Thread: Problems with newly honed razor

I recently honed a razor for our member Heliguy as part of a coticule sale.
However, when he tried to shave with it the result was less than optimal.

He sent me a PM to tell me that this was his third razor that was honed by someone else, and each time the result was not satisfactory, so he'd like to open a discusion on this, but asked if I would open it with a desciption of what I did.
The idea is to start a discussion to figure out why he has problems with razors hone by other people.

The razor in question was a very nice W&B smilling half hollow 11/16. It was a teeny bit warped, but not enough to cause real problems.
I used a basic X pattern on the 4K for 15 or 20 laps. Then I did the 3-3 1-3 1-5 pyramid 2 times, followed by 2 or 3 1-5's.

By then the blade passed the HHT, though not as good as I get with most german razors. I think the relative softness of the steel has something to do with this. The softness of the steel was also visible by the grey traces trailing behind the blade on the 4K.
Anyway, I then took the freshly lapped 4x1.25 coticule and raised a very light slurry. I used 5 laps with an X pattern and the blade angled at 45 degrees backwards.
I rinsed the stone and did 5 laps with the same X but without slurry this time.
I stropped it for 40 laps on the hanging strop that I go for free with my TM #1 heirloom.
It has a surface that looks coated and feels very slightly abrasive. It might be a figment of my imagination but I think it give the blade some extra polishing.

Then I shaved and the shave was very smooth. I do admit that I use an agressive heel leading or toe leading movement (up to 45 degrees with smiling blades), sometimes combines with scything movement at certain locations.
This way I can cut throught the hairs on my jawline without any problems whatsoever. If the blad emovement is straight down like a garage door it gets stuck near my chin and jawline so I never do that.

Well then, I think I listed the relevant things to get this discussion started.

Bruno,

I can't find any fault with your honing approach on this one--sounds like it was spot on. I may be one of the other people who honed a razor for heliguy--can't remember offhand.

But I can say that I've tried razors honed by several senior members whose honing credentials I would never question and found that I could not shave comfortably with them.

I've had a world of trouble finding an edge that will shave me closely and without causing excessive irritation. It took almost nine months and hundreds of hours of honing experiments.

For me, the only edge that works right now is one that is finished with 50 to 100 strokes on the coticule without slurry.

I'm hoping this will change as my shaving technique improves, but right now, that's how things stand.

A lot of other guys have been very happy with edges that I've honed--the same edges that leave my face feeling like hamburger. I'm not saying any of this to brag about my honing; maybe I'm just dense.

So I think I have an unusual beard or skin, and it's possible that heliguy does too. It may be that every once in a while a guy comes along who has more than the usual amount of trouble for whatever reason--like me, or matt, or heliguy. Maybe we have unusual requirements. The jury's still out for me, but that's my experience to date.

Josh

I 'd better jump in since I started this.
No josh you did not hone a razor for me (no more guesses please) and like you I'm not questioning credentials, I would like to understand what is different with the edge, skin or hair that means I cannot get a good shave with a razor edge that works just fine for most.
I do admit that when honing I do a lot of passes but had put that down to lack of skill as I'm still new to this, I also don't get hht off the hone when it starts to feel right on the hone I stop strop then try hht and then often go back to the hone and so on. when I get hht along the blade I go to the green pasted bench hone and then back to the strop. but even then there are million levels of how well it pops cuts splits a hanging hair. so is it the hair?? I don't know but I still have trouble popping the wifes hair even after all that.

Here are some thoughts . . .

I would pay attention to two issues, one the final grit hone used and two, the angle you shave at.

I think every razor accentuates either cutting or smoothness. I find that pyramiding does a nice job of balancing both razor requirements. The formula, or fraction 1/5 or 1/3 or 1/15 represents a chosen balance between cutting and smoothness.

I find the smoother you go, the closer the shave, the less the cutting ability (and this is very counterintuitive)

Thus, I would suggest you may be getting edges that are uncomfortably (over smooth) sharp, yet don't meet your cutting needs.

One way to test this might be to strop on linen only many passes before shaving, if it feels better afterward that might be the issue.

One way to test this yourself is to hone a razor up and not finish it. Just do a 1/5 on the Norton and test shave.

Finally, make sure you eliminate the obvious, stropping. This is where the comfort of a razor is created and a big variable here (between various shavers).

Are you stretching your face skin as you shave? That is the one big difference I've found when people tell me they have razors which shave other people but not them. It may also just be your beard! Do you get ingrown hairs on your neck? That's an indicator of LFB (Lay Flat Beard). Try shaving against the grain if you suffer from LFB. Also, the HHT is not as good a test as shaving YOUR face with the razor as the razor may be sharp enough for the HHT on some parts of the blade but not others. Finally, have you looked at the blade under magnification? That alone will eliminate a lot of the variables. I recommend looking at both sides heel to toe under good light and at 10x and then 60x or better. There's a reason for this and you just have to methodically eliminate variables until you figure it out.