Thread: At a loss.

So, as my foray has continued I got a little bored and decided to mess with one of my other razors. It's a Germania Cutlery Works I messed with a while ago. Bevel was set, but it had a few micro chips that needed working out. Did the work on the 1K hone, then set about slurrying up my Dragon's tongue and slowly working away the 1K Stria. Between that, and my Lynn Melynllyn I got a more finely polished edge (Less stria) than my Norton 8K was producing. I have no idea what it shaves like, still haven't tried it as that is outside the scope of my current focus.

But it did lead me to think something was inherently wrong, too many scratches/stria left behind on the Dovo. So it got dropped back to the 4K. Seems there was still a bit of stria left behind from either the 1 or 4, I'm not entirely sure which. But it's all gone now, and the blade practically has a mirror like sheen. I also picked up a DE Razor and a handful of blades. Curiosity finally got the better of me, and I would think it's a good base of comparison. So this go around I shave the right half of my face with the new DE, and the left with my fresh from the hones/strop Dovo. The straight seemed to shave about on par with the DE - close, clean, and comfortable. Is it safe to say I've finally hit the mark with the 8k hone?

I lack the first-hand experience to make my opinion matter, so I will regurgitate what I've read in many posts.

"You know things are starting to 'click' when your SR starts shaving just as good/better than the DE that you'd been using before the SR entered the picture."

...I may be paraphrasing a bit, but I think you get the idea. Also, this phrase refers to any of the steps involved in SR shaving: honing/equipment maintenance, prep, & shave technique. I'm glad things are starting to line up for you!

Maybe, can you do it again?… And what exactly, did you do?

When it’s repeatable, then you are making progress, otherwise…

You finally got the bevel fully set and polished.

You really, got too many stones involved in your learning process.

All you need is the 4/8k Norton. Mixing in all the naturals just confused the process, because you don’t know where the naturals fit in the progression, yet.

A Norton 8k edge is hard to beat. I know the whole natural stone mystique is alluring, the slurry and the hope you have some magic finisher, but few are better than 8k.

You probably did not do enough laps to polish the bevels and straighten the edge and your edge was never fully set.

Do it again, not on one you have already flattened the bevels… figure out what you are seeing at each step and max out each stone, strop and shave.

There are no magic stones…

Originally Posted by Euclid440

Maybe, can you do it again?… And what exactly, did you do?

When it’s repeatable, then you are making progress, otherwise…

You finally got the bevel fully set and polished.

You really, got too many stones involved in your learning process.

All you need is the 4/8k Norton. Mixing in all the naturals just confused the process, because you don’t know where the naturals fit in the progression, yet.

A Norton 8k edge is hard to beat. I know the whole natural stone mystique is alluring, the slurry and the hope you have some magic finisher, but few are better than 8k.

You probably did not do enough laps to polish the bevels and straighten the edge and your edge was never fully set.

Do it again, not on one you have already flattened the bevels… figure out what you are seeing at each step and max out each stone, strop and shave.

There are no magic stones…

Well, that's why with the Dovo I eliminated everything but the Norton 1/4/8 line. The only other thing I used was linen and leather on that blade.

The Germania Cutlery Works I messed with on the Welsh Slates was a separate experiment. Mostly playing with slurry on a whim, because as you said it is fun. And that's why I didn't bother shaving with it, it was just am excuse to play with slurry and see what the loupe would reveal.

I might mess with another blade and see if this success can be repeated.

Just to echo Euclid the norton 1/4/8 is all you really need, synthetics are a lot more consistant than naturals. Once the bevel is fully set it shouldnt really take any time to remove previous stria. I believe naturals to be for advanced honers, once you can get any razor shaving perfectly every time with your nortons I would then move on to naturals.

Originally Posted by markbignosekelly

Just to echo Euclid the norton 1/4/8 is all you really need, synthetics are a lot more consistant than naturals. Once the bevel is fully set it shouldnt really take any time to remove previous stria. I believe naturals to be for advanced honers, once you can get any razor shaving perfectly every time with your nortons I would then move on to naturals.

I believe Glen put it this way:

(Synthetics are a 'Science' Naturals are a 'Romance'.)

I waited about three years after I'd learned how to hone before I started to play with anything other than a King 1200, Norton 4/8K and a Naniwa 12K. My first natural was a Phig which was a gift from a friend, I later purchased a Zulu Grey and I was given a small Coti by a friend.

I still feel that I could live off of an 8K edge for the rest of my life. The 12K and the naturals do give a smoother feel but there's nothing wrong with an 8K edge. And for my own blades I NEVER use CrOx or any other kind of a pasted strop.

That's just me

I tried c CrOx, determined I'm not a fan. I probably won't dabble any further into pastes and abrasive films. NoT my cup of tea. My face much prefers a natural finisher and linen/leather. But naturals can wait while I fine tune the basics. Haste makes waste.

I plan to use this razor as is a few more times before moving on and trying to repeat the process with another blade. I've had really good results in the past, but the edge never seems to last - and that's really what I'm trying to pin down here. If my next shave is as good as or better than my last, I'll know I'm on the right track.

Originally Posted by rodb

One thing to check (and you probably already have) is to see if there is a frown. Marker test with the center still black is an indicator of a frown especially if it's both sides. You can hone a frown for days without progress

What on earth is a frown if you don't mind me asking?

Originally Posted by TomP30

What on earth is a frown if you don't mind me asking?

When the edge of the razor is starting to concave around the belly, rather than bowing out away from the spine.

Originally Posted by TomP30

What on earth is a frown if you don't mind me asking?

Pictures are worth a 1000 words/well at least a drawing will help answer your question.



Lay your razor down in dim light then add some light behind it, if it has a frown you'll see it. A smile is usually easier to see/at least for me