Thread: A "honing resistant" razor

I bought a new straight razor several days ago. This is my second razor (the other one i use for shaving). The purpose is to learn how to hone. It was used by previous a few times user and it's blunt (he gave up straight razor shaving...) However i can't see any cracks, scratches, chips etc. It slides smoothly over the thumbnail. I had 3 hones: 1000, 4000 and 12000 (can't get 8000 now). All of them were flattened. Firstly, i began honing on 1000 grit stone. I did 6..7 strokes and the razor seemed to be sharper (it was digging into the wetted thumbnail). Then i switched to 4000 grit hone. I did 30 strokes on it but can't feel any improvement in sharpness. It doesn't even cut my wet fingertip when using higher pressure ! I use very light pressure when honing and try to keep the edge lie flat on the hone. Because the razor blade is wider than the hone i use
X-pattern (it's very difficult though). I did additional 20..30 strokes on 4000 but the blade still seems to be very bluntl. It seems that there is certain level of sharpness that can not be exceeded. It doesn't cut hair on my forearm after honing on 4000.
Why is this ? Is it because of very hard steel that the razor is made of ? (but i'm sure i do something wrong but i can't find out what)

Originally Posted by kekon

I bought a new straight razor several days ago. This is my second razor (the other one i use for shaving). The purpose is to learn how to hone. It was used by previous a few times user and it's blunt (he gave up straight razor shaving...) However i can't see any cracks, scratches, chips etc. It slides smoothly over the thumbnail. I had 3 hones: 1000, 4000 and 12000 (can't get 8000 now). All of them were flattened. Firstly, i began honing on 1000 grit stone. I did 6..7 strokes and the razor seemed to be sharper (it was digging into the wetted thumbnail). Then i switched to 4000 grit hone. I did 30 strokes on it but can't feel any improvement in sharpness. It doesn't even cut my wet fingertip when using higher pressure ! I use very light pressure when honing and try to keep the edge lie flat on the hone. Because the razor blade is wider than the hone i use
X-pattern (it's very difficult though). I did additional 20..30 strokes on 4000 but the blade still seems to be very bluntl. It seems that there is certain level of sharpness that can not be exceeded. It doesn't cut hair on my forearm after honing on 4000.
Why is this ? Is it because of very hard steel that the razor is made of ? (but i'm sure i do something wrong but i can't find out what)

I would think you need many more strokes on the 1000. You need to have your bevel established before going to the finer grits. Some folks have spent a couple hours or more on the courser grits before going on.

bj

Originally Posted by 2Sharp

I would think you need many more strokes on the 1000. You need to have your bevel established before going to the finer grits. Some folks have spent a couple hours or more on the courser grits before going on.

bj

2Sharp beat me to it! He has the right idea. It was probably only digging into your thumbnail with a rough, NOT SHARP edge. You should be able to shave arm hair off the 1000 grit before you go to the next hone.

It was probably only digging into your thumbnail with a rough, NOT SHARP edge. You should be able to shave arm hair off the 1000 grit before you go to the next hone.

Yes, it gave a rough, "oscillating" sensation. I was afraid of damaging the blade with th euse of 1000... that's why i didn't hone on the 1000 too much. I will try it again and write how it goes.

It's possible that the previous owner who gave up on it did not hone it properly either. In that case, it is likely that the bevel has not been set and doing so will take more than 6 or 7 strokes on the 1000. You might want to go to the honing FAQ and read up on setting the bevel.

The other members are spot on. The first thing that came to mind when reading your original post was "you only did 6-7 laps on 1000?" I was scared of using the 1000 too much when I first began honing....and the first razor I honed, looking back now, had a terrible bevel, uneven and barely noticable. I attribute that entirely to the less time spent on coarser grits. Now, I don't move off the 1000 until I have a nice uniform visible bevel, 1000 is the coarsest girt I really ever need to use. As long as you don't use too much pressure, the 1000 is not going to hurt you!

Best of luck, be sure to let us know how it turns out.

Dave

The TNT when you are done with the 1000 grit will be a perfectly even sensation, the razor will not slide or skip across your nail it will drag as if it is cutting slowly deeper and deeper into the nail. In fact I sometimes stop halfway and move the razor to finish the test for fear it is cutting all the way through my nail. Its just paranoia, I know, but when the test is going perfectly I get that worry. I also know that if I don't get the feel that the razor is going to slice straight through the nail I can still get at least a little more sharpness out of the thousand grit level before moving on.

Well, there is something with the razor i forgot to write about. The blade looks like in the picture below i've just drawn. On one side od the razor it's almost perfect but on the second one it looks uneven. Perhaps it was made due to the use of an X-pattern. The spine on the side 1 is clearly more flat the middle. On the side 2 it looks good.
However the razor started to cut hair on my arm but not very easily. Then, when i do another strokes it didn't help. I think the uneven blade may be the cause of all the difficulties with honing this razor. What do you think ? Can it be restored to normal shape ?

Originally Posted by kekon

Well, there is something with the razor i forgot to write about. The blade looks like in the picture below i've just drawn. On one side od the razor it's almost perfect but on the second one it looks uneven. Perhaps it was made due to the use of an X-pattern. The spine on the side 1 is clearly more flat the middle. On the side 2 it looks good.
However the razor started to cut hair on my arm but not very easily. Then, when i do another strokes it didn't help. I think the uneven blade may be the cause of all the difficulties with honing this razor. What do you think ? Can it be restored to normal shape ?

Hoo, I have SEVERAL razors like that, could be from bad honing, could be from a warped blade. Try the magic marker trick, and see if you are honing evenly along the bevel on both sides.

It should really grab and cut those arm hairs BEFORE you go to the next higher grit. Don't be afraid to put a little (not too much, it is hardened steel, but it's not an axe) pressure on that lower grit hone. Just be sure and make a few (10-15) light passes before you test it again.

Also, don't worry about "normal shape". If you get a good shaving edge, who cares what that bevel looks like.

Today I finished honing a new Filarmonica 13. It literally took about an hour to set the bevel using a Shapton 1K glass hone. AND more than just the weight of the razor on the hone. Like the other posts said- SET the BEVEL first- and make sure it is sharp before even considering going to finer hones.

Don't worry about a perfect LOOKING bevel. Good luck, some just take ALOT more work than others.