Thread: Getting a straight as Sharp as an DE blade?

Originally Posted by MTLian

A razor with big bevels like that is always going to take more patience to get dialed in than a pin straight very hollow ground razor with tiny bevels. You have to work a whole lot more bevel to work the edge, unless you give yourself a brief vacation from the bevels and tape up the back of that thing so that you can work only the very edge.

Originally Posted by DaveW

A razor with big bevels like that is always going to take more patience to get dialed in than a pin straight very hollow ground razor with tiny bevels. You have to work a whole lot more bevel to work the edge, unless you give yourself a brief vacation from the bevels and tape up the back of that thing so that you can work only the very edge.

Could you elaborate? I have been using tape but I figured I should finish up without the tape for an even sharper edge. Is that wrong?

Originally Posted by MTLian

Could you elaborate? I have been using tape but I figured I should finish up without the tape for an even sharper edge. Is that wrong?

If you take the tape off, you still have to make sure your finisher is getting all the way to the edge to thin the bevel and then through it to smooth the bevel. I guess whether its bad depends only on whether it's keeping the finisher from getting all the way to the edge. The more metal there is to get through, the greater the chance that you have to give the razor a lot of extra attention to make sure the job is finished.

Originally Posted by MTLian

Could you elaborate? I have been using tape but I figured I should finish up without the tape for an even sharper edge. Is that wrong?

If you have been using tape throughout, do not remove it on the finishing hone.

Instead, add another layer of tape if you like - this gives (with around 10 laps) a microbevel on the finishing hone. It might work for you with a decent blade.

Regards,
Neil

Originally Posted by Neil Miller

If you have been using tape throughout, do not remove it on the finishing hone.

Instead, add another layer of tape if you like - this gives (with around 10 laps) a microbevel on the finishing hone. It might work for you with a decent blade.

Regards,
Neil

Thanks, I'll try that. I've been using thin scotch tape, I'll switch to electrical tape. Also, when you say finishing hone, do you mean the 8k, or just the final touch on the 4k?

Originally Posted by MTLian

Thanks, I'll try that. I've been using thin scotch tape, I'll switch to electrical tape. Also, when you say finishing hone, do you mean the 8k, or just the final touch on the 4k?

Electrical tape is better.

Finishing on a 4k??? I think you have mistyped, otherwise you need to go and read up on honing 101...

It would be the highest grit hone, known as you finishing hone or final polishing hone. In your case the 8k as you only have a 4k/8k - the 4k is 4000 grit, the 8k is 8000 grit.

Regards,
Neil

Originally Posted by Neil Miller

Electrical tape is better.

Finishing on a 4k??? I think you have mistyped, otherwise you need to go and read up on honing 101...

It would be the highest grit hone, known as you finishing hone or final polishing hone. In your case the 8k as you only have a 4k/8k - the 4k is 4000 grit, the 8k is 8000 grit.

Regards,
Neil

I believe he was trying to clarify when to add the extra as on the 8k or just before moving to the 8k.

I have tried that method with good results. i did it as a last touch on my last stone.

Originally Posted by UAcowboy

I believe he was trying to clarify when to add the extra as on the 8k or just before moving to the 8k.

I have tried that method with good results. i did it as a last touch on my last stone.

could well be.

But typing "... by finishing hone do you mean 8k, or just the final cut on the 4k..." is a bit of a head-scratcher, isn't it?

As is your last statement in the thread above. I know (I think) what you mean, but I cannot be completely certain whether the "...method above..." you refer to is what you have typed above, or what the OP referred to, see what I mean?

I was not trying to be mean, but like Joe Friday in Dragnet, I just wanted the facts - laid out clearly in my case.

It is that funny thing again about typing replies and answers in a forum, they are prone to be misunderstood, you cannot put a 'tone' or inference in, you don't even know if the other guys are compos-mentis, trolls or in some cases even on the same planet.

Regards,
Neil

I agree with what Neil says. If I were going to do one step with and one without, I'd do the coarse work without, and the finishing step with. There's not really a honewear issue to protect against at this point.

It's nice to have a pin straight skillfully ground full hollow razor, but if I could tell you a low $ make of such a thing, I would. The japanese NOS razors of funny names that are over 20mm in size and that are under $100 are probably the best deal going right now (I guess they're probably only on ebay), but it's still $100. I've bought razors that were $200 with a known popular maker (kikuboshi, etc) and then some with some odd names like the harthy razor that I put in the classifieds yesterday (already gone) and found them all to be about the same quality if they appear on the surface to be neatly done. I wouldn't be surprised if a lot of the different "brands" were finished by the same finishers, they are done with skill. Not all japanese razors are, but the ones that appear tidy on the surface for me so far have all been excellent, and straighter on average than the german razors I've gotten. The semi sloppy looking japanese razors have been far from straight, though.

I shaved off my 8k for almost a full year before i got any kind of finisher. You really want to get to know your blade and hone and how they work together to get the best edge. To really see what was going on there were 2 things i have found invaluable; a jewelers loop and the marker test. between the two of those you can learn a lot about what is happening or not happening at the edge.

Another thing is to remember that especially on older razors the bevel does not have to look good as long as the edge is where it needs to be.