Thread: I can get razors very sharp but lately they have been harsh.

Originally Posted by onimaru55

2 things might happen here.
1/ You start a whole new learning curve.
2/ you luck out & everything falls into place.

Don't know if this helps but if I only had a 12k & some CrO & Fe pastes, I could shave happily, even knowing I can get 1-2% improvement with Jnats.
Also the 20k Suehiro blurs the line between Jnat & Synthetic for smoothness. It is much easier to buy a good synthetic than a good Jnat.

Alright. Talk to me about pastes. What do you use them on, how many laps, etc. It's probably best to try the cheaper solution before shelling out the dough for a JNat. I'm eying a Shuobudani type 100 right now. I'd love for you to talk me out of it! It'd sure help the wallet.

I'm eying a Shuobudani type 100 right now.

Yea…. Don’t think that’s the answer.

Take the time to learn the stones you have… perhaps meet up and get some hands on time with an accomplished honer.

Adding more variables is not the answer.

Someone… once said something to the effect “a more expensive hone will not make you a better honer”.

What's wrong with them? Please excuse my naivety. I've read that they were good Jnats to get your feet wet with.

Nothing.

As said, just a whole new learning curve and much more difficult to learn that what you already have.

I'd like to reiterate the reason for this thread as it almost seems like it's been lost due to me being unclear and all over the place. As I reread it some things seem quite unclear. Lets assess this from a unified and fresh view point.

I've honed quiet a few razors to date and most have shaved pretty good. Just as good as others I didn't hone. I recently ran into "trouble" with a Tennis and Dovo razor. The were harsh off the hone even after the initial stropping on CrOx and leather. A couple shaves later they were shaving like butter. I came here to post about this for a couple reasons. Mainly it just for a different viewpoint and some insight on this and as to whether or not it was a common occurrence. All of my razors don't end up this way. Just these two here recently. Yesterday, I got a razor from a member. It was honed on a JNat just before sending it to me. The shave was unprecedented. I haven't experienced that level of smoothness before. While my usual honing jobs are decently smooth, they are not that smooth. Which led to me trailing off about JNats and such. I got a Dorko a little while back. I just now decided to use it as sort of a test because it was very similar to my Dovo. Fully knowing there were way too many variables to draw anything from it. Straight off the hones it was harsh but then when added more stropping time than usual it was smooth. Not as smooth as the JNat honed blade though but for all intensive purposes smooth. Which brings me back to the first two razors I spoke of. The Dorko was far beyond them is smoothness. Originally this thread was to assess two razors that stood out from the ones I normally hone.

I truly thank you for sticking by this thread from the start and providing all the help.

So is it the razors, or the honer.

How many razors have you honed?

Post some photos of the razors as close up of the edges as possible.

With the stones you have you should be getting excellent edges, so the hones are not at fault.

The hones are lapped recently, right?

How about I send you one of my razors to see in person. Would you be up for that? I'd love for someone else to evaluate one of my edges. I feel that would get us a little bit further.

Sure, PM me. I can take some photos of it and post them so other following the thread can learn also.

Marty

A few thoughts, if everything so far has honed well except this razor it could be the steel. I've had a few of those. Also check for a frown, even a very slight one will give you much honing grief.

I'm going to PM Marty here is a sec but I'm going to explain my thoughts in hopes of making them clear.

I think the razors I hone are pretty good but I've never had anyone else try them. Unfortunately the sources I compare them to besides the one that was honed on the JNat aren't very reputable. So what may be good to me, may be terrible for someone more experienced. This will hopefully give us a better starting point to build on.