Thread: Slight bluning on finger nail; any point?

I guess I don't see this working, I agree that with a stone it works well but going to a pasted strop I don't know if it will have enough to bring back a nice bevel... Or I spose true apex may be the better way to put it. Curious to see how it goes though

A couple things can be happening, that it is sharp and shaving well means it has an edge, but the fin may be too long, from too many laps on the finish stone, is micro chipped or not fully set and meeting.

First, look at the edge with magnification, here you will probably need at least 100X to see anything of value. Most probably you will see very small micro-chips, that are cutting into your skin. At 100X compare the chip size, to the width of the bevel to keep the amount of damage in perspective.

Depending on what you see, will dictate the course of action. A quick simple repair to a micro-chip is to lightly, Joint the edge on a corner of the stone. Jointing as opposed to killing the edge on glass, wood or your nail will cut the edge straight, removing just a bit of the edge and make it straight, the damage is cut off cleanly. You now have a straight edge, but the bevels are not meeting.

A fully set and finished bevel, jointed straight can be re-set in 10-15 laps on a finish stone. You will now have a straight, fully re-set edge.

Running the edge on the finger nail can kill the edge, straighten the edge somewhat, by remove any ragged edge, by tearing it off or folding it over.

A better solution is to take a wine cork, and at the bevel setting stage or with another razor, make a small cut on one corner, the depth of the bevel, mark the location with a sharpie.

Now with the honed razor, run your razor in the same slot, do not cut a new slot or cut deeper that the existing slot. The goal is to straighten the fin with the sides of the cut in the cork. A felt block works, if you have one.

Both methods work but if you feel it on your face, it is probably a micro- chip, stropping or honing can sharpen the bottom of the chip, making it more comfortable, but that area of the edge will be weak and may fail after stropping a few times. Jointing and re-honing is a better solution, making a stronger edge.

Whenever you feel something unusual on an edge, looking at it with magnification, should be your first course of action.

Here is a recent post discussing a similar issue and some of the possible causes, there are also some interesting micro graphs, that might help you.
(Slurry Edge Dulling, Convexing and Micro Chipping).

If a pasted strop can revive the edge depends on the paste, strop substrate and the degree of damage. Stropping a weakened edge can cause failure from flexing during stropping.

It is an easy fix though.

Thanks for the info! The razor is actually straight from the SRD honemeisters. It shaves well, but also feels very aggressive. Maybe I am just not used to it. It could be due to using diamond paste or spray, which I have found to be a bit aggressive before.

Anyway, since I have already run it over my fingernail (a method that I know some people use simply to test for sharpness and evenness, although others warn against it because it is slightly dulling on a shave ready edge), I will go with it and see what happens.

My favorite "paste" as mentioned elsewhere is slurry from my Chinese natural stone (which I believe is about 12000 grit). Maybe I will do a few strokes on the stone, then slurry strop, then fabric, and finally leather. I have managed to get some amazing shaves like this before (but without the finger nail thing).

Originally Posted by trondsi

Thanks for the info! The razor is actually straight from the SRD honemeisters. It shaves well, but also feels very aggressive. Maybe I am just not used to it. It could be due to using diamond paste or spray, which I have found to be a bit aggressive before.

Anyway, since I have already run it over my fingernail (a method that I know some people use simply to test for sharpness and evenness, although others warn against it because it is slightly dulling on a shave ready edge), I will go with it and see what happens.

My favorite "paste" as mentioned elsewhere is slurry from my Chinese natural stone (which I believe is about 12000 grit). Maybe I will do a few strokes on the stone, then slurry strop, then fabric, and finally leather. I have managed to get some amazing shaves like this before (but without the finger nail thing).

Considering you just got it back from being honed, and your complaint appears to be discomfort and not tugging/pulling, I'd say this is most likely the case and not that something actually 'needed' correction. I'm not sure what they use at SRD, but I tend to find a blade fresh off a synthetic stone to be a bit on the aggressive side. Paste can either soften this (CrOx/CBN/FeOx with a soft media) or double down on it.

I would've tried a lighter touch while shaving or given it a shave or 2 to 'wear in' before making any tweaks personally. But what's done is done, hopefully it works out for you.

In light of it being fresh honed I would try stropping it a lot on linen and leather. Leather can tame that synthetic edge. I have stropped 200 on leather in such instances and found the edge to be much softer. I have heard similar things from others as well. Do not under estimate the power of plain leather.

Marshal and Rez have got a good point. Could be just sharper than your used too. But now the TNT is done... good luck and i hope the best on your stroping outcome.

OK I think I can say that this experiment was successful. The razor was less hair-popping sharp after the "blunting" on my thumb nail, although it was still definitely moderately sharp (it would not easily bite into hanging hairs, but I am sure it would still shave albeit uncomfortably).

I then stropped it on fabric 10 times, then leather 100 times. Now it would pick up some hairs on my arm, but it was slightly less eager towards the tip. Then I read RezDog's idea, and continued on the fabric 20 times, and on the leather maybe 250 laps, with extra attention towards the tip of the edge. It started cutting even fine hairs on my arm, in mid air, along the whole edge. I then shaved with it, and the edge is now definitely less harsh on my skin. It grips the hairs but NOT the skin.

The only thing I am uncertain about is whether this would have worked without the fingernail. I suspect that it would still have been a bit harsher, but I have no way of knowing. The repeated stropping definitely helped a lot though. This also confirms my notion that there is no such thing as stropping too much on leather.