Thread: Straight Razors Dull Despite Little Use

I'm not really planning on shaving with the chinese razors, I've seen how they tend to chip badly and of course probably don't hold an edge either. My main interest is just getting a cutting edge on a warped blade right now.

Lights aren't here yet to film it with so I'll take another shot in a second. I got 320 grit sandpaper to true stones with as well.



Stones probably aren't going to get any truer than that. 320 git feels perfect for this purpose. 120 is way too rough.

So far I found that with logo side up, the heel cut beautifully, but none of the rest of the blade did. On the other side, the toe cut great, but none of the rest of the blade did. I ran it across my thumbnail as he does in the video to try to get the whole thing sharp at once. It seems to be coming along pretty nicely.

I have to agree that this version of the rolling X-stroke feels pretty fool-proof compared to the style I was trying previously.

I followed through to the 4k then the 8k then pasted strop, canvas then leather. The whole thing will cut arm hair no problem on both sides!!!

I felt pretty good about it until I pulled out Paul's razor and compared them side by side. Okay there is a ton of room for improvement. Major progress though! It's frankly a bit fucked how sharp Paul's razor is...

I understand now what people mean when they say that the 8k used to be a standard edge. The scratches on the edge were very visible under the 10x loupe all the way up to 4k, but it looks almost perfectly smooth on 8k. I wonder how much further a higher stone is really going to take you.

Originally Posted by rickytimothy

I understand now what people mean when they say that the 8k used to be a standard edge. The scratches on the edge were very visible under the 10x loupe all the way up to 4k, but it looks almost perfectly smooth on 8k. I wonder how much further a higher stone is really going to take you.

Well, how do you think Paul got such a good edge ? Rhetorical question.

I have a Gold Dollar razor in my collection. I used it to help me understand customizing a razor. And yes i do shave with it once every three years i think. But i didnt use it for learning to hone. Thats the difference. And your right, if you can find a straight one and after fixing its issues, they will shave. But the edge doesnt last.

Surely someone here has done a comparison of 8k vs finishing stone here after become skilled at honing. How big was the difference?

Right now I have lots of good reasons to assume a lot of the difference between my current razor and paul's is just skill.

Originally Posted by rickytimothy

Surely someone here has done a comparison of 8k vs finishing stone here after become skilled at honing. How big was the difference?

Right now I have lots of good reasons to assume a lot of the difference between my current razor and paul's is just skill.

The difference is big enough that most of us continue to use a finishing stone and sometimes followed by an abrasive pasted strop.

Good point. I'll look at picking up a small one. My only real objection so far has been that full size stones take up a ton of space compared to how often I'm going to be using them.

My local guy had this 3 inch x 3 inch x 1/4" stone from the 19th century.

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For most of us a minimum length is 6", a length of 3" is just too cramped.

To be certain it was the most esoteric looking honing technique I've ever seen. He had to palm the stone and was doing these little arcing motions from corner to corner on it. If I can find a decently priced natural stone or something I would buy it.

I finished 6 of the exact same grind and make of razors on 6 different hones

JNat
Coti
Black ark
Thurigan. Light blue
Three line Swatty ( barbers hone)
8k Snow White

All shaved very well, albeit a bit of pulling, except for the Thurigan and Swatty.