Thread: Norton 4k/8k... then what?

Howdy all--

When I first got my straight, a DOVO, off of SRP it came with a strop and a Norton 4k/8k. It was shave ready it shaved like a dream. Several weeks later, though, I discovered that it had somehow gotten a slight bend in the edge, which I posted about here.

I honed it on the 4k/8k, but for obvious reasons, it has never returned to the "shave ready" level. I can certainly shave with it, and have been doing so for several months, but it pulls a bit and I'm having some trouble with getting a totally clean shave.

Should I be looking into buying pastes on a paddle strop? What's the most economical next move for me to get closer to that wonderful edge I had at first?

Thanks a bunch!

You should be getting a shave-ready edge off of the 8k side. You can go to finer stones or pastes after the 8k, but I suspect you're not getting the most out of your 8k. I would just practice more on the 4k/8k stone you have now, and make sure it's lapped (flattened) properly.

By all means you can buy fine pastes to use on other strops and finer finishing stones, but my advice would be to master the 8k first, then expand your horizon. Once you do master it, you WILL want more stones.....don't say I didn't warn you...

+1 on that dave

+2 here or is that 1+1
I don't know but Dave is dead on

That's what I was afraid of. I'm not going to do any long-term damage to my straight by using the hone a bunch, right? That is, assuming that I'm not putting tons of pressure on the blade--which I don't think I am. Is it possible to use TOO light of a touch?

Tell us more about this slight bend in the blade????

Originally Posted by Shibsky

That's what I was afraid of. I'm not going to do any long-term damage to my straight by using the hone a bunch, right? That is, assuming that I'm not putting tons of pressure on the blade--which I don't think I am. Is it possible to use TOO light of a touch?

I don't think it's possible to use too light of a touch....as long as the blade sits flat on the hone during the stroke, the lighter the better generally. You might get a bit of extra hone wear from honing it a bunch, but as long as you're not using a lot of pressure it won't really do any damage.

This is the post I put here. The little nick is mostly worked out at this point.

There are fast ways to correct this but I think Dave is right stay with nice light even strokes and it will come back, once you are sure that nick is out of the blade perhaps you should actually try the Norton pyramid guide in the wiki... There is no better way to learn how to actually hone a razor... Really it does work, it goes slow and easy, so you can feel the edge progress...

1 layer of electrical tape is not a forbidden thing, it will save the spine, and actually push the edge ever so gently for you....

Oh, thanks, but the nick has already been completely worked flat. There is only the slightest of valleys, in plane, on the edge. Since I worked it out I have tried to hone the blade using a standard sharpening pyramid: 1 - 1 - 3 - 5 - 10, then back down. (And with 5 on the 8k in-between each.)