Thread: Straight Razors Dull Despite Little Use

I'll be glad to do that. I'll send you a PM.

Originally Posted by DZEC

I agree with Paul. I think I see some micr chips on the edge in the middle picture.

Using a pasted strop after a good linen stropping might bring them back to shaving readiness.

If that does not work, I suggest breadknifing the edge by LIGHTLY running the edge over the edge of your 8K and then using several X strokes on the 8k to bring the edge back. Then follow up with the pasted strop and see if that helps

By "LIGHTLY" should I assume you mean literally zero pressure other than gravity? Otherwise I don't see how you could do that at all without totally destroying the edge. I don't have a pasted strop, all I have is 1k stone, 4k/8k, micron cloth, strop with nice linen. I guess I could try the linen side of the strop and see if it helps.

Originally Posted by outback

For guys new to honing... This takes a little time, touching back up a razor on your finishing hone. U may be looking at a 1/2 hour or more, depending on your abilities. Especially if theirs chipping.

Maybe send um back to Paul, have I'm touch them back up for ya.

I don't have a finishing hone, I have a polishing wheel with 3 micron cloth (some people say not to try that). I could get one though.

Time is no object here, I bought these stones with the explicit goal of learning how to hone well myself, which is also why paul sent me the razor. I am more than happy to dump hours into this until I get decent at it.

It is pretty unfortunate though that half the point of that was to familiarize myself with what a properly honed blade feels like, so that it would be easier to evaluate the results of my own honing, only to then not be able to use it for a straight year. I did use it enough to get the idea though, I think.

Actually I just tried checked the blade again, it did catch and cut a loose piece of hair in a few areas, and did just fine shaving down my arm, so maybe I'm exaggerating how bad the edge is. This other cheap antique blade I'm trying to hone fails miserably at catching any hair at all, I will be much more aggressive trying to hone that one.

What would you recommend for a finishing stone for rare use, while we're at it? I'm not afraid to spend money on high quality products by any means, but I feel like those nice $100+ diamond finishing hones would be very overkill for someone who pulls it out once a year.

Oh, so you do have a linen strop. That should bring back that one I sent you. That and a good stropping up through smooth leather should put that back in shave ready condition. I know I said an edge will oxidize if left sitting but in a year, year and a half not more than a good stropping will take care of.

Edit: I'll still send you that cotton pasted strop I pm'd you about.

Originally Posted by PaulFLUS

Oh, so you do have a linen strop. That should bring back that one I sent you. That and a good stropping up through smooth leather should put that back in shave ready condition. I know I said an edge will oxidize if left sitting but in a year, year and a half not more than a good stropping will take care of.

I suppose if left for a long time, the stropping should be substantially longer than a regular stropping would be? I did strop it but it didn't seem to make a huge difference. Could easily be mediocre techniques or insufficient time at play.

For years, the 8k was the bench mark edge.
You have the 8k Naniwa, it will produce a good shaving edge all by itself. Even better if stroped with razor grade Cr/Ox. Or buy a 12k Naniwa, the new benchmark.

Other than that,you need at least a 1k to set the bevel properly. If your bevel isn't right, the rest is wasted time.

Originally Posted by outback

For years, the 8k was the bench mark edge.
You have the 8k Naniwa, it will produce a good shaving edge all by itself. Even better if stroped with razor grade Cr/Ox. Or buy a 12k Naniwa, the new benchmark.

Other than that,you need at least a 1k to set the bevel properly. If your bevel isn't right, the rest is wasted time.

Alright sounds good. What I'll do is keep learning on this 1k/4k/8k arrangement until I can get a really good edge on the 8k, and then if I find that slightly unsatisfying go even higher. For now my problem isn't that kind of precision anyway, this cheap razor I'm working on for example will not cut at all even after a lot of time on the 1k, so there is much learning to do yet.

A honing lesson will help. It's easy to get ambitious and go after it the wrong way. Be patient and at least maybe watch some good instructional videos first. Glen has a number of them on YouTube. Don't watch just any schmuck as there is a lot of bad information there also.

Originally Posted by PaulFLUS

A honing lesson will help. It's easy to get ambitious and go after it the wrong way. Be patient and at least maybe watch some good instructional videos first. Glen has a number of them on YouTube. Don't watch just any schmuck as there is a lot of bad information there also.

I did watch a couple of his videos and had a live session with him as well, most people seem to be doing basically the same thing anyway. soak 1k > make sure it stays wet > make sure the whole blade is touching stone > try to keep some pressure (5-10lbs) on the edge but not the spine, push down stone blade first, rotate around, push back. I did this after deliberately killing the blade on this cheap antique razor, probably 80 strokes back and forth at least so far not counting the circles that I stopped doing, it's much sharper but still won't cut hair, so obviously something is wrong.