I've been wanting a stainless razor for long time now, and finally bought my first, a Henckels Friodur 472 from eBay: http://straightrazorpalace.com/razor...ml#post1345673

The razor arrived in a perfect condition, but it was, as clearly mentioned in eBay, not shave ready.

After a year of daily use, I still consider myself a beginner in straight razor shaving, not to mention honing. Here are some of my experiences about honing: http://straightrazorpalace.com/honin...ml#post1341185. Beginner as I am, I dare to say I am capable of honing razors in such a condition that I am able to shave with them, and I consistenly get better results using straights than other methods of shaving, say Gillette Mach-3 that I used before straights.

The edge of the Friodur was in a good shape, I felt it needed refreshing only. HHT did not pass, but I was able to shave arm hair with ease and in arm-hair test it showed some promise. Here's what I did:

Attempt 1:

  • 100+ laps with Dovo Black -> HHT-2 (yes, it immediately started to slice hairs after this, I would say it was even near HHT-3)
  • 100+ laps with Dovo Red -> HHT-3 (part of the blade)
  • 100+ laps with Dovo Green for part of the blade that didn't pass HHT-3 in the last step -> HHT-3 all the way
  • Shave-test (good growth of 2-3 days, I have a wiry, black, tough beard): uneasy feeling from the start, the razor was pulling (even painfully) and I had to finish with another razor


Attempt 2:
  • Progression with 3M lapping film, starting from brown (5 micron), ending with white (0.3 micron), 50 laps or so with each sheet, using X-pattern and extremely light pressure, finalized with a sheet of paper under the white film -> HHT-1
  • 60 laps with Dovo Green, Red and Black -> HHT-3
  • Shave-test: I got a feeling it really starts to shave now, but was not satisfied with the results. The shave was somehow uneven and not near as smooth as with my other razors.



Attempt 3:


  • Progression with 3M lapping film, starting this time from blue (9 micron), ending with light green (1 micron). I started with 40 laps with blue and ended with 70 laps with light green. Finalized with a sheet of paper under the light green film. I used X-pattern and light pressure. -> HHT-1 (or slightly better, difficult to say as the response was not very clear)
  • 60 laps with Dovo Black -> clear HHT-3, almost HHT-4
  • Shave-test (again with a 2 days of growth): Yes, it is smoother now, coming close, very close to my other razors. I feel it could be a little smoother, but I need to re-test, as it might have been my prepping as well. There's some soreness of the skin in my chin area, and I have seen closer shaves, but perhaps I need to give it some more time.



So, I am ready to try the razor again, but is there some tips you would give I could try next? I feel I should get HHT-4 before it would really start to feel smooth, but I don't think my other razors actually pass HHT-4, at least not very clearly. My Wapienica did clearly pass it once, but now I think it needs refreshing.


All in all, I like the razor very much. It looks good, is extremely balanced and has, being 6/8, some weight to it for better stability and easier handling. And most of all, it is stainless and in perfect condition, no dark spots to be seen and shiny as new.