Thread: Can't keep an edge

I bought a very lightly used CH Laurent 5/8 full hollow off ebay.fr quite a while ago. I have another identical razor I got from a member here and have enjoyed shaving with it. It came with a wonderful edge that I have been able to maintain quite well.

So I decided it was time to bring the ebay razor into my rotation. I have a 175x40 Le Grise, a 200x60 BBW, and a #8 La Dressante bout. Of course I started off by taping the spine. It took almost two hours on slurry to get a nice sharp (?) even bevel. I do lots of circles, but my slurry doesn't darken much. My coticule appears to be really slow. Anyhow, once I had what I believe to be a good bevel (using the thumbnail test, the thumbpad test, my jeweler's loupe) I moved on to the BBW. Using only x-strokes, and starting with a fair amount of slurry, I honed 12-15 strokes before diluting. After ~25 dilution steps I was down to almost water. 200 light finish strokes on the La Dressante with water only and I see a nice hazy bevel in the the loupe. 50/100 strokes on the strop and I attempt the HHT. I have a tough time with this test; with my hair the test works intermittently, with a new DE blade, with one of Glen's edges, and with my touched up edges. I got a few hairs to pop so I put it away for the following morning (Monday's) shave.

Monday's shave was passable, a bit too much pulling in the thicket on the chin. A bit of a disappointment. This morning, I tried again and only got two strokes down the sideburn before I knew this wasn't going to work...

My question: is it my bevel or my finish. This is the second ebay razor this has happened to me. First shave a disappointment; second, intolerable. Is the edge just breaking down? Since I'm using a coticule I don't think I'm overhoning. Or is my finish work not complete? I touchup my other blades with the bout when needed and I manage to keep serviceable edges for 10-20 shaves.

I'm not averse to sending it out for professional honing and then maintaining it as I have done with my others, but taking a blade from neglect to serviceable is a skill we all want to master.

The bevel is not fully set.

You can not polish an edge that does not exist.

If you are going to do a full Coticule progression, you should at least grit rate your 3 stones to see where they fit in the progression.


Ink the bevel to make sure you are honing to the edge when bevel setting, once the bevel is set, you should be able to remove all the ink in 1-2 laps, if not, the bevel is not FULLY set.

Then look straight down on the edge, if you see any shiny reflections, the bevel is not fully set.

A 1k would make your life a lot easier.

A touch up with a coticule is completely different from a full bevel set progression. The bevel set is 95 percent of the work.

Very good advice from Euclid

For me, the only way I test to see if my bevel is set is to shave arm hair, it has to be able to shave arm hair, otherwise the bevels do not meet and need more work, once it happens I work some more to perfect the bevel and get it to shave arm hair effortlessly

Most likely bevel but since you mentioned e-Bay...

Was it highly polished? I'm afraid that many sellers overheat the blades trying to get the mirror finishes. This can overheat the edge, possibly causing a loss of temper and cause it to break down repeatedly until you hone it back to the 'good stuff'.

Just my opinion after several dissatisfying e-Bay buys. Much honing usually cured it.

Seems like every time I run into a "won't shave" issue with my razors, it circles back to the bevel. I've stopped relying on thumb nail, thumb pad, and arm hair tests. The magnification doesn't lie, and will not hide issues that other tests might fail to reveal. I've learned the hard way that it IS possible to have a razor that

1) feels incredibly sharp on the thumb pad.

2) feels smooth across the thumb nail.

3) pops arm hair at skin level with unparalleled ease

4) tree tops arm hair

But will nearly bring a tear to your eye yanking hair out of your face. And magnification reveals the cause, the bevel is close enough to be able to pop hair but it isn't completely set. Until both planes of the bevel meet it won't shave for squat, but it may pass every other test you throw at it.

Marshall,
You mention 1000 grit. What brand, and where do you buy it with confidence. I would appreciate knowing this. Currently I have three sets of hones, Diamond, Water stones up to 8000 and Arkansas (soft, black and translucent). I bought the Arkansas from "Best Sharpening Stones. Com".
Thank you for your perspective.

+1 to Euclid with his expert advice. Also, I agree with the 1k stone if you are buying ebay razors. I have found that alot of old razors have the edge of the steel that is corroded. These razors will get sharp but the bevel will stay hazy and won't polish out. So you think you have a great edge and then sometimes during the first shave it will 'crumble' away for want of a better description. You won't be able to maintain an edge until you get back into 'good' steel. Its much easier to get the bevel set with a 1k also, just my thoughts, hopefully some more senior members will chime in. VR Joe

Do you have any other hones? You are using advanced hones that are temperamental at best and very picky about slurry, pressure etc. Like any natural.
Many failures will get you to a success.

Since I am having a similar problem with a Joseph Allen and Sons and an Electric Co razor and maybe another one. I hone on Arkansas Soft, black and translucent. I can shave arm hair, but when it comes to the face the hair there is entirely different than soft arm hair. It feels sharp to the finger and glides over the thumbnail without a hiccup. The mention of bevels coming together makes absolute sense. Now my issue is how to get the bevel. I am rather new here and just cannot find the information I need and wish there were an ask and answer thread. I would start a thread on this, but have no Idea how to accomplish this. Any help you can provide on how to get the bevel, what to look for.
In using a marker, do you run it over the edge, which is what I am assuming. Next, if I do this, what happens if on one side the marker disappears after a few laps but there are marker scores on the otherside.

A set bevel will cut arm hair easily at skin level along the whole edge, that is my 1k test for a set bevel. A soft Ark might take a long time to get there so stay on that with medium pressure until it cuts uniformly, use light pressure with the black and translucent

Originally Posted by Glock27

Since I am having a similar problem with a Joseph Allen and Sons and an Electric Co razor and maybe another one. I hone on Arkansas Soft, black and translucent. I can shave arm hair, but when it comes to the face the hair there is entirely different than soft arm hair. It feels sharp to the finger and glides over the thumbnail without a hiccup. The mention of bevels coming together makes absolute sense. Now my issue is how to get the bevel. I am rather new here and just cannot find the information I need and wish there were an ask and answer thread. I would start a thread on this, but have no Idea how to accomplish this. Any help you can provide on how to get the bevel, what to look for.
In using a marker, do you run it over the edge, which is what I am assuming. Next, if I do this, what happens if on one side the marker disappears after a few laps but there are marker scores on the otherside.