Mixed results from shave test...

Someone explain this one to me. I honed up my new Boker (well, from the '30's) yesterday and while it didn't do so well on the HHT, it passed a preliminary shave test on some very fine hairs on the top of the arm. So today, I started to shave and the WTG and XTG went well, but the ATG gave me some mixed results. The cheeks went fine as did the neck, but the ATG on the chin was brutal...I had to stop and grab the DE. To me, it seemed good enough to get the first two passes done, but not quite keen enough to get a smooth ATG pass. Here's my progression.

1. 1k until bevel set under 60x magnification
2. 3k
3. 8k
4. crox and strop

I think maybe I didn't get all the 3k scratches off the bevel and it caused the edge to not be quite as keen as it should have been.

I have personally given up on xtg & do two passes & touch-ups. Most of the time the passes are wtg & atg, but there are times I simply go atg x2.

With that being said, you have already shaved your face twice before that final atg pass on some tough whiskers. Lather up and then strop your razor a bit. I'm not sure what you have, but 20 passes on a linen or canvas & 20-30 on leather should help to tune up the blade to take care of that final atg pass & leave you bbs.

Good luck and as Lynn says...have fun.

Scott

Was there any pulling at all during your WTG pass? There shouldn't be off an 8k.

Did you check the edge under the scope off your 8k? THat would tel you if there are scratches from the 3k - easy to check right?

Did you check the edge after the shave? You'd see the bad third pass was from the edge deteriorating (I would think).

Quote:

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Originally Posted by holli4pirating

Was there any pulling at all during your WTG pass? There shouldn't be off an 8k.

Did you check the edge under the scope off your 8k? THat would tel you if there are scratches from the 3k - easy to check right?

Did you check the edge after the shave? You'd see the bad third pass was from the edge deteriorating (I would think).

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The pulling was only on the ATG on the chin...the rest of the shave including the other parts of the ATG was fine.

I just checked the edge at 60x and there seems to still be some 3k scratches that didn't come out...back to the 8k I suppose. I'll keep everyone updated.

The other cool thing about this experience is that you now have an "ultimate shave test" - aim to get ATG on the chin with no pulling. Failure is the best teacher for those who are willing to learn.

atg on chin i'm not sure thats nesacerry, i never shave my customer atg on chin as it tears most men . if it was fine on cheeks and neck i would'nt worry about that. so long as i can shave with and across the grain and up the cheeks and neck that s fine for me. if my razor snags across the grain i'd go back to the hones

But if you can't go atg on the chin relatively easy, there is more than likely something going on with the bevel/edge. If one of my razors start pulling when going atg on the chin, i'll give it a few passes on the diamond strop, then leather & if that doesn't take care of it, time to re-set the bevel. That's my method anywayz...

Just curious - how long have you been using a straight? There is a skin break in time of around 4 - 6 months. My shaves did not get close AND comfortable for about 4 months.

I realize that all of the techniques probably kicked in about the same time, but still, skin break in is required.

As said already, you might not need ATG. If you want to shave ATG, I would suggest shaving ATG minus maybe 20 degrees first. (Experiment, and you will find how far beyond XTG you can advance.) After the ATG minus 20 pass, then you should be good for ATG.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Alembic

Just curious - how long have you been using a straight? There is a skin break in time of around 4 - 6 months. My shaves did not get close AND comfortable for about 4 months.

I realize that all of the techniques probably kicked in about the same time, but still, skin break in is required.

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Been at this for 11 months...not new to shaving ATG on the chin. It's one of my tests for a freshly honed blade. Mine can do it completely comfortably and Lynn's are even better. If my razors can't do that, they aren't honed properly which is more likely since I've only honed about a dozen razors or so. The only thing holding me back at this point is waiting for more hair to grow in so I can retest the razor :(

I would look for a means other than just a microscope to be sure the bevel is set. Depending on lighting, what the microscope shows can be deceiving, IME.

My honing has improved since I stopped using a microscope. I'll still look at finished edges from time to time as a curiosity, but I don't use the microscope during honing at all any more. My eyes lied to me more often than not.
YMMV.

UPDATE:

I think it's fixed!

Today, the magic marker saved the day. Here's the scoop...I was getting a nice shave on all areas of the face except the chin, right. Well, come to find out, I use the toe and heel almost exclusively in that area and the marker showed me that while the 8k was getting rid of the 3k scratches, neither the toe nor the heel were contacting the hone. As a result, while I did have a good bevel set, the 3k scratches weren't coming off the toe or heel! Sooo...just to go back to basics, I decided to do a full pyramid using a rolling-X. The reason I hadn't thought of it before was that I've never had to do a rolling-X on a hollow ground razor, only on my wedges. After the progression, it was off to the pasted strop and hanging strop. Guess what...it passes the HHT all along the edge now whereas it hadn't before.

Lessons learned today:

1. magic markers rock
2. don't discount a honing stroke because you haven't used it on that kind of razor before today.