Thread: A tape-free experience

So I've got this FW Engels Leader razor I'd gotten from my father years ago which I sent out for light restoration and honing about 2 years ago. SRD put a wonderful edge on this razor and somehow I managed not to destroy it with my early stropping endeavors. Recently though it started to feel a bit uncomfortable and I knew it was time to finally work with this blade. I looked at it under a loupe and found some pretty significant chips in the toe-wards third of the blade; narrow, rectangular chips. The rest of the edge looked good so marked up the bevel with a sharpie and did a couple of smooth passes on my soft arkansas to see just how much of the bevel I wasn't hitting. This razor has significant spine wear and the existing bevel put on by SRD was uneven. I remember watching one of Lynn's videos where he say's they usually don't use tape so I thought maybe this blade was honed tape free (which considering the spine I would have thought improbable). Well, a couple of passes and nearly the entire bevel was making contact. Just a little focused torque and no problem honing the entire edge. The soft ark made short work of the chips (a shout out to Steel here; I reached out to him about using arks as he uses them extensively. He helped me get the most from these stones simply by prepping them before each use; I'd not been doing that and they'd become slow to the point of hardly cutting at all).
After inspecting the edge and seeing the chips removed I went to the hard ark and after a bit, checked the edge again. I was surprised to see tiny chips in the same locations and similar shapes as the original chips. Does this indicate weak areas in the edge?
I continued on with the hard until these smaller chips were gone. Then to the translucent (no, no messing around with prepping this stone, burnished and fine). I shaved with this razor yesterday morning and have to say it was amazing. Usually after working on a razor I'm like 'Yep, 90% there, close!' This edge is there.
Probably the easiest honing experience I've had to date. Wish my other blades were this easy, or maybe (hopefully) I'm finally really getting to understand the Arkansas way.
Now back to this Sheffield blade that torments me still............
Paul
And a group shot of my Arks with my Ralf Aust:

In what way do you prep them before each use?

Congrats on working out the "Arkansas way!"

Originally Posted by Utopian

In what way do you prep them before each use?

Congrats on working out the "Arkansas way!"

Mike (Steel) suggested using a Crystolon combination bench stone for prepping the Arks. What I was doing before was just using the honing oil to remove the swarf and then dish soap to clean up. Now after cleaning the stone I use the fine side of the Norton on the soft and hard arks and the course side on the washita. With the new crystolon I'm not doing a whole lot, just light lapping and thats it, just a few seconds. After using the norton the stones cut more quickly initially and then kind of mellow out as I hone and the stone smooths out some.
I'm still very much working out these stones; a labor of love for sure.
Paul

So After All The Nortons,, Then All The Naniwas I Read This Now Its Off For The Arks,, I Guess This Is What They Call It Never Stops!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!Great Job!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!Ty

Congratulations on the break through! Hopefully you finally whip the Sheffield that's been tormenting you. Nothing quite like a good Arkansas edge. Call me biased, but they've always been my favorites.

Originally Posted by Addison

So After All The Nortons,, Then All The Naniwas I Read This Now Its Off For The Arks,, I Guess This Is What They Call It Never Stops!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!Great Job!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!Ty

Funny how just when you think you've got everything you want, something new piques your interest. I've got more finishers than I have razors to hone with them!

Paul, post of pic of the razor, sounds like bad steel. If the scales are celluloid it may be starting to off gas and attack the edge.

Sometimes you just have to remove a bit of the edge to get to good steel. If the edge is weak you may get a few shaves out of it, but it crumbles or chips after stropping.

Arks are often over looked but they offer a unique shaving edge.

FYI, when posting from a word document, you have to double space between paragraphs to get normal spacing. Don’t know why, but double spacing works.

When I win the lottery I'll be sure to let you know that I can afford your customs with hone marks.

Congrats on the break through. I am very happy to hear of your success!! Beautiful stones!!! Thanks for sharing

Originally Posted by Steel

Congrats on the break through. I am very happy to hear of your success!! Beautiful stones!!! Thanks for sharing

Thanks Mike. I shelved that Sheffield for now; never liked it anyway. But, I'll get it.

Originally Posted by Marshal

The only natural I can imagine using to dig chips out is a coticule, or perhaps a soft Arkie with coticule slurry. A good Washita with the proper surfacing might change my mind on that, but I've yet to have the pleasure of using one.

I too like the feedback of naked steel on stone. That's one of the reasons I steer clear of razors that have been blacked, stamped, etched, or are just too clean otherwise. I'll stick to hardware store razors and things that have already been kissed by a hone for the time being.

Marshal, after refreshing my soft it made short work of those chips. My washita would probably be even faster but I didn't want to be too aggressive with this edge.