Thread: Can someone help a lost honer?

Originally Posted by Bart

It might even take weeks, years or eons....

That's the most clear explanation ever of what I consider to be the main cause for "newbie razor unsharpness". Well done, Chris.

I'd like to add that on most dull razors, the cutting triangle doesn't have the shape of a trapezoid, like your dull chisel, but rather an arched tip, that's even more difficult to spot.

Stropping with an abrasive medium can form a bit of a pointed arch out of a rounded arch. That sure is a kind of sharpness, and such edges do shave, but there's a downside: those edges never last long and they are not the keenest possible. It think the reason for that is due to the fact that they are formed by honing away from the edge.
"Debris Deposit", as professor Verhoeven calls it in his knife sharpening experiments, is the major contributing factor with "away from the edge" honing. While with "into the edge" honing, again according to Verhoeven, "plastic flow", as he calls it, plays the key role in edge formation.

But, hey, Kevin, if your razor shaves well in the end, it doesn't matter how you got there, as long as you're enjoying shaving with it. Well done. Great thread.

Bart.

Ah huh................ hmmm, that might need a little bit more explaination, but I think that I may see where you are coming from..... maybe........ I believe that I will give my razor a shot in a bit and see how it shaves compared to before I rolled the edge (stupid mistake) and let you guys know the results. I'm pretty sure that the edge was there though because I could give it a few rounds on the non-pasted strop and it would pass the hht before I used the paste. I do believe the reason it wouldn't pass was because my hair is so fine. Again, maybe, I'm not the master.

Kevin

Alrighty.... I just got out of the shower and the verdict is...... HOLY $%!# this razor is sharp! It shaved like a pro leaving me with a SUPER smooth face

THANK YOU (again and many times more) to everyone on here who has helped me with this little art.

Sincerely,
Kevin

Originally Posted by McShaverson

Alrighty.... I just got out of the shower and the verdict is...... HOLY $%!# this razor is sharp! It shaved like a pro leaving me with a SUPER smooth face

THANK YOU (again and many times more) to everyone on here who has helped me with this little art.

Sincerely,
Kevin

Very cool! You should have a great sense of accomplishment for bringing a razor back from the dead and making it a tool again.

well done that man

Thanks guys, hopefully other new honer's will read this thread and learn from it just as I have

Kevin

Wow, this is great info!

Lots of guys out there have MAAS and have probably never thought of using it as a stropping paste, good to know there are viable options that serve multiple purposes.

And congrats on your job well done!

Originally Posted by McShaverson

Ah huh................ hmmm, that might need a little bit more explaination, but I think that I may see where you are coming from..... maybe........ I believe

Hey Kevin,

The remark I made was more meant to elaborate to Chris' post in general than to address your particular situation. Based upon your shaving experience, I think that your bevel was properly set and that Russel Baldridge was right with his estimate about your razor's condition.

Enjoy your success.

Bart.