Thread: Carbon steel and stainless steel

CaliforniaCajun,

My stainless razors (Dovo EnVogue, Henckels Friodur and Wusthof) are among my best shavers.

I hone them no differently than my carbon steel razors (I use a 1, 3, 8, 12 Naniwa SuperStone sequence).

Have fun

Best regards

Russ

I doubt you will ever get them to feel "the same" as all quality razors seem to have their own personality, but you can get them both to be damn fine shavers. Stainless's abrasion resistance takes a bit more time at the stones, but once you get them there you will learn to really like them as that abrasion resistance works not only against the stones, works well on the face too!. As mentioned above, magnification is really your friend to ensure you are not starting out with a chippy bevel. Take your time, give the razor it's needed "love" on the stones and it will reward you with a individual personality that I'm sure you will come to appreciate when it comes to mowing down whiskers.

Many may disagree with me but I have found Friodur steel extremely hard to set a bevel. Once you do it is crazy sharp but I have moved on THINKING I have set it when I really haven't. Cryogenic silver steel takes me much more work to set the bevel.

I'll probably re-set the bevel on one, even though there is stickiness when I move my thumb laterally across the edge.

I tried reading the library section about bevels but I can't stand reading anything that sounds complicated. I went to college but practical information has to be Sandbox I or forget it.

I found a video of Lynn Abrams setting a bevel with a Shapton 1000 and it sounds doable. I watched it several times and will try it. I will keep the blade 30 degrees with the heel in front while on the surface because when I don't the blade isn't as sharp for me.

We'll see what happens. I am a notoriously slow learner.

My Friodurs shave well, although each one can feel a little different, even the ones that have the same model number and should be identical.

I wonder whether you may be over honing on the high grit hones and diamond pasted strop. Some report that too many strokes on synthetic high grit hones will microchip the edge leading to a very harsh shave. If the bevel is set well at the 8K level, a lot of strokes should not be needed on aggressive high grit finishing hones. It is important to know when to stop.

I hone on a 1K King, 6K King, and then transition to an 8K Norton. The Kings were originally acquired for my kitchen knives. After the 8K hone, I finish on a TM 4 sided paddle strop pasted with 3, 1, and 0.5 micron diamonds before stropping on unpasted linen and latigo leather.

I try only 5 - 10 strokes on the pasted strops and then about 40 linen/60 Latigo on my unpasted hanging strop. If a shave test tells me that I am not where I want to be, I repeat on the 8K Norton, pasted strops, and unpasted hanging strop. This usually gets me a good shave. I often find that the edge will become more gentle over a few shave/stropping cycles before reaching a stable plateau of keenness/comfort for many weeks of shaving.

I do not have a line-up of expensive synthetic and natural hones to research what could work even better, but this has been working well enough for me on both stainless and carbon steel razors. However, I am tempted to acquire and try a 20K Gokumyo hone to see whether I can reach a higher degree of comfort, but I cannot yet get by its $200++ price.

Worst case scenario would be to send the stainless to a pro for a new bevel and set up. If it is a good blade, it should then shave well comfortably and be easy to strop and refresh well after that.

Originally Posted by sheajohnw

My Friodurs shave well, although each one can feel a little different, even the ones that have the same model number and should be identical.

I wonder whether you may be over honing on the high grit hones and diamond pasted strop. Some report that too many strokes on synthetic high grit hones will microchip the edge leading to a very harsh shave. If the bevel is set well at the 8K level, a lot of strokes should not be needed on aggressive high grit finishing hones. It is important to know when to stop.

I hone on a 1K King, 6K King, and then transition to an 8K Norton. The Kings were originally acquired for my kitchen knives. After the 8K hone, I finish on a TM 4 sided paddle strop pasted with 3, 1, and 0.5 micron diamonds before stropping on unpasted linen and latigo leather.

I try only 5 - 10 strokes on the pasted strops and then about 40 linen/60 Latigo on my unpasted hanging strop. If a shave test tells me that I am not where I want to be, I repeat on the 8K Norton, pasted strops, and unpasted hanging strop. This usually gets me a good shave. I often find that the edge will become more gentle over a few shave/stropping cycles before reaching a stable plateau of keenness for many weeks of shaving.

I do not have a line-up of expensive synthetic and natural hones to research what could work even better, but this has been working well enough for me on both stainless and carbon steel razors. However, I am tempted to acquire and try a 20K Gokumyo hone to see whether I can reach a higher degree of comfort, but I cannot yet get by its $200++ price.

Worst case scenario would be to send the stainless to a pro for a new bevel set. If it is a good blade, it should then shave comfortably and be easy to strop and refresh well after that.

If the results are not up to snuff something is wrong. I am not going to do anything rash. But I made a promise that I wouldn't straight shave unless I could attend to my own blades. Otherwise it defeats the purpose of finding a viable alternative to the horrible experience I had with cartridge razors.

Originally Posted by CaliforniaCajun

there is stickiness when I move my thumb laterally across the edge.

In my house, this is an extreme no no. If shaving at a high angle dulls a blade, this has got to be worse. YMMV

Originally Posted by bluesman7

In my house, this is an extreme no no. If shaving at a high angle dulls a blade, this has got to be worse. YMMV

I think shaving at a high angle is worse for your face than the blade, and TPT is, IMO, a good test at all levels if you know what you are doing. I wouldn't describe it as "moving the thumb across the edge," but I assumed that was just a matter of word choice.

to add to the comment about SS being hard and therefore requiring more honing time. Isn't carbon steel generally "softer" and easier to put an edge on than Stainless?
If my memory is correct, then that would make using the same honing routine for both steels a recipe for 50% success at best. I would use a minimum circle/stroke benchmark on a bevel setting stone for any type of razor, but only as a reference for when to start checking if the bevel is fully set. Then continue on as each individual razor requires.