Thread: Edge gone by second shave

I’ve had a similar thing happen on two occasions with different razors.

On the first occasion I left a razor at my mother in laws house for a few weeks while I was away, when I returned the previously sharp razor was agonisingly dull. Nobody owned up but I suspect someone got curious about the razor and decided to test its sharpness by cutting things they shouldn’t have.

On the second occasion I was rushing when cleaning up after shaving and didn’t clean and dry the blade properly. Several days of micro oxidation was enough to destroy the edge.

Both of these occurred in the the early months, such that my lack of shaving technique hampered my ability to detect that the edge was not up to scratch. I persevered with the shave thinking I was having an off day, only stoping when I got to ATG and could clearly tell something was wrong.

On visual inspection under magnification both edges still looked good, but the proof was in the poor shave. After a trip back to the 8K both razors were fine.

Since then I am fortunate that I don’t have to leave my gear at other peoples house, I don’t rush when cleaning up and my technique has improved enough that I can detect a dull blade on the first stroke.

Well I after taking a close look at my razor this morn, I cannot detect a rolled edge with the straight pin nor see one under mag. So I'm assuming that I may have had a wired edge that must have came off mid shave, because it started smooth, and possibly increasingly poor technique due to frustration as the edge was getting worse definitely did not help. This seems to be my pattern lately. I can get keen smooth edges, but they don't seem strong and lasting. I have been trying to work on better stropping technique using sound and feel as my guide, trying to follow along with the quality videos found on here.

As a side vent, I find it really frustrating when looking on YouTube for a stropping how to video and what you find is more "watch how fast I can strop" rather than "let me show you how to strop". Sorry that was some more frustration coming out. I don't want the conversation to be driven towards that.

So I guess back to the drawing board to find out how to joint and make stronger edges

Jointing an edge is a lite version of bread knifing. The goal is to straighten the edge first, removing micro-chips, then bring the bevels to meet at the new edge.

First just to test that the edge is micro-chipped, lightly run a sharpie on the edge from heel to toe, like you are trying to cut the tip of the marker, except you just want the weight of the marker on the razor edge.

You will feel any micro-chips. You may want to mark those spots with a small marker tick, so you can check to make sure they have been removed.

Now run the edge from heel to toe lightly on a vertical corner of your highest grit stone, (very lightly) one stroke, do not grind or saw like a real bread knife. You will feel the chips if you do it right. Just do 1 or 2 strokes.

Then do 20, X laps on your highest grit stone and look at the edge to see if it has come back together.

Run the sharpie on the new edge to see if you still feel the chip(s). If you do, 1 or 2 more strokes. The goal is to get to good steel, without having to do a full bevel reset. We are assuming you already have flat even bevels and just the edge is micro chipping or has been rolled.

The edge is very thin and you should not need to remove a lot of steel to re-set the bevel. But if after a couple of tries, maybe 3, and it is not coming together, then just drop down to an 8 or 4k to get the bevel to come back to meeting.

Do not be tempted to use pressure, or you may be back in the same problem. Instead of pressure, do more laps, try to keep the heel on the stone until past the half length of the stone, then swoop down so the toe is in the middle of the stone at the end.

I think a lot of guys do an exaggerated X lap where the heel comes off the stone after an inch or so of travel and the toe come off the stone at the end. This is more of a knife technique where you are trying to hone the curved tip of a knife but you end up with too much pressure on the toe.

With a razor you are just trying to get the pressure to shift across the whole edge. Visualize the pressure point move from the heel to the toe as you move across the stone. It is a very subtle pressure shift from the heel to the toe in a smooth transition.

rlmnshvstr8:
When I first started stropping I chronically used too much pressure, had to learn to lighten up and use smooth even strokes. Slow and steady and without too much tension on the strop.
Then when I started honing I found that I had the same problem, I'm finding that the use of pressure in both cases is a challenging skill to master. Doc 226 has a you tube vid on stropping that really helped me see how to strop.
These are the kind of problems that can be solved by just a short visit with a mentor, perhaps you can find one in your area or attend a local meet-up. The proper use of pressure is very difficult to communicate without first hand, in person training.

It may be the 16 k Shapton if that is what you are doing, not all steels can handle that fine of an edge, others have had the same problem in the past. Redefine your edge and stop at the 12 k and see if that works. As far as stropping videos Alan aka AFDavis11 has an excellent one on YouTube and can probably be found in our library. I hope this helps you and welcome to SRP.

Originally Posted by nun2sharp

It may be the 16 k Shapton if that is what you are doing, not all steels can handle that fine of an edge, others have had the same problem in the past. Redefine your edge and stop at the 12 k and see if that works. As far as stropping videos Alan aka AFDavis11 has an excellent one on YouTube and can probably be found in our library. I hope this helps you and welcome to SRP.

If it's not the stropping, then Kelly here has hit the nail on the head. I have been an Shapton GS user exclusively for many years now and am their biggest supporter here on the forum most likely. This is why I hone to 16K and then back down in "grit" (not much, but enough) to my Escher. There is "something" about the natural stone like a thuringian that just makes a stronger & more durable edge, I don't know the science about it....it just works better.

Pick up some sort of magnification like a radio shack 60-100x self lit pocket microscope, you will learn a LOT with one as you can see more of what is going on at the edge.