Thread: Honing a new out of the box razor

It's exciting opening that new razor, following the manufacturer's instructions, having the shave and end up disappointed with the edge. This is more the rule than the exception. What do we do? Re set the bevel, go back to the start, strop then try again, or maybe back to say a 5k and gently go to finishing hones. A lot depends on the razor brand, Dovo, Thiers Issard or other well known 'new' razors. A lot depends on the individual razor, most claim shave readiness but I'm sure that it's probably a 10% of them can shave 1st up. Ok, we can open it up. 1st look at the edge under magnification, it will at the least show you if the razor has been hand honed, with or without tape. Many tests exist as to sharpness, most work, after trying them all, looking at others results, I think the simple cherry tomato test is good. Personal choice. Most recently I bought two identical Thiers Issard 7/8 razors. The edge/bevel on one was bad, looked like it had been hand honed, untaped, and a frown and a chip in the toe, it failed the cherry tomato test. It was certainly direct from the factory. It took a fair bit of work, a complete bevel re set, but I got it right in the end. The second one was also hand honed, no tape, but an even bevel, no chips and it passed the cherry tomato test. Experience will tell you from magnification as to its readiness for the bathroom. In this razors case I felt it was nearly there, but not quite, only experience or a shave test will answer that.
I, having seen evidence of hand honing,and doing a sharpie test told me they used no tape. So on this occasion for this razor, I used a Naniwa 10k superstone, for 10 very light strokes, followed by a similar number on the Suehiro Gokumyo 20k. Stropped and shaved. It was great. So same two brands of razor, very different methods. One took 10 minutes, the other hours. So the moral to this story is look at it under a loupe or similar and test for bevel sharpness. If you have that, no need to go back to the start, but you might need to treat it as though it was a razor of yours, that had just started to tug, so all it needs is what you'd do for a touch up. The middle ground is one that passes bevel set, but in your opinion is beyond a simple touch up, then maybe a move from a 5k or 8k to your finishing stone. Some people just say, well most of the time just reset the bevel, then you know what you have from day one. So, a valuable tool for people who get a new razor, is the magnifier, sets you on the right path, helps you assess the razor, especially if your not super experienced, the sharpie answers the tape question, and loupe let's you confirm that because the spine will show hone marks if untaped. And it's probably wise, if the thing passes the tomato test, shave with it. Most razors won't be very bad from the factory and need a full reset, the touch up technique is good for say 7/10. Good honing.