Edge gone by second shave

**rlmnshvstr8** · 12-17-2014, 03:24 AM

I'm having difficulty straying to find out what I'm doing wrong. I honed up my razor. 1k bevel set, 4k, 8k, 16k, crox then latigo. I was very carful watching the previous stria disappear before moving up. I even made sure that I was getting a smooth test shave off the 8k before moving on. And by the time I was done there was no chipping. Had a great shave after honing.

Two days later, was one of the most miserable experiences I have had yet. Before the shave I done 50 on linen and 100 latigo and it started out smooth but degraded very quickly. I should have noticed something was wrong when I started my second pass (ATG) on the neck and I had 3 nicks within a dime from each other. It was very painful by the end and could not get anywhere close to BBS or in my opinion DFS. Especially on my head. It was like it quit cutting even after going again on the strop.

When end I called it quits. I cleaned up the razor and looked at the edge. There was no chipping that I could see (I was using a 45x loupe). But it barely would cut arm hair on the toe and heel but hardly at the belly. It's like the edge just disappeared.

What did I do wrong?

Before I forget, prep for shave 2 was hot shower, pre-shave oil and face lather. The only difference in prep between shave 1 and 2 was: 1. Hot towel rather than shower and no oil. Both had same soap.

**Pringr** · 12-17-2014, 03:32 AM

Might have"oversharpened" it..

**rodb** · 12-17-2014, 03:34 AM

Just a guess here, but maybe rolled the edge during stropping? Very hard to say with out seeing it

**rlmnshvstr8** · 12-17-2014, 03:40 AM

Originally Posted by rodb

Just a guess here, but maybe rolled the edge during stropping? Very hard to say with out seeing it

What do you look for when you suspect a rolled edge.

**rodb** · 12-17-2014, 03:47 AM

I would guess the bevel wouldn't come to a perfect V and it would be bent one way or the other, you could probably see it if you look at the edge (edge on) under a bright light. You won't see any reflection on a perfect or near perfect edge

Originally Posted by rlmnshvstr8

What do you look for when you suspect a rolled edge.

**Crackers** · 12-17-2014, 04:49 AM

I have not "rolled" an edge but read that you can hear it catch on a pin head if you gently let the pin slide down the blade towards the edge. I suppose the theory is that the pin will catch on the upturned metal.

**SirStropalot** · 12-17-2014, 05:07 AM

As mentioned above, you can check for certain maladies with a bright light and also with a pin. Below is a video that will help with both of those.

I'm assuming you're using Shaptons since you went to 16k. I only do 7 to 10 light laps on the 16k and then strop. Usually you won't need the paste after the 16k.

Glen, gssixgun used to quote someone and I can't remember it exactly, but something to the effect .....I don't have a problem honing, it's knowing when to quit. Keeping that in mind helped me a lot with my honing.

Experiment with a little less and see what you get.

Howard

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=XZYFsOP...%3DXZYFsOP7rBc

**criswilson10** · 12-17-2014, 05:10 AM

Push the tip of a straight pen (not the head) from the spine to the edge. If the blade is rolled then the pin will catch on the rolled part. If the pin just slides right off then the edge is not rolled. Do this in multiple spots on both sides of the blades. Don't push too hard, that pin can also scratch your razor.

There is also the possibility of a wire edge that broke loose on the second stropping.

**Euclid440** · 12-17-2014, 05:48 AM

Just look at it straight down, like in the video. If you see shinny the bevels are no longer meeting, but I guess you figured that out… already.

Stropping, it just takes 1 swipe where you lift the spine while the razor was moving.

20 -50 laps on your highest grit stone, should bring it back.

**DrDalton** · 12-17-2014, 06:12 AM

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.

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