Thread: Stainless razor giving me trouble

I have a beautiful Carl Rader 6/8 inox that I recently acquired but it needed to be honed.

I am not an expert at honing but I have been doing very well with my razor collection all have honed up very well and shave great comfortable and close.

This one however is giving me trouble.

Here is my progression:

Bevel set on king 1k

3k/8k synthetic stone (three guys brand)

#9 coti bout from TSS not marked for vein. Water only then finish under running water. I go by feedback and suction sensation and I felt like this one was ready.

Under magnification it looks ok however the bevel is a bit wider than I expected- it runs toe to heel and consistent, just not what I expected.

There is some hone wear but not excessive and nothing I haven't dealt with before.

I was thinking of taping the spine and starting over to see if I can get that bevel at a more acute angle. Am I on the right track?

For comparison I used the same progression on a dull (I mean flat dull so you could drag it across your finger and no cut dull) heljestrad 31 that I got off eBay. The exact same progression yielded a very comfortable shaving edge that gave me a BBS shave this morning.

I am stumped.

And the pic or the razor showing the spine and bevel are where ???

That really would help us help you,,, but here is a funny fact a layer of tape Cannot hurt, it might not fix the problem but it won't make it worse

Ok sorry- here is a pic as best as I can get. Any guidance on my photography would be most appreciated so that I know how to post the necessary info






Does this give enough info?

Yes it does and nothing really stands out as a reason that you are not getting a good edge

This thread might help with some ideas


http://straightrazorpalace.com/honin...bing-over.html

Originally Posted by gssixgun

Yes it does and nothing really stands out as a reason that you are not getting a good edge

I was careful to raise a good burr on both sides during bevel set and made sure to do enough x strokes on the 1k to erase the burr. I am still learning and don't have to do that too much anymore I am getting to where I can tell by looking and feeling if the bevel is set but went aggressive on this one to be sure.

I know that the bevel is very important and if I don't get that right further refinement is a waste of time.

How about if I return to the coti and spend some more time there? Or go back to the 8k and then coti again?

I also have a pretty nice C12k that is slow but has made some nice edges in the past.

Lastly, I have the lapping film I first learned on a year ago (still in good shape) 6um, 3um, 1um

I have a balsa strop with crox and feox sides

I strop on a Tony Miller 3" English bridle.

Sorry for the oversharing but very open to suggestions and guidance.

You NEVER need to raise a burr when honing a straight razor. If you create a burr you did it wrong.

Originally Posted by Utopian

You NEVER need to raise a burr when honing a straight razor. If you create a burr you did it wrong.

Ok that's why I'm here. I picked that up from a member of another forum's videos.

So- when setting the bevel count strokes? Do x strokes flipping on spine till the bevel shaves arm hair?

Please elaborate

I won't know what success looks like unless I work through my failures!

YMMV
A stainless steel razor is more abrasive resistant than carbon steel. Tough to hone as you are familiar with carbon steel. It takes longer and you must check progress more often.
Some people just have to make videos...whether or not they have anything worthwhile to pass on. Check post count here and videos from the old timers.
~Richard

Originally Posted by Sdm84

Ok that's why I'm here. I picked that up from a member of another forum's videos.

So- when setting the bevel count strokes? Do x strokes flipping on spine till the bevel shaves arm hair?

Please elaborate

I won't know what success looks like unless I work through my failures!

I would not bother counting strokes. You have to keep honing till you have the bevel fully set. It might take a hundred strokes and it might take five hundred. The sharp edge is all that matters.

You can do x strokes, or chisel strokes, or circles or any combination as long as you finish with x strokes. If you are new to this you really should use tape so that you do not mess up the spine. If you use tape you will need to change it regularly when it wears and be aware that as the tape thins the honing angle changes with the result being that the edge lifts off of the hone. Fresh tape brings the edge back into contact.

This is a horrid video I did a while ago. It was a demonstration of setting the bevel on a razor using a FINISHING hone. This came about from a thread here and it certainly is not the normal or recommended way to set a bevel but it will give you some sense of the strokes involved when I set bevels. By all means don't watch the whole thing unless you are an insomniac but you can skip around and get a sense of how long it can take to set a bevel. In it I keep saying that it's almost there and then it's not. Delusion and optimism are helpful when honing but you can't actually move on from the bevel set until you have it right.