First shave with a razor I honed

I posted my experience with my first full shave with a straight over in the shaving forum but thought I'd recount my experience with a razor that I honed here. As background, I have a Dovo that I had professionally honed and a recently purchased Timor Special that I bought to practice honing. As I said in the shaving forum, I started my shave with the Timor but realized after a few strokes it wasn't going to "cut it" so I switched to the Dovo.

Here's what I did with the Timor prior to the shave:

• A bunch of circles with a Norton 1K (well over 100)
• A pyramid with the 1K and a Norton 4K
• A pyramid with the 4K and a Norton 8K
• A pyramid with the 8K and a Naniwa 12K
• About 80 laps on a strop

The pyramids started at 25 laps (25/20/15/10/5/3/1).

After the shave, I did the "magic marker" test on it and within about 4-5 laps the marker was completely gone on both sides of the blade so I've got a pretty decent bevel (I think) but the edge definitely isn't shave ready.

I know the Timor isn't the finest razor in existence but the steel seems reasonably good and I think I should be able to get it sharp enough to shave with. The only way the poorer quality might show itself is in preparation from the factor (which I've taken care of) and perhaps the edge might not last as long as the best quality steel. If others with more experience with recent Timors have a different opinion I'd be interested in hearing it.

I'm thinking at this point that I need to do more work with the 4K/8K since there is a decent bevel. When I stopped with the 4K/8K pyramid the edge would cut hair but not really that easily. I'll try to describe that more fully. If I made a stroke on my arm the blade would end up with some hairs on it but I didn't end up with a bald spot in the area I'd made the stroke.

I'd appreciate any insights or advice on my progress so far and next steps.

First off I am a beginner, but I found out that the amount of pressure you need to use needs to be played with until you can get the right feel on the stone. It took me forever but I kept going back and starting over trying different pressures until I got the hang of it. Hope this helps, as for your particular razor I cannot comment on that.

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Originally Posted by ccase39

First off I am a beginner, but I found out that the amount of pressure you need to use needs to be played with until you can get the right feel on the stone. It took me forever but I kept going back and starting over trying different pressures until I got the hang of it. Hope this helps, as for your particular razor I cannot comment on that.

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It does help. I redid the progression starting from the 4k tonight and applied much less pressure, really none at all, just letting the spine glide along the hone and the result seems better. Still not as good as a professionally honed razor but enough better to be encouraging.

I am beginning to wonder whether or not it's possible to get a really sharp edge on this razor though. I'm going to keep practicing on it though, it's good for that and I don't really care if I hone it down to a nub. The things I'm working on developing are muscle memory through the stroke and a good gentle touch. I did notice that I was doing a pretty good job of creating an even wave in the water on the stone so I seem to be doing a good job of keeping the razor flat on the stone.

Any other suggestions welcomed.

Sounds like you got a good thing going then! And you never know you may wind up putting an edge on that razor yet. From what I have read though that blade is not a bad blade. It is made in Solingin, not that you can't get a bad blade from there. What kind of shape is it in?

Was the Timor a new one or vintage

Here ya go. Some members thoughts on the Timor.

http://straightrazorpalace.com/begin...s-website.html

I'm not exactly a pro when it comes to honing at this point. But what I do know at this point is that you really need to be completely sure of your bevel before you move on. The idea of the pyramid is that it takes some of the guess work out of knowing when to move on to the next stone. You really don't want to do that with the 1k at the bevel setting stage. Once it's set, then you can try the pyramid. Generally I set the bevel then do a pyramid on the 4k/8k. After that I polish th edge on the 12k. Someone else may do something different. But the bevel setting needs to be solid.

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Originally Posted by Castel33

Was the Timor a new one or vintage

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A new one. I'd read they were producing some really bad ones for a time but that they'd improved in the last year or so.

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Originally Posted by OCDshaver

I'm not exactly a pro when it comes to honing at this point. But what I do know at this point is that you really need to be completely sure of your bevel before you move on. The idea of the pyramid is that it takes some of the guess work out of knowing when to move on to the next stone. You really don't want to do that with the 1k at the bevel setting stage. Once it's set, then you can try the pyramid. Generally I set the bevel then do a pyramid on the 4k/8k. After that I polish th edge on the 12k. Someone else may do something different. But the bevel setting needs to be solid.

