Thread: Essay on razor honing from 1895

I found an essay on razor honing from 1895 on an opensource archive. I havent had time to read it myself but maybe someone here will enjoy it.

http://https://ia902605.us.archive.o...rsra00lebl.pdf

(Dont know if this have been posted before... Mods, please move this thread if it belongs somewhere else...)

Enjoy!
JackeHj

Sorry, The link didn't open...
~Richard

Corrected link:

https://ia902605.us.archive.org/10/i...rsra00lebl.pdf

Originally Posted by Geezer

Sorry, The link didn't open...
~Richard

Just add the missing colon, done.

Originally Posted by kelbro

Corrected link:

https://ia902605.us.archive.org/10/i...rsra00lebl.pdf

My mistake. Thanks!

Thank you for the posting of this classic! It has been posted before and it will have new viewers this time.
~Richard

I've read a few old treatises on razor honing. I think this is the first time I've seen this particular one. It never ceases to amaze me the little bits and pieces of info that can be picked up here and there. I wouldn't have ever thought to use pee to break in a leather strop for example. Probably for good reason, I think that part can stay in the past. But the rest of the break in is good stuff and I've done it to both of my strops. I think the buffalo hide still needs some attention but I'm letting it ride for now. Seems like they also used lead in much the same way that we use CrOx, FeOx, CBN and diamond pastes. Personally I'm waiting for my linen to take on a black sheen due to metal impregnation from normal stropping. It never occurred to me that black schmootz could be giving it a faint abrasive property until I read the writings of Mr. Iwasaki, and now I regret washing away about a year or so of break in that was in the linen of my old Illinois strop.

I started to theorize when I got my coticule that thicker lather increases friction between blade and stone, ending with a result similar to using more pressure. The coticule made this more apparent due to the type of feedback it gives. With a little torque to add pressure it feels more grainy and rough. Same for a thick lather. Thinner, slicker lather feels more smooth and glassy. It was interesting to see that loose suspicion in writing backed by experience from a time when lather was more commonly in use. Same goes for oils in my experience. Uncut mineral oil feels like it sucks the blade down to the stone, cutting it with mineral oil frees it up and lets the blade glide more readily over the surface.

Perhaps most interesting to me is that he spends more time on prep than technique. Like many things in life, good preparation is key to success. And it's rather easy to forget that something as simple as washing a stone before use can be the difference between a good sharp edge and having that edge ruined by a piece of stray grit.