Touch-up with a Chinese 12K?

Good afternoon,

Need some advise. I have a new Dovo Special 6/8 Tortise C/S. It was honed professionally. I've had it for about 4 weeks, and enjoying learing to shave with a straight razor. I strop 25-50 times on the linen side, and 50-100 times on the leather before each shave. I focus on maintaining good technique. The blade seems to pull after a week of shaving daily. I've tried to polish the edge with 75-100 rounds on my Chinese 12K, followed by stropping. Seems to return the edge to a finer sharpness. Is this a recommended procedure? My beard is white/course hair. Any other recommendations?

Thank you.

Gary

Absolutely, I find the 12k to be a great polishing stone. Nothing wrong with that at all.

Some people say the Coticule gives a smoother edge and that the 12k is sharper but not necessarily a smoothe edge. While still others claim the sharpness is what is good about the stone and that it is an improvement over the Coticule.

So, in essence, if it's working for you, than keep doing it. Maybe someday you'll feel like experimenting with other stones, but there is no necessity to do so. The 12k will do well for you, for a long time.

And congrats on being able to maintain your own edges! Not everyone has such an easy time at first.

Thank you for the reply. I've really enjoyed learning to shave with my straight, and now use the 12K to bring the edge back. I've got the Norton 4000/8000 as well, so I think I'm all set.
Would using the 12K every few weeks be overdoing it?

If the razor isn't as comfortable as you like it, the only way to fix that is to hone it (or get a pasted strop, but that's optional).

If you are worried about putting too much wear on the razor, pick up a few more and start a rotation, there are many razors out there that can be had on the cheap and made usable with your stone setup.

It will take a long time to wear down a razor on a 12k, although less is better, I have a Kitayama 12k, and I start out with 5 to 10 passes and test. often that can be enough to refresh a good edge.

You also might consider reducing your use of linen. I've found linen to be good for smothing a rough edge, but too much might actualy dull your edge :shrug:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Mike_ratliff

You also might consider reducing your use of linen. I've found linen to be good for smothing a rough edge, but too much might actualy dull your edge :shrug:

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Oooo thanks I'll try that (I've spent the last 2 years using the linen before every shave)

Barney

I still would use it before every shave. I do.

I only use it for 20- 25- laps though. I only go 30 to a max of 40 on the leather too.

Any more than that and I find no real benefit.

Ah right that makes sense now, I misread Mikes meaning ... need to get to sleep.

Barney

I should have been clearer, a few passes on linen can be beneficial before each shave depending on the razor... but I would stop at 10

I refine my edges on newspaper, and find it gives a better edge than linen... for that reason I don't use linen (it feels like a step backwards after the newspaper)
and I don't use the newspaper every time, only for refinement.

What is considered excessive honing on a 12k chinese stone? I touch up a razor with no more than 10 passes on a swaty. 75 just to touch up a razor seems like alot.

It seems that these stones vary from one to another in terms of hardness/softness and cutting speed. So 75 might be a bit excessive for some and not too bad for others. And the fact that personal technique is a factor just adds to the variation.

But that raises a good point, try testing the edge after every 10 or 20 strokes, see if you can accomplish the same sharpness in fewer strokes. Never know till ya try (unless you already have, in which case, carry on as per usual).