Thread: New member - challenged honing

So many profiles, so few locations...... you would be surprised at the personal help many SRP members are willing to offer. An hour with someone experienced can save you months of frustration.

We're also missing piles of information -- most importantly pictures of the entire razor -- which might actually have fundamental flaws.

Purchasing a shave-ready razor in the classifieds would have helped too. Several members regularly post low-cost shavers in the $20-30 range. You can get in cheap and at least have a point of reference.

About a year ago I decided that it would be a good idea to have a decent microscope. At the current time I cannot remember what got me started on that but I picked up a used Swift microscope on Ebay for about $50. When it arrived I had to rebuild the mechanical stage, that allows you to move the slides around by using knobs, and have had it available since then.

About a week ago I found that you could get an optical USB eyepiece and that could be used to capture images from the microscope. My scope has two eyepieces so I just replaced one of them. The eyepiece that I am using is made by Celestron #44421. I was able to pick it up for about $50.

If I have time tonight I'll try to grab a picture of the whole razor. It looks pretty decent once I polished it up a bit. It has some corrosion around the hinge are that I could not get at when I buffed out the rest of the blade. I decided that at the current time its not worth the effort to take out the pin to buff out that area.

Ed

Originally Posted by stimpy52

Purchasing a shave-ready razor in the classifieds would have helped too. Several members regularly post low-cost shavers in the $20-30 range. You can get in cheap and at least have a point of reference.

Sorry for snipping you reply and dont think I'm picking on you/ could you explain how this advice would help him sharpen this razor? i dont get it?

Originally Posted by kevint

Sorry for snipping you reply and dont think I'm picking on you/ could you explain how this advice would help him sharpen this razor? i dont get it?

If you are learning to hone, it helps to have a reference razor honed by a pro. You need to know what you are shooting for. If you don't have a reference razor, how will you know what a shave ready razor feels like?

Originally Posted by Slartibartfast

You have pictures? I am curious what you are using.

Uploaded with ImageShack.us

here it is , it measures 6"x2"x1"

Here are pictures of the razor itself:







No time for honing today. 4k stone should be here Saturday. That is when I expect to be able to hone again. Until then the plan is to continue shaving with the razor as is.

Ed

Originally Posted by Alembic

If you are learning to hone, it helps to have a reference razor honed by a pro. You need to know what you are shooting for. If you don't have a reference razor, how will you know what a shave ready razor feels like?

That's all I was saying.

As for the personal assistance; nothing helped me more than JoeD, Holli4, and Carrie coaching me through the feel of an edge as it developed through the stages.

No way am I a pro honer, but I can get decent edge now on almost any razor I try, and a stinkin sharp edge on some blades I wouldn't have even attempted a year ago. Still learning.

And don't worry about my feelings, a face like mine requires thick skin.

Just saw the pictures of the razor. It looks like you made a nice choice, and I admire how well it polished up.

What I was looking for, and did not see, was signs of excess or uneven spine wear. That might have gotten me wondering about excess honing or excess pressure.

Do you have a Norton 4k coming? I don't have one but I've had the opportunity to use one and they are one terrific stone, extremely versatile.

The spine of the razor before I started on it looked nearly pristine - as far as I could tell. I paid less than $15 for it with shipping from Ebay.

The stone that I have coming is not a Norton. I was looking for a reasonably priced 4k stone and the best price that I found was on a King Ice Bear 4000 grit waterstone 7 1/4 x 2 3/8 x 3/4. I was able to pick it up from Woodcraft for $25.

This hobby like most has a tendency to start sucking up dollars quickly at startup.

Ed

Well guys I am here to give you an update on my introduction to straight razor shaving and honing progress.

I received my King 4000 grit waterstone from Woodcraft on Saturday. I must have run through about 4 cycles of a partial pyramid hone using that hone and 8000 Norton and although I believe that the edge may be slightly sharper it's not what I believe it should be. The blade will occasionally cut a hanging hair. You know if I hold the hair just right, if I swing it fast enough, and happen to get lucky it will nick it - usually with a pinging sound. I don't think that is what is supposed to happen and it may occur on 1 of 10 tries. I did go ahead and purchase a vintage sharpened razor from Holli4's. I am hopeful that it will arrive later this week. That should give me something to compare against.

I also picked up some balsa wood yesterday and using that and some 3/8" pine I put together a two sided balsa strop. I ordered some of the Dovo red and black paste yesterday as well. I need to run the balsa over some sandpaper on a granite tile tonight to level it out and will probably apply some wax as a finish to the pine. I am assuming that using 600 grit to level the balsa should be OK? Once the paste shows up I will attempt using that on the razor and see if it helps.

I have continued shaving with the razor as is. Have not had any more significant nicks in the last 3 or 4 days. I'm doing better with the left hand but am still challenged by the chin and am shaving that area with my Gem razor. I need to do more reading on the shaving process itself. It is kind of hard to maneuver the razor as necessary while maintaining the desired angle. It is obviously more complicated than any other shaving I had attempted to date. I need to get more practice with across the grain during my second pass.

Ed.