Thread: This razor is driving me crazy- won't shave!

Love it, Nice lookin edge,ty

Congratulations!

Problem edges like that are a huge learning opportunity. If you can get a warped blade sharp you can get most everything sharp. On to chips and frowns...lol!!

Originally Posted by rodb

Problem edges like that are a huge learning opportunity. If you can get a warped blade sharp you can get most everything sharp. On to chips and frowns...lol!!

Frowns are scary lol! I usually just click through those on the bay haha

Forgot to mention the bracing bowling alley smell of the ebonite scales! My day is complete!

Originally Posted by Sdm84

Frowns are scary lol! I usually just click through those on the bay haha

Forgot to mention the bracing bowling alley smell of the ebonite scales! My day is complete!

Personally, I would rather fix a small frown than a warp. Once the frown is gone and the blade is not warped it goes really fast usually.

Bowling alley smell is not my favorite thing....

Originally Posted by rodb

Personally, I would rather fix a small frown than a warp. Once the frown is gone and the blade is not warped it goes really fast usually.

Bowling alley smell is not my favorite thing....

I was just kidding about the smell of course I don't like it either.

I will research how to fix a frown I am sure there are many threads on the subject. Would be the next logical progression for me I think.

Originally Posted by Sdm84

Forgot to mention the bracing bowling alley smell of the ebonite scales! My day is complete!

You could try rubbing some glycerin or tire dressing in on ebonite scales to reduce their odour. It may take several treatments.

Bob

Originally Posted by Sdm84

I noticed as I was re-setting the bevel that although the sharpie test was passed, with the blade cleaned up and a mirror bevel already it was really easy to see that I was not getting all the way down to the edge under 60x loupe. There was mirror under the 1.5k striations!

I slowed my stroke down and really paid attention to the water in front of the blade and the feedback. I FELT that the blade was not contacting the stone (or rather it was intermittent) and SAW that the water was slipping under the blade sometimes- wow!!

Bingo! Back to the bevel stone and adjusted my stroke by feel- fun stroke almost like a swing on the downstroke whee!!!! But on the upstroke? Wow it was really hard to get the concave blade shape to contact the stone- required me to do some contortions to get good contact. I stayed with the 1.5k shapton pro until the striations looked FANTASTIC all the way from heel to toe and BAM AGAIN!!!

On to the 5k- torqued the blade down and immediately saw where the shape of the blade was problematic. Again, very slow and paying attention to feedback and water pattern I used my weird strokes to hone. Under magnification (it was very difficult to see the 5k striations under the loupe so switched to 120x handheld microscope) I made SURE that all of the 1.5k striations were polished out.

On to the 8k- same slow, methodical procedure. My confidence grew as I got more attuned to what the stone and blade was telling me (It was shouting at me before but I didn't "hear" it...if that makes any sense at all) but now it was so intuitive how to proceed.

I could FEEL THE RESISTANCE almost like leather draw in BOTH HANDS to guide me and let me know that the blade was making contact SO COOL!!!

CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!



You now know how to hone!

Everything that you wrote was awesome but I pared it down to what I quoted above with the bold stuff being most crucial. All of this indicates what you now have learned and will be able to do again in the future. That is, you identified the problem, you recognized the cause of the problem, you made adjustments on the fly to adapt to and correct the problem, and because of that you were able to eliminate the problem.

Remember always that a wise man walks with his head bowed, humble, like the dust.



Remember also that that head should be clean shaven with a sharp razor, and now grasshopper, you know how to get that razor sharp!

Originally Posted by Utopian

Remember always that a wise man walks with his head bowed, humble, like the dust.

I will. I think what sums it up best is that with this razor and the great feedback and suggestions from you and the members of this forum I have "learned how to learn how to hone" and have changed my thinking.

Please forgive my exuberance in my rather long winded post. I will endeavor to take it down 1,000 from here on.

Originally Posted by Sdm84

I will. I think what sums it up best is that with this razor and the great feedback and suggestions from you and the members of this forum I have "learned how to learn how to hone" and have changed my thinking.

Please forgive my exuberance in my rather long winded post. I will endeavor to take it down 1,000 from here on.

Actually, I was highly pleased by your exuberance. I think many of us have had similar "aha!" moments and what you wrote really did suggest to me that you have passed a critical threshold. You no longer are just doing what you were taught but now know that often you need to do what the blade needs. Honestly, as I was reading that post I got a smile my face knowing that you now get it. I knew that as soon as I read "I felt that the blade was not contacting the stone."