Thread: Stainless Puma honing marathon

so i have posted about problems with this razor a couple times before but i thought i had them licked, until i shaved with it and compared it to my Boker and W&B, and realized it just wasn't good enough. others have posted that Pumas are known for being smooth shavers, and though i think this one is stainless (apparently the INOX is a dead giveaway) i know it should be smoother and it is just nothing compared to my carbon steel razors. i get irritation and pulling but i can technically get a shave with it. i think i just can't get it to the next level, and i am new enough to honing that i don't know why.

so i know this has been asked many times before and many have said the difference is minimal, but lets have it. how is the honing different, how much longer should it take, what kind of edge does it take. i would really appreciate any tips. thank you

What does the marker test reveal on the edge, Chee? Do you perform one at the outset of honing your blades?

Chris L

I've said this in other posts too, but here it is again...
Each razor has its very own honing combination, some you can group together like German, American, Swedish, Sheffield, Spanish etc: then you get the sub-categories of those, like German SS, cryro, carbon etc:

In "general" by all means not all, SS razors seem to like the higher grit stones better, so you want to spend an extra lap or 20 on the 8000 plus stones with them.... This normally gets to the extreme sharpness that they are capable of holding.... JMHO of course...

Originally Posted by Chris L

What does the marker test reveal on the edge, Chee? Do you perform one at the outset of honing your blades?

i always do the marker test and i have a 10x eye loupe to look at the bevel with. the edge is really straight, one lap takes an even amount of marker off right on the edge of the bevel like i am assuming it should. i will say that i have honed this thing a lot, it has a lot of laps on it as i had someone hone it and i think in shipping it got damaged as the toe had about an 8mm spot with significant chipping damage and the rest of the blade had various chips. really weird and the person honing it is a trusted honemeister so i don't blame him. si spent a bit of time getting those out. they came out finally and i thought i was good as it passed all the tests (HHT and TPT) as far as i could tell, but the shave just wasn't there. lots of irritation and it didn't cut very well.

should i maybe send a bit more time on the higher grit hones as a previous post suggested? i really don't mind putting the time is as i find it relaxing but i would prefer to be doing things as correctly as possible.

BTW i finished up my W&B last night after rewatching the videos on here (as suggested in another post i had) and it shaved great today. i know it isn't SS but i have had a little bit of honing success so far.

The harder the steel the softer the hone you want to use. Use minimal pressure.

Occasionally it is very hard to find the right hone for a particular razor.

I have struggled quite some time with a TI Sivlerwing before I got a great edge with a vintage coticule. I had tried a new kosher coticule, vintage Thueringen hone, NOS Thueringen hone and Y/G Escher without success.

Randy told me early on that it is not unusual to have to go back to the hones a few times after test shaving to further refine the edge. That is with any razor but probably more so with SS. You have to keep going back until you get it. On more then one I have gone back to the 4K if I felt that I had gone too fine too fast previously. If you honed up a W&B and got a good shave you are doing something right. I have found some of those old Sheffield wedges to be a tough job to get sharp.

I think you should start over with the 1000, and progress upwards again. I have had razors with chipping damage and it seemed like they would never get sharp. Once I got them to what I thought was shave ready, I only found that they would shave, but very roughly. I went back to the beginning, and honed them again. It sucks, but that's what it's like with a damaged edge. The thicker the razor, the more honing.

i have done the "going back to 1k" route already so far and though i am definitely not ruling it out and thank you for the help. it was one of my early honing projects and i went through the progression once and found i hadn't spent enough time on the low grits so i went back to 1k and really got things nice and straight and smooth, then the 4k and then the 8k, by then i had the 12k and finished with my strops. it got better for sure, but not right yet. i am hesitant to go all the way back to the 1k as the bevel looks very nice and even. the 4k maybe. the 8k for sure. but again i am open to all suggestions here. its not that i am desperate here but my honing is pretty consistent with the other razors i have, this one it the odd razor out i guess

I have that very razor and though I don't know what condition yours is in, mine was in really good shape when I got it. As I recall I used the Norton 8K and the Coticule on it with great results. I know from my experience when that razor is shaving the way its supposed to shave and it starts to deteriorate it will speak to you in no uncertain terms telling you its time for a touch-up. Once honed up its a great shaver. You just need to spend some extra time on the hone like all stainless blades.

As I recall the stainless Puma's were made at the end of their run and were actually made by Dovo.