just fill into all of the low spots and end up like a layer of spackle over the hone. I'm going to give this a try soon just so that I can take a look at the effect under the microscope. I'm actually more curious what the hone, rather than the razor, will look like.

your honing edge forward with ox on hone?..hmmm looks like a must see test to ,me..more experiments!

Can't find it now, but there was a long discussion on bladeforums or knifeforums several months ago by Keith DeGrau from HandAmerican descibing his method of honing straight razors using CBN on black arkansas hones.

Originally Posted by matt321

Can't find it now, but there was a long discussion on bladeforums or knifeforums several months ago by Keith DeGrau from HandAmerican descibing his method of honing straightrazors using CBN on black arkansas hones.

Here's a copy of the post Matt. It was in the KeepingSharp subforum.

Ryan, that’s a good way to get started with what’s called ‘wet shaving’, a term applied to using double edged safety razors & straight razors.

I’ve been using a straight for over 25 years. After I gave up corporate life I didn’t have to shave every day and when it came time to do so my beard would clog the disposable up real quick.

I got very lucky, I bought a Fromm 5/8 “ straight razor from the local beauty supply store and it shaved like a dream right out of the box.

That rarely happens, even with the high end names. I know Butch from this list makes a great looking razor, I saw one at Warren’s last ECG. I’m sure it shaves well but can’t say without having used one.

As far as a high end razor you can’t go wrong with one from Tim Zowada which are available from Classic Shaving. They’re pricey but they are ready to go when you receive it and really quite exquisite.

Tim wrote a piece on caring for straight razors for Blade Magazine several years ago and gave me the first working razor that he made as a gift for my help. It’s a real treasure. I use it often and it shaves beautifully.

For guys who want to get started with a SR I can offer a few tips. First, buy a razor that is shave ready from a reliable source. If the words ‘shave ready’ are not included in the deal the seller does not have an obligation to ship a razor that actually works. This has become an unwritten yet accepted policy in the world of straight razor trading.

Pursuant to that there is no need to spend a fortune on a first razor. You can pick one up on Ebay from this fellow:

TinyURL.com - eBay Auction - Famous Double Arrow straight razor. Sharp as a...razor.

I have no business affiliation with this individual, I do own at least 15 of these and they can’t be beat at the $9.50 price When you get it the razor may require a light stropping but I advise people to shave with a razor first before you have at it with a strop or stone etc.

I’ve had people contact me and tell me that they’ve received a razor honed by none other than Lynn Abrams that didn’t shave very well. Lynn is a good friend of mine and he is the best. My first question is always ‘what did you do to the razor when you received it? and each time without fail the answer was ‘I stropped it’ My response was either your strop is bad or you don’t know how to strop. The razor has been dubbed and needs to be re honed.

Keep the disposable on hand. You might not get your whole face shaved with a straight when you first start using it. A nick is one thing, numerous nicks don’t look too bad at first but vivid evidence of self mutilation is just around the corner. Razor cuts become fire engine red while they are healing so just stop if you’re having trouble and go back to the disposable until you can figure out what the problem is.

Avoid square tip razors, no matter how much experience you have with a razor the square tip will getchya at one point or another. It could be a loud noise that startles you or drifting off in thought that will cause the tip to dig into your cheek or neck.

A well honed round tip razor is your best bet and the shape makes it a bit easier to shave the hollows of your neck.

Feather razors scare most everyone I know who uses a straight. I think Ken wrote that they’re too sharp. That’s true, and the reason for that is that they’re finished with a polycrystalline material rather than a mono crystalline. The poly leaves a toothy edge - not great for the face.

When actually shaving always start with a clean face and wrap your face in a warm face cloth. On occasion I’ll apply shaving cream to my face and then wrap up in a damp hot towel. One good way to get a towel just right is to dampen it and microwave it for 20-30 seconds but be careful, it’s hot.

I’m a pretty simple shaver, I do use a badger brush and scuttle. The scuttle is a ceramic two part bowl with hot water in the lower half which keeps the lather hot in the top half. I like Proraso shaving cream though it’s getting hard to find. There’s two ways of lathering your face. You can lather with the brush, or gather lather on the brush and by holding the brush in your right and and pulling it through your index finger and thumb on your left get a big pile of lather that you rub into your face - very Euro.

Do you need a lot of razors? not really, but most guys have a lot more then they’ll ever use. I have over 250 and a lot of them have to be worked on and need new scales so it’s more of a hobby You should have a decent rotation which would be 4 - 7 razors.

The only other thing I can offer at the moment is that a good, well honed razor should only see a stone twice or three times a year if you have a good strop, some fine compounds and a good technique.

Working backwards is your best bet when a razor starts to pull. Start with the finest stone or compound that you have on hand, then strop the blade, and chances are that’s all you have to do.

Some of the razors I own are well over 100 years old and they’re pretty much the same width as when they were new. That’s due to proper, gentle care by previous owners.

When it comes to maintenance stones I only use one, a surgical black Arkansas stone that I spritz with 1 micron boron carbide & water.

As far as other items I use on a regular basis, well, I’m not at liberty to say here, but they all come from one company that I’m quite happy with and very loyal to.

In case folks didn’t know Lynn Abrams is the founder of straightrazorplace.com and they’ve recently created a wiki page devoted to straight razor shaving that you can find here -
http://straightrazorpalace.com/s...

One page, complete with sources and most everything you need to know - stuff for the novice or the pro. (hey, that rhymes!)

Hope this info helps,
Keith

cotd's original post for this thread describes dry honing with CrO past on the Chinese 12K. I'm not sure what Keith DeGrau is doing with the CBN spritz. Sounds like he hones on a black arkansas that is lubricated with a CBN spritz (i.e.not dry)?