Thread: Straight Razors Dull Despite Little Use

Hay there
I'm a newer user and a fan of this group and SOS

Check out what SOS's current straight razor refresh in the comments of simple straight razor honing.

"My procedure on the 4k stone is to lap it with a diamond plate, then do back-and-forth scrubbing type strokes, alternating sides after about 50 strokes, then after 30 , 20 , 10 , 5 strokes. Next I do alternating edge leading strokes until the water on the stone is easily running up the bevel all along the edge – maybe 50 laps. Then I do 20-30 edge trailing strokes. After the 3 strops I tree-top some arm hair and if there is any sound or resistance, I repeat the entire procedure."

I also just bought a 8 k stone and wanted to include it before stroping. Seems to help on some razors.

Maybe try edge leading till good contact then the 30 edge trailing laps on the 8 k? Have you been using jiffy marker and a Lupe?. The Norton stones are good edge leading right? Lately I have been honing under running water and trying to keep the stone as clean as possible- that is just me though.

Have you been including a pasted leather after pasted cloth? That has been when things get really sharp for me. Then clean cloth then clean leather. Ha that's 4 strops not 3 like todd said.

All the best
Matt

I

Originally Posted by rickytimothy

Tried re-doing the Dovo from scratch this morning twice, got nowhere, blade is useless. I have no idea what the problem is.

The blade will cut somewhat in the center, but not cut at all on heel or toe.

I’ll take a shot at it if you want to send it to me.

Originally Posted by mattnat

Hay there
I'm a newer user and a fan of this group and SOS

Check out what SOS's current straight razor refresh in the comments of simple straight razor honing.

"My procedure on the 4k stone is to lap it with a diamond plate, then do back-and-forth scrubbing type strokes, alternating sides after about 50 strokes, then after 30 , 20 , 10 , 5 strokes. Next I do alternating edge leading strokes until the water on the stone is easily running up the bevel all along the edge – maybe 50 laps. Then I do 20-30 edge trailing strokes. After the 3 strops I tree-top some arm hair and if there is any sound or resistance, I repeat the entire procedure."

I also just bought a 8 k stone and wanted to include it before stroping. Seems to help on some razors.

Maybe try edge leading till good contact then the 30 edge trailing laps on the 8 k? Have you been using jiffy marker and a Lupe?. The Norton stones are good edge leading right? Lately I have been honing under running water and trying to keep the stone as clean as possible- that is just me though.

Have you been including a pasted leather after pasted cloth? That has been when things get really sharp for me. Then clean cloth then clean leather. Ha that's 4 strops not 3 like todd said.

All the best
Matt

I

I don't use any pasted leather, I wrote him a comment on SoS asking him how necessary he thinks that is. In any case, if he expects the razor to be quite sharp after the 4k, I'm nowhere near there, not even close, so I don't think that's the issue at all. What you just described is almost exactly what I did on my last attempt, had unusable results. I could try again later to be more similar to that though, I did about 40 scrub motions on each side, then the alternating edge trailing strokes. I would assume the norton stones are just fine edge leading given their popularity, I cannot speak from experience evidently.

Originally Posted by Steve56

I’ll take a shot at it if you want to send it to me.

Thanks for the offer, I'll pass. I'm at the point where I'm willing to hone this thing to death to make it shave, I hate this razor.

Originally Posted by rickytimothy

Note: It seems very challenging to maintain light pressure with rolling x strokes, as it requires more pressure than I would normally use just to make the heel touch the stone at all.

I'm not sure if I can draw any conclusions off of this. I suppose it's possible that I butchered the rolling X strokes, but I didn't use those at all for the first run, and the toe, which always makes good contact, was very dull then too.

No pressure needed at all. If you lift the toe off the hone the heel must contact. It's inevitable.
As you slide down the stone the toe will be the last thing to contact. You essentially use a very small part of the stone to contact the edge. Try drawing a pencil line down the side of the hone about the thickness of a butcher's steel. That's all the contact area you need, even less most likely. Some people actually prefer narrow hones for problem razors but if you understand the concept it can be done with a wider hone.

Heavy pressure is your enemy as you will flex the edge away from the hone.

Originally Posted by onimaru55

Some people actually prefer narrow hones for problem razors but if you understand the concept it can be done with a wider hone.

I could see this, my King 1k is significantly narrower than my norton, it feels much more natural to do this on. I might sand down the corners of the norton as it feels rough when I'm honing near the edge of it. I suppose what might be considered "light" pressure on a flat razor would be dramatically too much if only a small area of the razor is making contact. I'll try extremely light pressure next time.

Try the pasted leather step. SOS says the effects can be a thousand fold over the bare substrate. He says elsewhere that you can accomplish the the same thing on bare leather but it takes skill and experience. I have no idea how you go about learning such a thing.

Y

Where are you? I got the advice to post my location on profile to see if there's someone around that likes to help.

I'm back to my own razor that has resisted the above protocol... The cracked shumate.

Matt

Originally Posted by mattnat

Try the pasted leather step. SOS says the effects can be a thousand fold over the bare substrate. He says elsewhere that you can accomplish the the same thing on bare leather but it takes skill and experience. I have no idea how you go about learning such a thing.

Y

Where are you? I got the advice to post my location on profile to see if there's someone around that likes to help.

I'm back to my own razor that has resisted the above protocol... The cracked shumate.

Matt

There's not a lot of help around Winnipeg. I have a local guy who showed me some things a week or two ago.

I'm quite certain pasted leather will not compensate for a blade in this bad of shape. It won't cut at all.

There appears to be no progress with this razor. I think this might be a good time to get back to basics. Is the bevel set? This is a critical step in the honing process. If the bevel is not set, you are wasting your time. Almost set, or very close to set is not good enough. It's that simple. All the different finishing stones, pastes, strops etc are irrelevant if there is no set bevel. Do not assume the bevel is set. Perhaps it might be time well spent to make close inspection of the edge. In post #120 I showed a good method to follow. A bevel that is set and nicely refined off a 1k stone will effortlessly cut arm hair from heel to toe.

Originally Posted by Tathra11

There appears to be no progress with this razor. I think this might be a good time to get back to basics. Is the bevel set? This is a critical step in the honing process. If the bevel is not set, you are wasting your time. Almost set, or very close to set is not good enough. It's that simple. All the different finishing stones, pastes, strops etc are irrelevant if there is no set bevel. Do not assume the bevel is set. Perhaps it might be time well spent to make close inspection of the edge. In post #120 I showed a good method to follow. A bevel that is set and nicely refined off a 1k stone will effortlessly cut arm hair from heel to toe.

This is exactly what I tried to do twice yesterday. I found the eye test difficult, the edge is basically not visible at all, when I shine direct light on it all I see is the thick line of the bevel. Quite probably I used way too much force though, as I didn't take into consideration that a slightly warped blade would dramatically multiply pressure.

Originally Posted by rickytimothy

I could see this, my King 1k is significantly narrower than my norton, it feels much more natural to do this on. I might sand down the corners of the norton as it feels rough when I'm honing near the edge of it. I suppose what might be considered "light" pressure on a flat razor would be dramatically too much if only a small area of the razor is making contact. I'll try extremely light pressure next time.

The working edges of your stones should be chamfered smooth or you're dead in the water.