Thread: Question about American steel?

Torreys are hard compared to old Sheffields, in general, and sometimes take a good bit to get right.
Go all the way back to the 1k as one disappoints. The bevel may not have been there yet.
As was advised, freshly lapped hones cut better, some slurry on the 1k to start is not a bad idea, either.
Once right, they are great and hold an edge well, FME.
Keep trying!

Originally Posted by sharptonn

Torreys are hard compared to old Sheffields, in general, and sometimes take a good bit to get right.
Go all the way back to the 1k as one disappoints. The bevel may not have been there yet.
As was advised, freshly lapped hones cut better, some slurry on the 1k to start is not a bad idea, either.
Once right, they are great and hold an edge well, FME.
Keep trying!

Yeah, that's kinda what I figured Sharptonn. You can hear and feel a difference with this razor than all the old Sheffields I been doing. Had the same problem with an Cattaragus a while ago but I haven't had to do anything but take it to a Swaty for an occasional touch up. So figure this Torrey will be the same! Tough to set but once you got it it's set for a long time.

You might want to try killing the edge gently and trying again. Be gentle and use your finger nail. It should show with your loupe as a perfect and fine white line.

American steel is terrible, I'll pm my address for proper disposal.

Like has been said American steel is much mor abrasion resistant than Sheffield steel. The resulting shave once you get it dialed in is awesome imo. Just takes longer than you're used to to get a bevel set. Once there I would kill it lightly on the corner of your 1k hone and set again to make sure. At least that's what I started doing to new to me razors when I don't know where they have been. It has really helped keep me from having to go back for corrections after the shave test.

Yea, I have been playing with a king I picked up in a hone lot buy. I have an old king 1k, wood base, but had forgotten how good they were, especially for the price.

They are soft though and self-slurry a lot and can get out of flat easily. So don’t be afraid to re lap in the middle of a bevel set on a hard razor.

Stropping on linen or a Chrome Oxide strop, also helps, then joint and re set on the 1K or move up. Or joint then strop. If you move up and get rid of the ragged edge you will quickly see if the bevel is fully set. It does not hurt to set and reset a bevel on a higher grit stone.

As said, probably not fully set, no crime in going back and forth on a 1k and higher stone. I think back in the day, some dude, called it a Pyramid or something like that…

Thanks for all your help guys. Went out and picked up a better lighted loupe and lo and behold the edge looked a little ragged so I lightly killed the edge on the side of an old hone, took it back to the 1k and kept at it until it cut arm hair. Went thru progression of 6k-8k-12k and it is wicked sharp!!
Still learning proper honing and starting to realize " patience " is not an option!

Originally Posted by NewellVW

Thanks for all your help guys. Went out and picked up a better lighted loupe and lo and behold the edge looked a little ragged so I lightly killed the edge on the side of an old hone, took it back to the 1k and kept at it until it cut arm hair. Went thru progression of 6k-8k-12k and it is wicked sharp!!
Still learning proper honing and starting to realize " patience " is not an option!

Me too!!!!