Thread: Razor Sharpening Advice

It seems as though I have to "touch up" my razor quite often (once every week or two) with 10-15 laps on a Norton 8000 (which is the finest grit stone I have). Any ideas or advice? Is this normal? Am I being too picky? For what it is worth it is a Dovo "Black Star".

If that's your only razor, then that is not unreasonable. Are you being too picky? Well, what are your criteria for deciding when you need to hone? I would assume that it is because you are seeing a diminishment in the quality of the shave. If that is the case, then you are doing it right. Obviously you are concerned that you are overdoing it or you wouldn't be asking. Options are to do it less frequently and/or do fewer laps each time and see if you get diminished results with your shaves.

The thing is, every situation is different. The razor, the beard, the hone (even among the Nortons), the honing stroke all influence how frequently and how much honing needs to be done. I don't think anyone is going to be able to definitively tell you if what you are doing is "normal."

That's a good str8. Was it "shave ready" or did you have it honed by a pro prior to buying it, because There's no way you should have to use the N8k once or twice a week. It could be so many things, your shaving angle, your stropping technique, pre shave, etc...I bought a couple of Dovo's from Vintage Blades about a month ago, Neither one have hit the rocks yet, just normal stropping. I have a pretty heavy beard. I work nights, so I shave around 1pm, I can have a shadow in about 2 hours.

Originally Posted by OLD_SCHOOL

A properly honed razor should not require a weekly touch up, whether you have 1 razor or 100, is irrelevant.

If you own one razor, then two weeks of shaving means 14 shaves on one razor. If you own 14 razors, then two weeks of shaving means 1 shave on one razor. For that reason, the number of razors involved is relevant. I have a 7 razor rotation at the gym that I touch up with just a barber hone less than twice a year. I have a rotation of about a dozen razors at home that I haven't touched up for more than a year. However, I have read several posts of experienced members of this forum declaring that they get less than 10 shaves between touch ups. That is why I believe that his honing frequency is not necessarily abnormal.

Investing in a finer grit hone or a pasted strop/flatbed might help address your concerns about touching up too often. If you get a sharper, and more importantly, a smoother more comfortable edge, you will probably find that your razor is acceptable for more shaves than it is now. If one of my razors seems a bit "off" a few passes on a polishing stone or a CrOx strop/hone usually puts it back where I want it and is not as drastic a step as going back to the 8000 (drastic is probably too strong a term to use here, but it's all I came up with). The shaves are more comfortable too.

Everyone seems to have a different tolerance for the sharpness of their razor so do whatever is needed to get what you want, without feeling that you are being too picky. I'm just suggesting that there may be a better way to get there. Good luck.

Originally Posted by Bill S

Investing in a finer grit hone or a pasted strop/flatbed might help address your concerns about touching up too often. If you get a sharper, and more importantly, a smoother more comfortable edge, you will probably find that your razor is acceptable for more shaves than it is now. If one of my razors seems a bit "off" a few passes on a polishing stone or a CrOx strop/hone usually puts it back where I want it and is not as drastic a step as going back to the 8000 (drastic is probably too strong a term to use here, but it's all I came up with). The shaves are more comfortable too.

Everyone seems to have a different tolerance for the sharpness of their razor so do whatever is needed to get what you want, without feeling that you are being too picky. I'm just suggesting that there may be a better way to get there. Good luck.

Agreed. I've found 8K to chrom ox gives great shaves and you can do a really minor touch up when needed.

Jordan

I used to use a pasted strop off an 8K hone. I would use 1.0,0.5 and 0.25 pastes and like the results. Typically I would get about a week off the above setup using the razor every day. The closer you get with a hone to the final pastes you end up with, the more stable the edge will be and the longer between touch ups. An example is that I got a 16K and eliminated the 1.0 diamond paste and now I get about 2 weeks, or longer, between touch ups.


Later,
Richard

I agree with some of the other comments above; you should invest in a finer hone. The situation you described was the reason I got my coticule. You could also go the paste route, or a paste/finishing hone combo...Either way I think you'd benefit from something finer than 8k. Just my opinion obviously!

Dave

I get 4 to about 10 shaves before I feel the need to touchup my blades. It depends on the type of steel [hardness], how thin the blade [Hollow, Wedge] and probably other factors why there is a variance between blades. I agree with other posters that a finishing hone or paste would give you more total shaves per honing touchup session plus a better shave to begin with.

bj

If you want to buy more stuff, then by all means do so. If you want to stick with what you've got, then by all means do that.

My point was that more frequent touch ups are not all that unusual for some people and their razors and their hones. In the past when straights were the only option, most people had only one hone. Given the condition of most barber hones that I have seen, I would guess that a properly maintained Norton 8K can produce a better edge than most of those barber hones.

If you want a better edge that lasts longer and probably shaves better, you certainly can buy more stuff and there are lots of people here to sell it to you.
If you want to keep using your Norton 8K, you can keep honing it whenever you feel that the shaves diminish and you don't have to worry about it at all. You could do 10 strokes on a Norton 8K every week for the rest of your life and that razor would likely still last the length of it.

On an entirely separate note, what is your stropping situation? Do you use a linen strop prior to leather? How many strokes do you do? I ask because stropping can definitely impact the quality of your shave.