Thread: Novice Question

Last week I had the house to myself as my wife went out for the day. I watched Lyn's DVD for the third time and decided to try my hand at refurbishing a old razor. I went to work with the Maas and dremel and was shocked at how good the razor came up. So I decided to hone it. I used Lyn's suggestion for the pyramid and then stropped up the razor. I shaved with it the next day, it was alright but not as good as my Dovo.
I am going to assume that it needs more honing. My question is where do I start in the progression? Do I go back to another pyramid with the 4k/8k or just some more passes with the 12k?

Without knowing what made it seem "alright, but not as good.." it's a little hard to say, but I would venture a guess that another visit to the pyramid will do you more good than more polishing. Unless the razor is cutting well it's probably just not sharp enough. Depending on how aggressive your pyramid was you might be able to start with fewer strokes than you did. Less is generally More when it comes to honing.

Originally Posted by Bill S

Without knowing what made it seem "alright, but not as good.." it's a little hard to say, but I would venture a guess that another visit to the pyramid will do you more good than more polishing. Unless the razor is cutting well it's probably just not sharp enough. Depending on how aggressive your pyramid was you might be able to start with fewer strokes than you did. Less is generally More when it comes to honing.

It shaved but it did not glide as smooth as my normal razor. It pulled at times. I have to be careful because i am new and it could be technique so i switched to my dovo and had no problem. I started the prramid with 20 passes. I use a Norton 4k/8k and a Japanese 12K.

A lot of variables here to ponder, it sounds as if you did as you should all the way up to the 12k. The thing that pops into my head is that after a good honing I may strop the razor 100 or more times on both linen as well as leather. Stropping does make a difference!