Thread: What to do??

Whats recommended when a blade pulls? I find myself in this situation a lot, I hone, test shave then Hone some more then its over honed. should i go straight to the 8000 then work my way up to the chinese 12k/paste or go straight to the 12k/paste?

When it pulls and you "hone" can you describe what you mean by "hone". What specifically do you do?

It sounds to me like you might still be pyramding, which I wouldn't do anymore.

For a razor that is pulling I think that either of the two approaches you mention would work fine. Perhaps your doing too much of either.

For example, when a razor pulls that is the time to do a "touch up" also. Therefore I typically do 6-10 passes on a barber hone with no pressure/lather or 20 passes on 8K or 30 passes on 12K, usually testing after each 10 stroke sets.

So 10 light strokes on 12K might do the trick alone. 20 passes on .5 might do the job too.

As soon as the razor stops pulling, I stop honing.

And I find that the quality of these passes in stroke and pressure (none) have to be of very high quality.

An alternative would be 5 strokes on the 8K, 10 strokes on the 12K and 10 strokes on the .5 micron paste. Pretty close to Alan's recommendations. If it's just pulling a little, then 10 strokes on the.5 micron may just bring it around. If it pulls alot, I might even try a couple of 1-3's on the Norton 4K/8K before going to the 12K.

Good Luck.

Lynn

Great advice so far.

If you're having trouble with overhoning you might try working just on the 12K for a while. From what others have reported, the 12K is a very slow hone. The slower, slurry-style stones seem like they're less likely to overhone than the Norton 8K, which is a fast hone. In my experience, the faster hones need a bit more of a refined touch.

But if you're pretty far away from sharp, you'll get old and gray before the 12K gets you there. Pyramiding with the 8K like Lynn suggested sounds like a great idea.

Just a few thoughts,
Josh

Thanks guys for all your input. i will better define what i do
1. I do Lynn's pyramid 3-3, 1-3, 1-5
2. Check the edge under microscope and thumb pad test
Once step 2 is good, which it usually is on the first try i go to step three.
3. chinese 12k no pressure even strokes checking about every 10 to 20 strokes
i usually end up doing close to 100 strokes. or if im using paste i do 10 then check
and at this point it feels super sharp and theres no bur edge.
4. test shave then it pulls a little cutting some hair pulling the rest.
i will try what you guys have said. I'm just trying to fugure out what the cause of the problem is.
Thanks again i will keep you posted.

Are you using slurry on the 12k? If so try half the 12 stage with no slurry but water alone and very light pressure. Thumb pad test every 5 passes.

PuFF

I wish the vaunted convention were going to be held sooner rather than later as I would very much like to watch the thumb pad test being used by one who knows how to do it. I've tried it on razors I've shaved with to acceptable results and can discern little difference from ones as dull as the rocks I rub them on. I used to have really good thickness of skin, but those callosities have gone. Is the now thinned skin not good for the test?

questions abound, Bruce

Skin should be fine. The thumbpad test is done with a properly honed and stropped razor. Both characteristics must be near perfect. For me it was the stropping with some pressure and correct technique that made the TPT actually work as described in all the historical manuals on barbering.

I'm with Alan. The stropping really seems to be the important part here. A well honed razor doesn't seem to do well on the TPT for me at this time. Strop that same razor up just right, and it feels like it has contact cement on it.

Josh

I read through your process and noticed you didn't mention stropping. If you're not stropping, you should start. It's a necessary part of the process. Try using natural leather and give it 40 -50 strokes.