Thread: Touching up a "Lynn" honed razor!?

FWIW --

You might read the Wiki on pasted strops, here:


Category:Stropping - Straight Razor Place Wiki

If you just need a little bit of work on the edge, a pasted strop might do OK. See the Wiki section on "What hone(s), paste(s), or spray(s) do I need?"

I haven't bought a finishing stone yet. 0.5 micron chromium oxide, on a fabric strop, has worked for me so far.

Since you've already got high-grit hones, this suggestion may be moot.

Charles

Originally Posted by cpcohen1945

FWIW --


If you just need a little bit of work on the edge, a pasted strop might do OK. See the Wiki section on "What hone(s), paste(s), or spray(s) do I need?"

I haven't bought a finishing stone yet. 0.5 micron chromium oxide, on a fabric strop, has worked for me so far.

Since you've already got high-grit hones, this suggestion may be moot.

Charles

I don't mind buying a pasted strop or a barbers hone or any other honing device, but it would be nice if I could do it on my combo stone for simplicities sake.

I tested out Slartibartfast's advice and gave my Clauss USMC about 30 laps on my coticule with water and I immediately saw an improvement this morning while shaving...it's not back to level of Lynn's original hone but it certainly revealed how much the edge had degraded over the summer.

I'm going to give it another round tonight on the coticule and see if I can coax a little closer shave for the morning. If it works out I'll try the same on my Wosti which was the better shaver of the two.

It's funny but I'm sure many readers of my post just laughed off my hesitation to do the obvious and lap the blade on my coticule, but I really needed to hear it from some seasoned straight razor shavers that I would not ruin the edge by just a few wet laps on the coti. Thanks all who responded!

Lynn finishes with diamond on felt usually. So it may never feel exactly like it was when you got it from lynn, no matter how good you get witha coticule

If you like the edge off a coticule, this is not a problem though.

If you find you want a bit more than what the coticule gives you, you can create a balsa strop with CrO pretty cheap to use after you have maxed out your coticule edge.

Originally Posted by WineGuyD

I don't mind buying a pasted strop or a barbers hone or any other honing device, but it would be nice if I could do it on my combo stone for simplicities sake.

I tested out Slartibartfast's advice and gave my Clauss USMC about 30 laps on my coticule with water and I immediately saw an improvement this morning while shaving...it's not back to level of Lynn's original hone but it certainly revealed how much the edge had degraded over the summer.

I'm going to give it another round tonight on the coticule and see if I can coax a little closer shave for the morning. If it works out I'll try the same on my Wosti which was the better shaver of the two.

It's funny but I'm sure many readers of my post just laughed off my hesitation to do the obvious and lap the blade on my coticule, but I really needed to hear it from some seasoned straight razor shavers that I would not ruin the edge by just a few wet laps on the coti. Thanks all who responded!

Originally Posted by WineGuyD

... I really needed to hear it from some seasoned straight razor shavers that I would not ruin the edge by just a few wet laps on the coti. Thanks all who responded!

I would really like to say that you won't ruin the edge but it really is up to the individual. If you do it correct you won't ruin the edge. If you don't, well then there is the hesitation.

The best advice I can give has two options. have at least two razors honed professionally and only use one of them until it starts tugging. At that time switch over to the other razor and try to get the first honed up on your own w/o pressure to achieve success quickly. Second option is to purchase a second razor of good quality but a low price and learn to hone that one while shaving with a blade that was professionally honed.

Honing looks real simple but really has to be developed into a skill. I've been honing for several years now and I can see a major difference in what I considered shave ready when I first started and at different stages along the way.

Lynn has been honing razors for quite a few years and has honed thousands of razors. Expecting to obtain an edge that equals his quality in less than the first 1k razors is asking a lot of yourself. I know, I know. It sounds like I'm way off base. The true test is to wait till you have honed 1k razors and review your first razors to those in the middle of the lot and those at the end of the lot. That a lot of time and money/razors to prove a point. Next best is to have several different people with different levels of experience hone your razors. Cheaper and quicker. I'm sure you will even notice differences between anyone that hones your razors. Quality of edge is dependent on the quality of the razor and the experience and skill of the honemister! Time honing and quantity honed do not necessarily guarantee quality of the edge but do eliminate a lot of the variables.

Good luck.

Thanks Joed (and Slartibartfast),

I'm pretty much doing what you suggested, I have three razors right now...a vintage Wosti pipe razor, a Clauss USMC and another Clauss that I picked up on ebay for $9. I've been playing with the cheap Clauss on the combo stone and have gotten it sharp but nowhere near shave ready(forget about "Lynn shave ready). Lynn honed my other two back in June when i took up straight razor shaving and I've been alternating between the two since and have started to feel the degradation recently, more so on the USMC than the Wosti, so Slartibartfast's advice was great because it brought back the USMC pretty well. I planned on sending my Wosti back to Lynn twice a year just to have a reference point.

Like everything else associated with straight razor shaving, I know I have a long way to go in skill development to get good results...I just started a few weeks ago to shave ATG without a nick and I'm finally getting a good(not great) shave. Who knows, if my business climbs out of this economic nightmare, at some point there might be a Zowada in my future ;-)

Originally Posted by Ryan82

Please don't let whoever honed your razor initially psyche you out of touching up your razor, in the end it doesn't really matter. Touchups are actually quite easy. Just remember what you've read here: even strokes, feather light touch on the hone. You'll be fine, trust me.

+1 on this. Touching up razors that were honed by someone who knew what they were doing is how I started learning how to hone.

Originally Posted by Ryan82

Please don't let whoever honed your razor initially psyche you out of touching up your razor, in the end it doesn't really matter. Touchups are actually quite easy. Just remember what you've read here: even strokes, feather light touch on the hone. You'll be fine, trust me.

What he said!

It is impossible to touch-up a Lynn-honed razor as he finishes on a block of Purple Unobtanium (leftover from the hip replacement!) which is exceptionally hard, quick-cutting, and smooth. About .764 laps on the PU and the razor will actually fission helium back into hydrogen.

Originally Posted by BKratchmer

It is impossible to touch-up a Lynn-honed razor as he finishes on a block of Purple Unobtanium...

LOL

Just remember less is more. The lighter and smoother the better.