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As I said in my first post, after the 1K the razor easily passed the magic marker test so I think the bevel is pretty good. I also looked at it through a loupe and it looked OK to my admittedly inexperienced eyes.

Here's a case where a _third_ razor -- a not-shave-ready vintage blade -- would settle the question.

You'll know, after honing _that_ razor, whether your honing technique is OK, or not. And that will tell you whether the new Timor is a decent blade, or not.

See how easy it is to get started with razor acquisition disorder?:)

. Charles

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Originally Posted by cpcohen1945

Here's a case where a _third_ razor -- a not-shave-ready vintage blade -- would settle the question.

You'll know, after honing _that_ razor, whether your honing technique is OK, or not. And that will tell you whether the new Timor is a decent blade, or not.

See how easy it is to get started with razor acquisition disorder?:)

. Charles

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Eek! Another razor?

Good point though.

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Originally Posted by Weaselsrippedmyflesh

As I said in my first post, after the 1K the razor easily passed the magic marker test so I think the bevel is pretty good. I also looked at it through a loupe and it looked OK to my admittedly inexperienced eyes.

"When I stopped with the 4K/8K pyramid the edge would cut hair but not really that easily. I'll try to describe that more fully. If I made a stroke on my arm the blade would end up with some hairs on it but I didn't end up with a bald spot in the area I'd made the stroke."

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Again, I'm not the guy with the most experience here but I've never used the MMT to determine if my bevel was set. I've used it to see if the razor is making good contact with the hone. But you can make good contact with the hone and stop short of a complete bevel. When your bevel is set, you should be able to cut hair with it off of the 1k stone. If you weren't able to do so after the 1k, you were probably not there yet. Before I move on from the 1K, I ensure that I've checked off a few things. First, it should shave arm hair. Second, it should pass the thumb nail test. Third, I try to get at least a few standing hairs on my arm to cut above the skin surface. And finally, a visual inspection of the edge. If I can clearly see the line that is the edge, I know I'm not there. Once I get to that point, I can begin the sharpening and polishing. When you're finished with your pyramid from the 4/8k, not only should your razor easily manage arm/leg hair, it should be cutting down standing hairs with ease. Bevel setting was my biggest challenge. If you continue to have problems, my best suggestion is to befriend someone with a great deal of experience and mail them your razor for inspection. They will be able to tell you if you're on the mark or not. One last question for you, were you using slurry as you honed? I personally only prefer to use slurry in the first half of my 1k honing. I use it to grind away quickly but will then rinse my hone and get as much refinement as possible from a 1k stone. I do circles with the slurry and then rinse. Then I do x strokes on just a wet stone going lighter and lighter as I go to get as much from it as I can. When I move on to the next stones, I only use water.

Thanks! All good suggestions and I'll try them. After re-honing last night the razor would cut hair off the 1K. I wouldn't say it did it "easily" but it did. I could also see a clear line on both sides of the edge that and when I looked at it through the loupe it looked like a nice straight bevel (not a lot of micro-bevels). After going through the 4K/8K I compared the ability of the razor to cut hair to a professionally honed one. It was better than my previous attempt but not as good as the pro-honed one. I should point out that the pro-honed razor is a much better razor so ultimately it might be that the Timor just won't develop as sharp an edge so this is leading me to believe a better quality vintage razor to practice on might be a good idea.

Finally, I didn't make slurry with my 1K (with a slurry stone) but did otherwise follow what you said (circles, rinse then do X strokes).

Thanks for recounting your process and suggestions.

I too have a new Timor that was a %&#*to hone. I set the bevel on my Naniwa 1k, but it took FOREVER before I could move onto the Norton 4k. I was finally able to get a good edge on it, but it was not nearly as easy as some of my other razors.

Just thought I'd share my similar experience FWIW...

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Originally Posted by jpcwon

I too have a new Timor that was a %&#*to hone. I set the bevel on my Naniwa 1k, but it took FOREVER before I could move onto the Norton 4k. I was finally able to get a good edge on it, but it was not nearly as easy as some of my other razors.

Just thought I'd share my similar experience FWIW...

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Thanks! Great to know that it can be done! If nothing else I'm getting a lot of practice working on my honing stroke and technique but it'd be nice if I can eventually get it shave ready.

I'm going to keep plugging away at it!