Thread: Re-Freshing, Touch-Ups, and Time to Re-Hone

Originally Posted by bbshriver

Interesting viewpoints.
I'll chime in with my .02... and yall can tell me how wrong I am!

I don't have a 12k stone... my steps are 2k sandpaper on a glass hone, 4/8k Norton, then CrO leather hone (leather glued to a board), then cotton strop then leather strop.

I'd like to have an intermediate step between the 8k and CrO, but the funds haven't presented themselves, AND I can get a good shave (I'm sure it could be better, always, but it works).

I also have 4 razors of which 3 are my standard shaving razors and the other is much smaller and I use for tight areas like mustache and chin.
My usual steps are.. if the razor starts to hurt/pull then I go a few rounds on the CrO strop then canvas then leather. That usually brings it back up for a while. When that's no longer enough I retire that razor until I have time to get out the Norton... then I usually just go ahead and start back at the 2K, as I just feel like it gives me a "new" edge. Realistically I know I *should* start back at the 8k, and go down to the 2k only if needed, but I typically lack the patience and time required. and I KNOW if I go 2k, 4k, 8k, CrO, Cotton, Leather that I'll get a good shaver.

there nothing wrong with that. I would say you realy could set the bevel on your 4k norton . I have one the 4k cutts fairly quik.

I don't spend long at all on the 2k sandpaper.. less than 5 strokes usually.

For touch-up I just use a barber hone with lather. About every six months or so 10 to 15 laps on a Shapton 16,000 followed by 10 laps on a cro/ox pasted paddle if needed. I haven't found I need to go back to lower grits (yet).

I've been wondering for a while, what qualifies as a "barber hone"? And where do we get one?

Barber hones are hard ceramic, smaller, hand held hones that were used by barbers to touch-up razors as needed.

Without getting into three line vs. two line and combinations, Swaty and Pike hones seem to be available in rather large numbers. There are several other brands, such as Itsapeech, that appear in lower numbers in the Classifieds and on eBay.

If you are looking for one I would recommend the Classifieds.

Just like Holli4 and others suggested, i would try 5-10 on 12K. No need to go to the lower grits before trying the highest first.

Originally Posted by hardblues

Finally, on down the line, what number of shaves in very round terms is going to bring me to where it will be necessary to re-bevel/hone the razor.

Re-bevel and honing are bit different, but i think that once you have set the bevel for the razor you do not have to re-bevel it for years. If you use touch-up hone every once and while you do not have to hone on lower grits for very long time either.
I do usually about 10-20 shaves before using the barber hone. I do not use CrO etc pastes so i can't say anything about how they work.

hardblues,

5 -7 shaves is my experience too, before I touch up on CrOx (5 - 10 laps)

Some razors (e.g. TI C135s) go longer.

After a month I do 10 laps on a Naniwa 12k, strop and shave test. Repeat if necessary.

I am now reaching the stage where I need to re-hone some of my razors fully.

I think this is an important stage that all newbies eventually reach - how to maintain their razors in the mid-to-long term.



Have fun !

Best regards

Russ