Thread: Honed Blade Not Lasting

My honing skills are improving and I am getting a better blade each time I hone. I am having an issue with the blade staying sharp for very long. When I have sent my blades out to the professional hones I can get a blade to last for about 3 months before it needs to be refreshed. When I hone myself I can only get about two maybe three weeks out of the blade before it needs to be refreshed.
Shaving technique and stropping are the same so I don't think those are variables.
Any thoughts on what I should be looking for in my honing process that would cause the blade not to last?

Have you tried honing any of the blades you said were lasting three months when professionally honed?

Assuming these are the same blades or at least the same quality of blades then look to the bevel set as your issue..

Most Pro-honers are going to reset the bevel as we want to make sure we are beginning with what we know to be correct..
A sharp edge placed on a weak bevel will drop of pretty quick

The other thing that it could be is excess pressure or excess low grit which is leaving you with a weak harsh edge that is failing pretty fast

Pics might help, worth a shot anyway

Plus we all like Razor Porn

Generally stropping and an incomplete shaving edge are the culprits for novice honers.

More information and photos of your razor would help advise you, brand and style of razor, stone progression, strop and use of magnification to view the edge.

If the edge is not fully set, you may get a shave from it, but stropping will cause it to chip.

Originally Posted by gssixgun

Assuming these are the same blades or at least the same quality of blades then look to the bevel set as your issue..

Most Pro-honers are going to reset the bevel as we want to make sure we are beginning with what we know to be correct..
A sharp edge placed on a weak bevel will drop of pretty quick

The other thing that it could be is excess pressure or excess low grit which is leaving you with a weak harsh edge that is failing pretty fast

Pics might help, worth a shot anyway

Plus we all like Razor Porn

Well, you were the last pro to hone these razors so I was going with the assumption that the bevel would good
Seriously though my early attempts could have unset the bevel.
I am getting good results using the pyramid technique with the Naniwa 3,000 and 8,000 then finishing on the 12,000. But again, the early attempts probably used too much 3,000.
I may need to have the bevel professionally set then work up from there.

Originally Posted by Euclid440

Generally stropping and an incomplete shaving edge are the culprits for novice honers.

More information and photos of your razor would help advise you, brand and style of razor, stone progression, strop and use of magnification to view the edge.

If the edge is not fully set, you may get a shave from it, but stropping will cause it to chip.

Can you tell me what you mean by "edge is not fully set"?

Originally Posted by ericd

Well, you were the last pro to hone these razors so I was going with the assumption that the bevel would good
Seriously though my early attempts could have unset the bevel.
I am getting good results using the pyramid technique with the Naniwa 3,000 and 8,000 then finishing on the 12,000. But again, the early attempts probably used too much 3,000.
I may need to have the bevel professionally set then work up from there.

The 3k Naniwa is more then capable of doing a light bevel set,,

The 1k is only needed for a hard bevel set,,

One of the biggest issues for new honers is analyzing the edge, what does it need, and is it there yet.. Those two questions can only be answered with experience of honing razors..

Reading that edge is simply a learned skill, it has no shortcuts

If the edge lasted 3 months then yes I would assume the bevel was good LOL

So now what does it need, did 3 months of shaving your beard and the subsequent stropping break that bevel down ???
I don't know, only you can tell that, from the results you are getting I would have to guess at yes, so that would mean it is going to need a little more 3k work.. These are adjustments to your honing repertoire that you simply have to work through..

The other solution is to maintain the edge on a weekly or biweekly routine at 12k and never actually let the edge deteriorate..

Again only you can determine which works better for your beard

There is a bit of trial and error that each of us needs to work through

Properly setting a bevel does 3 things, Flatten the bevel in a single plane from heel to toe, spine to edge, set the bevel angle from spine to edge, (angle may need adjusting with tape to compensate for excessive spine wear), and last, get the two bevel planes to meet in a straight, sharp edge.

Typically new honers accomplish the first two, but the bevels do not meet completely, from heel to toe. Or too much pressure or aggressive stones used in repair and the bevels may meet, but the steel is weak.

This is where hair test fail many. They test the edge and it cuts hair, call it good and move to the next grit. They tested 1 micron of a 3 inch edge. The hair test tells you nothing about the rest of the edge or if there are any chips or areas not meeting.

If you get luck the higher grits may bring the edges to meeting enough to shave but not fully, stropping especially with too much pressure causes the week edge to fail and chip.

The solution is magnification looking at the edge to ensure they are meeting fully and inking the bevel will tell you if you are honing all the way to the edge. By the time you get to 8k you should have a very straight chip free edge. Keep inking and looking, and tape the spine until you master honing, then decide if you want to continue taping, at least you will not ruin your razor while learning.

Originally Posted by gssixgun

Reading that edge is simply a learned skill, it has no shortcuts

If the edge lasted 3 months then yes I would assume the bevel was good LOL

These are adjustments to your honing repertoire that you simply have to work through..

There is a bit of trial and error that each of us needs to work through

+1. Getting some info from here (SRP) and then trying different things until I get it has been my story and seems to be the only way to learn this. Getting possible solutions and then experimenting, practicing, and trial and error. I really like the encouragement to continue to try and learn in the process.