Thread: not sure what to try next

After my last post (noob needs help/ encouragement) i'm still no further along then before even after all the excellent advice and more research and reading. i've tried working through the progression (1k bevel set, 5k and 8k) watching the scratch pattern and ended up with a sharp razor but a thin fragile edge (over honed i believe). so i tried the bevel set again after dulling the razor with a glass. then the pyramid method. no luck. my biggest problem is i don't know what i'm looking for at each level. i've tried the thumb mail test, and the cue tip test at the bevel set and they both seem to pass to me. do i need a better magnifier?( currently have a 30x loupe)
BTW i've used a marker and it seems i'm getting good contact. Thanks

Time to put that razor aside & re-visit her later some other day. When I began, I had to put one aside for 3 years,,, picked her back up & brought to shave ready in under an hour.

Originally Posted by Hirlau

Time to put that razor aside & re-visit her later some other day. When I began, I had to put one aside for 3 years,,, picked her back up & brought to shave ready in under an hour.

Thats probably the best advise Ive ever heard on this forum to date. Clear your head, and the edge will come

I used to think that I had to shave ready each razor the day I got it, eventually there will be one that challenges you,,, then it might as well be Rocket Science,,,

Agreed. I even have some which would not quite get there that I forgot about. ( thank goodness! )
'Now where is that?' Oh Nevermind!

Confucius say: man who learn to fly airplane by reading everything on subject have fool for passenger.

You learn by doing and there is no substitute for actual experience.

There are things you can do at every skill level. Hirlau is right, Putting the razor aside for a while is likely the best advise.

Honing a razor is as much an aquired skill as it is something of an art. In time you'll grow to be the artisan this razor seems to demand. Then you won't even remember why you couldn't hone it before.

Someone, i think it was Einstein said "If you do what you've always done, you'll get what you've always got". Will it be any different with a different razor?

Originally Posted by tintin

Someone, i think it was Einstein said "If you do what you've always done, you'll get what you've always got". Will it be any different with a different razor?

Well, to be honest, I would LOVE to get what I always have with some of these beasts!

Originally Posted by tintin

Someone, i think it was Einstein said "If you do what you've always done, you'll get what you've always got". Will it be any different with a different razor?

I like to think it will. I am certain that razors from the same batch of steel, forged and ground by the same craftsman in the same time period will have very similar qualities, as far as the properties oh the steel and the craftsmanship is concerned. In the old days there were significant differences in the steel properties.
I have over a dozen vintage razors, all of which respond differently to honing, even razors of the same manufacturer. Some take an edge easily and with little effort, others need more and some a lot more effort. And there is one I also put aside. I am no novice but apparently not experienced enough for this one. I still learn with every hone.
Modern razors and the steels used to produce them are manufactured in far better controlled circumstances and therefor are suspected to have lesser differences in properties and steel composition.