Thread: Honing after shaving ?

Hey all . Did a quick Google search and couldn't really find any verdict . . I just got the Naniwa 12K and I did about 20 x strokes on my Thiers Issard from AOS. I got a pretty good shave after stropping but I think the blade can use about 5-10 more x strokes.

My question is that I have heard you are supposed to let the blade "rest" after shaving before you strop it again (for a day or two) - does the same apply for honing? Or could I finish up shaving, and head straight to the 12k? I'm choosing to let the blade rest to be on the safe side but for future reference . . . ?

The "resting" thing is a myth. Go for it

Originally Posted by gcbryan

The "resting" thing is a myth. Go for it

+1 to that. It's a good idea to strop your razor right after shaving in order to make sure
that the edge is clean and dry before putting it away.

In your case, the next time you shave you could strop/prep as usual and then do a test strip.
Then, if you think the razor needs a touch-up, give it 3-5 light laps on the 12k, strop again,
and repeat the test. If it's still not quite there, try another 2-3 light laps, strop and re-test.

Don't over do it. The Naniwa 12k cuts pretty fast, so when you're almost there, take it easy.
Groups of 2-3 x-strokes at a time should do it for you.

These guys are right on. Blades do not need to "rest", kind of like saying my hammer needs to rest before driving another nail. Strop before and after a shave, I do 60x before & 40x after. I also do about 40x after a touch-up or honing to ensure no moisture is on the blade.

Originally Posted by shooter74743

These guys are right on. Blades do not need to "rest", kind of like saying my hammer needs to rest before driving another nail. Strop before and after a shave, I do 60x before & 40x after. I also do about 40x after a touch-up or honing to ensure no moisture is on the blade.

I let my blades rest 48-72 hours between ever pass. This mandates that I have three razors for each shave (minimum) and several sets of razors.

RAD...never heard of it

Seriously though, I cannot claim to have tested every steel/alloy made, but of those I have tested, I see no merit to this concept of resting. There is a lot of suspicious 'data' and lore out there, but it seems to me barbers would have needed a cost-prohibitive number of razors cluttering their parlors. If they did, there is no way these 'for barber use only' razors would be at all rare.

Now that I think about it...these barber use razors must have been made of a special steel that needs no resting...yeah, that's the ticket!

Yea, there are more than a few fairy tale like nuggets of info in the folklore of shaving. Trick is to find out which are and which aren't.

Bob

Originally Posted by shooter74743

These guys are right on. Blades do not need to "rest", kind of like saying my hammer needs to rest before driving another nail. Strop before and after a shave, I do 60x before & 40x after. I also do about 40x after a touch-up or honing to ensure no moisture is on the blade.

or a golf club needs a rest between shots....I strop before and after shaving...less after.

However, since no one else has said it, if you get a decent shave by a razor, why would you hone it after every shave? Seems like overdoing it to me. I have 3 razors in my rotation and all have been honed once by a honemeister (not me) before I got them and none are near needing another honing yet.

Well, now that the resting question has been dealt with, on to another issue....

Was your AoS razor initially honed by you or someone else after purchase, or does it still have the factory edge?

IMO if you have to do 20+ laps on a Naniwa 12k the razor is not shave ready to begin with. You'll need some lower grit hones to get the edge where you want it.

Originally Posted by Haroldg48

However, since no one else has said it, if you get a decent shave by a razor, why would you hone it after every shave?

If you feel the need to touch up the edge after every shave, then you're either not stropping properly or
you should probably re-hone the razor, starting with a lower grit...or maybe even set a new bevel.

thanks , you guys are awesome .

just to clarify - i don't hone after everytime i shave just was wondering about this time .

ryan82 - my blade came shave ready from aos . i got it back in august 2012 . since then , i have sent it in to lynn once (before i decided to start honing) and i have honed it on the 4K/8K a couple times using lynn's circle method .

it seems to me though that after 5 shaves or so off the 8K the razor would begin to pull a bit still . i don't have really thick hairs aside from my chin and i strop before every shave so i don't know if that's normal or not .

anyway, i got the 12k to try and fix that and that was the closest shave i have had since the factory blade and since i got it back from lynn . the only thing is when i started doing my pass on the left side i felt the blade tugging JUST a bit so i figured maybe 5 more strokes or so on the 12k would be perfect .