Thread: el cheapo method

This tip was too good not to try. BTW, I picked up a (free) piece of scrap plate glass from a local glass shop about 3" x 12" x 1/4" thick & used that as a flat reference surface underneath 1 sheet of newsprint. I have no way of measuring but I think I can feel the difference w/my thumb (feels scary sharp). This is certainly cleaner than mixing cocoa abrasive. To recap, my sharpening procedure is now:

1. remove the factory edge w/600 grit silicon carbide stone
2. smooth it with white Arkansas stone
3. polish the cr@p out of it w/polishing compound on denim on glass (several hundred strokes)
4. more polishing w/newspaper on glass
5. strop on leather

Assuming that the cocoa & the newspaper are roughly equivalent, I am doing (5) before each shave and (4) about twice / week. I have not yet had to repeat (3) or (2), and will probably never have to repeat (1). I am guessing that I will need to do (3) once a month, but that's just a guess. Also, my beard is very tough & is hard on blades (I only used to get about 3 decent shaves out of a disposable).

I have heard of Japanese sharpeners using newsprint on knives. I believe it's a fairly common practice.

booga, if you used to get only about 3 decent shaves out of a disposable, you can now try working on your lathering technique. Read the posts here about the shave prep, and try the ones you like the best. You will see that your razor will last longer between honings. Also, there is no way you will maintain the straight razor without good honing stone. You'll have to get one eventually, so better get it now. It's a once in lifetime buy (if your not into collecting). Norton 4000/8000 3" synthetic wetstone is favorite combo here. It's the only one you'll need. Some people refine their razors with fine abrasive pasted strop, or finer hones, but you can shave straight from the 8000 side of the Norton. I do.

have fun,
Nenad

Really? Because my razor was like a butter knife out of the box & I created the edge from scratch using this method. I assumed when the edge was worn out I could just do the same thing again. Granted, I had to do a lot of work with the polishing compound due to the big difference between the white Arkansas stone & the compound, but it did work.

Not sure if was mentioned yet but a good tip if using sandpaper on glass is to wet the back of the paper first and squegee it down to the glass. This will make it stay put and prevent it from bunching up.
We do this at work with wet/dry paper stuck onto a granite surface plate to lap small parts perfectly flat. Without the water on the back the paper tends to have a mind of it's own.

Tony

Only tried it twice so its to early to say.

Originally Posted by aschaab

On another forum (don't recall where) I read about someone using a newspaper folded over his honing stone as a final polishing step with good results.

Are there any experiences here with this technique ?

-Axel-

Hi Randy,

thanks for your feedback, would be kind if you could let me/us know of your results after some more trials.

I'll start this myself as soon as my Norton will arrive from Classic Shaving and I'll have my razors back in shaving condition.

Best wishes,
-Axel-

Originally Posted by randydance062449

Sorry to go off on you like this but you did put out out some bad info and I had to correct it, this is not aimed at you but rather to help the other new guys from developing some misconceptions and making some very frustating mistakes.

Some of the things you say are also disputed. For example, there are plenty of people who have great success with ceramic stone with a little or no water. Many of the baber hones say they may be used dry and some of them say they should be. I've used ceramic stones and baber hones that way and they work perfectly well. They cleaned up easily with water and a brush (soap) or a pumice stone.

Originally Posted by superfly

there is no way you will maintain the straight razor without good honing stone. You'll have to get one eventually, so better get it now. It's a once in lifetime buy (if your not into collecting). Norton 4000/8000 3" synthetic wetstone is favorite combo here. It's the only one you'll need. Some people refine their razors with fine abrasive pasted strop, or finer hones, but you can shave straight from the 8000 side of the Norton. I do.

I don't know what your basis is for this conclusion, but there are plenty of people who maintain their razors with only barber hones or pasted strops. The Norton 4/8K is only a necessity if you're restoring Ebay razors. Booga already has plenty of stones to do an occasional fix on a razor. The baber hones and/or strops will maintain it for a very long time.

I used to go to an old time barber who maintained his razors on with a baber hone(s). He was a shaving specialist and was always doing shaves. One time we happened to talk about is razors and he told me he used only barber hones and sent a few razors out for service once a month. I didn't know enough about it to ask more, but I'm willing to bet they weren't the same razors.

With a rough calculation I could estimate that he probably got the equivalent of 6-12 months of use on a razor by an individual using only baber hones.

Originally Posted by booga

Really? Because my razor was like a butter knife out of the box & I created the edge from scratch using this method. I assumed when the edge was worn out I could just do the same thing again. Granted, I had to do a lot of work with the polishing compound due to the big difference between the white Arkansas stone & the compound, but it did work.

You certainly could, and for you maintenance and refreshin the edge a baber's hone and pasted strops are fine. I have the Norton 4/8K and I only use it for groups of razors, because it's a mess. For a single razor, I can work with regular stones, baber hones or even pasted strops and do the work at my desk instead of the sink.