Thread: Razor too sharp?

I am not sure if this is the exact right place to post this, if this is not fitting then feel free to move this post to it's correct category.
So I refreshed my razor with some Chromium Oxide for the first time, since it was stating to pull, and I think I did a few passes too many on the pasted strop, (I did ot cake the compound on, so I did not put too much on the strop) but I did notice in my shave that it was sharper, much sharper than I thought. I got a few cuts, and some nicks, I did not apply much pressure, and thsi did not happen after I got it honed earlier this year.
So is it possible to over-sharpen your razor with too many passes on the chromium oxide? Because my face got a bit shredded after this shave, I am still learning but this never happen before.

Did you check the edge under some sort of magnification for micro chipping?

It is possible to have a razor so sharp it is not comfortable. Think Feather DE which most agree is the sharpest blade but many find harsh because of how sharp they are.

You should be able to mellow your edge with stropping.

I do not own any magnifier as of the moment, I should consider getting something in the future.
Okay, comparing it to feather blades makes sense to me, I think this might be the issue. I will continue to strop as normal, but just do 1 pass with the straight now and do the rest with de DE until the edge has become more tolerable

Technically this is not honing question, but I'll move the thread to the honing section.

There are a few things that I did to resolve nicks when I was starting out. On was to make sure the angle is very very low and the other is vigilant skin stretching and holding. In the early days I do recall using more pressure with a dull blade and then too much pressure when it was freshly touched up. My experience with an over done edge is that it is too harsh, I often refer to them as prickly. Give it 50 on the fabric and 100 on the leather and try again.

Okay, I will see how this turns out during my next shave.
Thanks a lot everyone!

While it is possible to get an edge too sharp, by honing or with some paste, I do not think this is your problem, especially if you are honing without magnification.

A few years ago several of us stropped a single razor on Chromium Oxide and shave with the same razor daily, for over a year, just to see what would happened. Nothing happened, except great shaves. The edge did not deteriorate, round over or get too sharp.

Most probably your bevel was not fully set, when honed and with stropping and possibly too much pressure, it failed, a very common issue.

As said look at your edge, you will probably see a chipped edge. When honing look at the edge, straight down on the edge. If you see shiny reflections, they are where the bevels are not meeting or chipping.

Make sure your Chromium Oxide is razor quality, pure Chrome Oxide and not hardware/woodworking store polishing, green paste. Which contains very little Chromium Oxide, if at all.

Originally Posted by JTmke

Did you check the edge under some sort of magnification for micro chipping?

It is possible to have a razor so sharp it is not comfortable. Think Feather DE which most agree is the sharpest blade but many find harsh because of how sharp they are.

You should be able to mellow your edge with stropping.

THIS. I use a feather when I travel, but they're too sharp. After maybe 5 uses they settle in.

Okay, well I really think I have to get a microscope then, so I can see what's going on

That and when you have some experience your shaves will be more consistent, plus you,ll know when you have an edge that is chippy. As too too sharp, unless your breaking down the edge from over honing, I say not really, I like a crisp edge, the feather is my go to for sharp when I travel and I like them fresh out he box, technique has a lot to do with a smooth shave. But if that edge is starting to crumble from the honing,,( cause some steel won't take an edge as far as others ) then it's going to be rough.

My observation on this is from my blades, some go to 12k and that's where they stop, some I have can take a 20k without dimenished results. Like was said get some magnification and see what's going on, plus like Euclid said maybe your CRoX is not the right kind, too many try to go cheap on it when the good stuff is really inexpensive to start with. Tc