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Thread: Shaved without stropping after honing.

  1. #21
    Senior Member blabbermouth
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    That's fine if you did. I think you misinterpreted what I mean by not much of a challenge. I don't mean that being your skill as a shaver, I mean it is not much of a test of an edge. To give a razor four passes to do its work as a matter of assuring the edge is good is too low of a bar to set.

    A well sharpened razor should do a serviceable shave with one pass and blade buffing and an exceptional shave in two passes. It is the refinement of linen and strop that is missing coming straight off of a stone that will make either of those either uncomfortable or with unacceptable results.

    I make no statement about what other experienced shavers should or shouldn't do, we all moved away from our mothers for a reason. But my comment about it not being a good bar to set for an edge still stands. I think as you progress, you'll find that linen and leather at the very least are required, and with most good stones, you may find that an interim linen and leather, then a second finish on both again will yield an exceptional edge. And it will do so even with a marginal stone (yield a sharp and comfortable edge). Many of those marginal stones will be completely unacceptable straight off the stone, but with good technique with the linen and leather create a very good comfortable and sharp edge.

    I'll copy a comment I made elsewhere a couple of weeks ago, that is that I don't see any reason to ever shave without stropping, because good leather will make a razor sharper and smoother (and better at shaving) every single time.

  2. #22
    Senior Member tedh75's Avatar
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    Thank you for the clarification. In the interest of being clear what I meant with my four pass shave comment was that normally the more passes someone does, the more chances for irritation they incur.

    I was making the assertion that since I did four passes with little irritation from an unstropped blade I must have done a decent job honing it. I didn't mean "look what a great job I did! I got all the hairs and it only took me four passes!" I understand that you and others don't think that that necessarily follows and that is fair enough.

    I do hope that some day I can get a BBS in less than four passes, but if I don't I won't hang my head in shame and sell all my gear. By the way I also do a four pass shave with my DX with superpro blades with little to no irritation. I don't imagine I'll be getting my razors sharper than that anytime soon. Also I stropped the two blades that I honed last night. Have I made it clear that I'm not advocating or considering shaving without stropping? I mainly just wanted to see what it felt like.

    I look forward to reading the comment you mentioned.
    “To be fair, I did have a couple of gadgets which he probably didn’t, like a teaspoon and an open mind.”
    -The Doctor

  3. #23
    Senior Member blabbermouth
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    If you shave for a while, you'll end up:
    * not getting a blade sharper than feather's hi stainless (or as sharp). Nobody does
    * getting a clean irritation-free shave in fewer passes

    You should be able to get an indefinite number of passes and have no irritation, but a practical shave - to me, is two passes in 5 minutes. It's something I can do every day, better than I shaved before straight razors, with less irritation and the edge is the same every single day (as opposed to constantly thinking "is this edge getting worse, should I replace the razor, or can I save 40 cents and get another day out of it"?).

    I guess we all come by this different ways, but one thing that I think it relevant more than not is how the razor works after it comes off the strop and not before. There is a reason for this, and it is that different stones step up more on the strop, so judging the edge off of the stone doesn't give an accurate picture of what an every day shave would be like. Namely, stones that cut shallow small grooves step up little on a strop and linen, and can give an acceptable shave off of a stone - if not optimal. Stones with larger duller particles often create a more organized wire edge, and benefit more from stropping. They could feel more dull off of the stone, but end up creating a better edge off of the strop.

    You don't ever have to worry too much about other peoples' opinions, though. If you shave with 4 passes the rest of your life, and I shave with two, or even some days one, it should have no effect on whether you shave with 4 or 6 or 2 or 3.

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