Thread: Gold Rex - can't get it honed to shave well

I received a Gold Rex razor in the mail recently. It is in excellent condition, and I have heard great things about these razors. However, I can't seem to get it honed to shave well. I use the same progression that I'm accustomed to, finishing on 12k Naniwa and polishing with CrOx on a strop. I just honed 2 King Pelicans from bread-knife edges and they are excellent shavers. The Gold Rex does shave just with more effort and more strokes.

What do I need to do?

First thing to check would be the bevel. Do you have magnification to check the very edge?

What are you using before the 12k?

It's almost always the bevel not being fully set.

I have the Norton 220/1000 and 4000/8000 set. I went back to the 1000 for the first time I rehoned it, the second time I went to 220. Never had this much trouble before. I can check it under 30x.

If it's an extra hollow grind and you use to much pressure you will flex the bevel and not get to the edge. If it's stainless steel they can be harder and slower to set a bevel. Even if it's NOS still check for a frown

220 might be to aggressive to get a nice smooth edge on the blade. I would check it for sparkly bits, throw some sharpie on it (make sure it is dry) then do a lap. Then visual inspection to see how it came off. Throwing a pic or two on here might help once the you do a lap with the sharpie on the bevel.

I'll try the sharpie trick and get back with the result. I already hone with only enough pressure to contact the stone. There isn't enough of a frown to detect, but that may be the case if it is minimal; the sharpie will tell.

For me, the naniwa 12k is prone to make edges chippy if you do too many laps. Even with feather-light pressure. Less is definitely more.

Yup, you will have to get rid of all the 220 stria, no telling deep it is. No need, especially on a pre honed razor to go to 220, probably not even 1k.

But now, you want to look at the edge and see if the bevel is fully set at 1k, most likely it is not.

Look at it and tell us what you see, some pics might help.