Thread: slurry honing

plus one on that i have had the odd razor not pass but shave good for me some razors pop hairs no problem even fine leg hair and they have shaved but felt harsh slightly. i prefer smoother feeling shave nower days.

Originally Posted by Disburden

If I go right off the yellow is the blade too smooth to even pass a hht? This is what it seems when I use the coticule on my other razors, so I then do about 5 passes on Cr0 to add toothiness to grab on the hht.

I don't think so.
CrO does not add any "toothiness" to the edge, quite the contrary. Because there's always some cushion effect in the leather, even on a paddle strop, CrO introduces convexity, however slight it may be. The abrassion is located mainly at the very tip of the bevel, which can make a blade keener with only very few laps. At the same time, CrO is finer than any hone. Sharpness of an edge is always limited by a narrow strip of steel at the very tip of the bevel not being defined. The finer the hone, or the stropping compound, the narrower this strip can be defined. At the extremes we're working on, also principles, other than merely abrasion, become important in the shaping of the edge. Plastic flow, an important factor when working with polishing (or buffing) compounds such as CrO, is more effective for shaping a keen edge when it is performed in an outbound (stropping) direction.
To reiterate:
A. CrO is effective because it can define the tip of the bevel within narower boundaries than a hone ever could.
B. CrO is effective because it can rely it works in the stropping direction.
(note: if you rely to heavily on this latest principle, you'll pay a price in edge durability)

For my use of the HHT, and the results I expect coming off the hones, you could read my wiki article on the subject.

Hanging Hair Test, from trick to probing method - Straight Razor Place Wiki

Bart.

Interesting, Bart, thanks. I am learning a lot about honing with the coticule and I find is fascinating. It seems I have a long way to go. I was able to pass the HHT after honing yesterday, I did a few more passes on the stone and then it passed fine. I Then stropped about 30/60 and it cut one of my hanging hairs about 5 times until it was very short and couldn't be cut anymore. My pasted strop is from Ken at Ruprazor and you should check it out, it is the Filly strop for beginners and is cowhide and light in color. I then use a TM 2" strop for everyday stropping. I don't know if Cr0 on that strop makes a difference from it being on another kind of strop. What you said makes perfect sense about the edge of the blade being thinner after pastes and that is why is cuts hanging hairs well afterwoods.

This morning I shaved with the 7/8 wedge again and the results were a lot better then the past few days. You can see my previous posts on what I did on BBW and yellow coticule. The shave was a lot smoother, but honestly I want more from the edge and I may take it back to the stones after work tonight. I still had to do four passes on my heavy beard to chop the stubble down to where I can rub my hands on my face and not get burn on my hands. The shave though is still twice as good as the previous ones. Maybe next honing attempt I will try 100 with slurry on BBW since it is a wedge instead of 50 with slurry. I still feel the wedge should mow down hair easier than my hollows and right now it just isn't.

Before I rehone on BBW though I will do about 5 passes on chromium oxide and test.

I did about 15 laps on CrO This morning and then stropped up for the shave with the Joseph Rodgers wedge. Shave was good, three passes, and smooth. Next time I need a touch up I may do more on the BBW with slurry first, but right now the CrO definitely helped get the shave closer to where I wanted it to be.