Thread: Learning to Hone & making my razor more dull.

Hey Fella's,
Last year I bought a H.M. Christensen from the classifies here on SRP to replace a cheap Chinese made razor I bought on Amazon when I was originally inspired to start straight razor shaving. The Christensen razor has been great, it can nice and sharp from the previous owner, but over time the edge has dulled of course. I've since been trying to revive it with my Norton 4000/8000 in order to get it back up and shaving nicely, but to my dismay I've been unsuccessful. I've sat down 3 or 4 times now on separate occasions, honing both my razors, practicing with their different weights/feels etc.. After each hone, I'd then try a shave after stropping the razor. After my first 2 attempts, I noticed minor improvement, but the edge seemed to lose the edge very quickly. And after my most recent attempt, using a nagura stone to whip up a slurry and hoping that would help get me to a nice shave, it was even worse, it dragged terribly and my china made razor way outperformed my Christensen.

Here's what I've been doing...

1. So far I've been pretty much using the 8000 edge of my Norton exclusively, because my first impression was that the edge was sharp but just needed some minor improvement. Reflecting now, perhaps this is part of the problem? Overdoing it on the 8000?
2. Each time I honed the razor, I might make 100 or so passes.

Here's what I've observed..

1. The bevel on my china made razor is nice a thick, it was originally all messed up, not passing the sharpie test and having uneven wear etc.. but I think I've actually brought it back up to OK shaving status.
2. The bevel on my Christensen, which was always quite narrow, seems like it is perhaps even more narrow. Maybe this is part of the problem.. a disappearing bevel.

Here's a shot of my H.M. Christensen so you can see what I've got.

Your experience would be greatly appreciated! Thanks a bunch!