Thread: "Touching Up" Guidelines?

I'm wondering if there is a more direct guide to touching up an already honed razor than the brief mentions in the wiki--for example, the best way to use a barber's hone, or a coticule, or a pasted strop to maintain your edge.

By direct, I mean with specific information: a recommended honing pattern, i.e. 3 laps on a barber hone then test; no more than 5 laps on a pasted strop etc.,or even a recommended maintenance regimen for each of the various ways that people can keep their honed razors in shape. Some people say they use a barber's hone or coticule to touch up their edge every week--is this a good idea? How many laps are ok, and how many are too much?

Maybe to start with, what are some good touch-up hone recommendations, in addition to a barber's hone? I know that some people use a coticule, what about a 12,000 Shapton Pro? Or a 15,000?

And, how exactly do you use a coticule for touch ups? Water only, for ten or so laps? More? Less?

Thanks for any help you can give.

Jim

Excellent questions! I have been trying to get straight (pun intended!) answers to this for a bit -- I only have about a half dozen shaves so far. Here is what I have heard/learned:

• I bought a Double Arrow and simple leather strop as a starter set. Among all the printed directions that came with it was mention of the .5u CrO2 paste on the rough side of the strop. The advice was to do 4 or 5 laps on the CrO2 when it is needed. I don't know how to determine when it is needed because I don't have enough experience to know if the rough shave I get is due to dull blade or bad technique. Since my very first shave was rough I presume that was bad technique but how do I know what the situation is 10 shaves down the road? I suppose just try the CrO2 and see if it helps.
• I asked another dealer and was told it is NOT a good idea to use a hanging strop with pastes because the flexibility will tend to round the edge. A paddle strop was recommended for this.
• The dealer mentioned above recommended an 8000 grit Naniwa Superstone for touch-up. Between this and proper use of paste I could go for a year before a full re-honing was needed. Now I am confused here because in other contexts the 8000 grit Norton is considered part of the honing process (and not the last part, either) so I don't know how another 8000 grit can be considered a touch-up stone.

I think I am going to forget the touch-up stone for now and depend on paste. paddle strop and professional re-honing until I get more comfortable with the whole process. But I am not ready to say that is my final plan yet -- still investigating.

P.S. Some good advice from the stater set instructions:

• Never shave naked.
• If you drop the razor don't try to catch it.

Touch ups are easy, whether you are wondering about when or how much. When to do a touch up is as soon as the razor is not performing as well as it used to. That's it. Don't wait until the shave is unbearable. Do it as soon as you notice a decline in the shave. As far as how many strokes, just start with a few strokes such as 3-5 on a barber hone or 10 on a coticule. Then shave and decide if you need to do more or not. In other words, when doing touch ups I prefer to sneak up on it. I have seven razors in my locker at a gym and I keep them in a leather roll. If the razor is fine, I put the razor in with the monkey tail up and if it needs to be honed I put it in with the tail down to remind me to touch it up. If I do the touch up and shave and it's still not right, I just put the tail down again and keep repeating till I'm happy with the edge again.

In my opinion, Lynn's adage of "less is more" is never more true than when applied to touch ups.

Edit: Yes, use the coticule with just water for touch ups. I've never used a Shapton but I'd assume (guess) it would be in the range of 5 to 10 strokes.

Personally when a razor starts to pull I do about 4-5 strokes on the swaty followed by about 10-15 on the cr0.

I just got a yellow coticule recently so I might change my technique and use that instead of the swaty.

Originally Posted by Utopian

I've never used a Shapton but I'd assume (guess) it would be in the range of 5 to 10 strokes.

That's what works for me (16K glassstone)

Originally Posted by Utopian

Touch ups are easy, whether you are wondering about when or how much. When to do a touch up is as soon as the razor is not performing as well as it used to. That's it. Don't wait until the shave is unbearable. Do it as soon as you notice a decline in the shave. As far as how many strokes, just start with a few strokes such as 3-5 on a barber hone or 10 on a coticule. Then shave and decide if you need to do more or not. In other words, when doing touch ups I prefer to sneak up on it. I have seven razors in my locker at a gym and I keep them in a leather roll. If the razor is fine, I put the razor in with the monkey tail up and if it needs to be honed I put it in with the tail down to remind me to touch it up. If I do the touch up and shave and it's still not right, I just put the tail down again and keep repeating till I'm happy with the edge again.

In my opinion, Lynn's adage of "less is more" is never more true than when applied to touch ups.

Edit: Yes, use the coticule with just water for touch ups. I've never used a Shapton but I'd assume (guess) it would be in the range of 5 to 10 strokes.

Another post that saves me a lot of typing.
If the touch-up is done at the first signs of edge deteriorating, and if you use hones to do it, all it takes is a few swipes on a finishing hone.

Bart.

Awesome, this is just the kind of info I've been looking for, and I got it by writing a long, rambling confused post when I was dead tired. Thanks guys!

To sum up:
When-When the razor starts to seem dull, even after a good stropping.
How:
Barber's hone--3-5 passes and test until it shaves well.
Coticule--10 or so passes until it shaves well.
Other high grit stone--same as Coticule.

I think that sometimes the honing info that is shared here is mostly related to restoring old edges that are as dull as a butter knife; you know, bevel setting, sharpening, polishing etc. Touch-ups, or maintaintence of a shaving edge, sometimes get lost in the mix. Good info guys, great thread.

Why only 3-5 on the barber hone, but 10 on the coticule?
Isn't the coticule a faster cutter than the barber hone?

Originally Posted by smythe

Why only 3-5 on the barber hone, but 10 on the coticule?
Isn't the coticule a faster cutter than the barber hone?

A Coticule, when used with water only, is a very slow cutter.
Everything I read on this forum, suggests that most all barber hones are much faster than that. I don't own one, so this is no first hand experience. I base myself on the fact that barber hones are reported very easy to overhone, which I think is something that primarily happens on hones with high cutting power.