Thread: Smooth skin

What makes the difference between a BBS shave that leaves the skin feeling good versus one that leaves the face feeling irritated?

I have several razors, hones and strops. The hones: Super Punjab, double sided hone (American Hone Co. Monrovia, Iowa), a Frictionite 00 (also from Monrovia), and I recently acquired a Chinese hone (Guangxi province). None of the strops have been treated except for strop dressings to help preserve the quality of the leather. One is an antique Johnston two sided strop (one side grooved, the other smooth brand leather). Another is a contemporary Illinois Imperial Russia with both leather and canvas strops. I would like to see if I can find the right combination to minimize the irritation.

I'm thinking of making a couple of strops from leather by treating them with the black and red Dovo strop pastes, so that I can preserve my commercial strops for daily use. Would these improve the smoothness of the edge?

Can anybody provide some guidance?

Thanks,

PChoca

What are the grits of your stones?

I don't know for sure. I have read in this or another forum that the finer side of the Frictionite 00 is 8,000. the Super Punjab's smoother side feels slightly grittier than the Frictionite's smoother side. The Chinese stone, which is the only natural stone of the three, is said to be around 13,000. I have used them in order of grittier to smoother, with the Chinese as a finishing hone. After honing and stropping, the blades pass the wet thumbnail and the hanging hair test.

Thanks

It is really hard to pinpoint where the roughness comes from.
It could be caused by a less-than-ideal shaving technique (too much pressure, too much of an angle) or it could be the sharpness or polishing of your blade. In your case, I am guessing it is a sharpness issue, due to your wet thumbnail testing. Thumbnail tests can be used at bevel setting, but has no part in the final part, let alone after stropping. In my opinion, chances are high that this test is ruining your hard work. A sharp and well polished edge should provide a smooth shave. There are some finishing hones that can leave your edge so sharp it can be uncomfortable, but I don't think that applies to phigs.

In short, do your thumbnail testing early on, if at all (a magnifier or hand held microscope can be helpful) and try to leave as perfect an edge as possible, then shave test. Be meticulous while stropping as well, so as not to damage your edge.

Best of luck.

you shouldn't use the thumbnail test after you've set the bevel anymore. it's a destructive test and kills the edge. (this is why you do a few more strokes on the bevel setting stone before progressing to the next one).

as for the strops, you could make a felt or balsa paddle strop and put some crox paste on there to refresh the edge with.
some also like diamond paste, others hate it. it's all personal preference.
or you could buy a pre-made one from starshaving, whipped dog, SRD, or any of the others that make them.

leave your daily strops clean.

the chinese stone is also known as the C12K, or the PHIG - People's Hone of Indeterminate Grit.
they're commonly said to sway around the 12K region, some are finer, some are coarser, none are the same.

There is only one test that tests if the blade is sharp enough for "your face" and that is the shave test. If the blade shaves your face but not close enough for your liking, take it back to the higher grit hone and polisher for another round of strokes (15 on each is a good start). Strop it on the leather for 100 round trips and try shaving again. Notice the difference in the shave. If it improved but is still not there, repeat. You'll get a feel for what your razor needs the next time it needs a refresh.

Irritation comes from too much pressure. With a dull blade the tendency is to press harder to get a closer shave. Let the edge do the work.

PCH, the razor burn is almost always too much pressure. As a former user of the c12k, I remember it gave sharpness, but nothing smooth. The smoothness changed my shaves dramatically. Since going to other stones for finishing, I experimented some w/ the c12k. The best smoothness came from using slurry on the stone, saving the slurry in a small cup and after enough is saved, adding very little water to the dried slurry and painting that slurry onto a canvas/linen strop. It smoothed out the harshness pretty well. It also keeps you from diving into HAD, which is stronger and more costly than RAD.

Thank you very much to all of you. Your collective advice clarifies a lot and provides me with with practices I can easily adopt.

P Choca