newbie(ish)

I've been shaving with a straight razor for the best part of a year now (using a Dovo which came shave ready) with only diligent stropping to keep the blade in shape.

Recently the blade has lost it's keen edge so I decided I'd better learn how to hone a razor and happened across this site while searching for tips, what a wealth of information, thanks guys.

Anyway, to practise honing I bought a cheap(ish) new straight to practise on (Cyril S Salter 5/8 carbon made in Solingen) and a combined honing stone and strop from the same place. After a couple of days of constant work the blade is no sharper than when I got it which leads me to assume (a) my technique sucks (likely) or the stone is no good (less likely).

In case the stone is to blame I've now purchased a barber's hone from Ebay (from a trader called redstone99) to see if things improve with that. I intend to work on the new straight until I'm confident I won't destroy the Dovo.

Does anyone have any thoughts on the combined strop/stone or indeed any tips in general for me?

Thanks in advance.

The Cyril Salter is likely made by DOVO, and of same or similar quality. For the honing stone, you'll need atleast 6000-8000 grit to bring comfortable shaving edge. Barber hones are to be found in various grits, and not all are finishing grit. They are ranked coarse, medium and fine. You will need the med and fine. What barber hone did you get?

Nenad

If you are not sure about the barber hone, you purchased it from Tilly, who is a delight to deal with. You can contact her at www.redtrader99.com.

RT

Superfly, the description in Ebay makes no mention of the coarseness just a description: large blue honing stone from American Hone Co. 6x2.

I should add that after another 2 honing hours today I have the blade to the point where it could be described as an extremely sharp knife but by no means a razor. I can remove hairs from my arm but there is a great deal of dragging. Perhaps I simply need to spend more time on it.

I also have one of those strops where two different grades of leather are spaced apart with a steel rod running between to keep it taut, would this be of any use for finishing (along with a coarse paste)?

What techniques are you using? Honing wise.

I'm using an X pattern on the stone, placing my free hand on the spine of the blade to ensure constant contact. To start with I used minimal pressure moving to virtually no pressure whatsoever. This has given me a very sharp edge but not one that I could use to shave a face with, only my forearm.

I think the stone is more of a finisher, which has meant I've been doing the equivilant of mowing a lawn with a pair of child's scissors!

A finishing hone is what you want ( at least with the Dovo ) to touch up the edge of a razor. A new hone most likely will be a bit on the abrasive side. Get some sandpaper starting with 600 grit and work to 2000 on a flat piece of glass or other flat surface. If the hone is not making total contact with the paper do not move up to a higher grit until it does. Some hones need a lower grit to get started. Also try using the hone wet and then with some lather on it for the final passes. A wet hone will give you better feedback. You will feel some suction when things are working correctly.

Glen

Use the stone wet and try holding it on your palm. You should be able to get perfect contact witht he hone that way. I find a very good edge needs to be built up which is why the 'pyramid' (see the Permanent Archives' in the Help Files) works well. You might want another stone to swirch back and forth.

X

Redtrader99, aka Tilly, sent you a stone that is rated as a "fine" stone in razor terms. What you need is a coarse and medium grit stones. Go back to Redtrader99 and get her 3 stone starter package if you like that type of hone.
Most of us use the Norton 3 inch wide 4000/8000 waterstone.
They are a bit expensive but will last you a lifetime.
Once you have the other stones come back and let us know.

Hope this helps a bit,

I've contacted Tilly and she's advised me that the blue hone is rated coarse/medium and I've added a lithide fine hone to finish off the edge. I'll update you all once I've tried these out.

i might add that Tilly is probably the most helpful person I've ever dealt with through ebay, what a gem.

OOPS!! Their I go again, making inwarrented assumptions!:eek:
I assumed that it was a different blue stone like one that I have.
I am hoping that someone with more experience using the barber hones will help you out on this. Just for starters your razor may be overhoned.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by snaggletooth

I've contacted Tilly and she's advised me that the blue hone is rated coarse/medium and I've added a lithide fine hone to finish off the edge. I'll update you all once I've tried these out.

i might add that Tilly is probably the most helpful person I've ever dealt with through ebay, what a gem.

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Quote:

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Originally Posted by snaggletooth

I've contacted Tilly and she's advised me that the blue hone is rated coarse/medium and I've added a lithide fine hone to finish off the edge. I'll update you all once I've tried these out.

i might add that Tilly is probably the most helpful person I've ever dealt with through ebay, what a gem.

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Yeah, Tilly is outstanding to do business with. Nice to have someone like her around. She not only sells good products, but is actually familiar with them, and can recommend a product for your particular needs. It's sad, but that seems to be a rare thing. Her speed and service are great, too.

Okay, have now received the blue hone from Tilly.
The hone was actually rated as medium/fine which turned out to be more suited to what I was looking for.
I started off on my new Cyril Salter which I had pretty much turned into a butter knife with my previous ham-fisted efforts. Did a good few passes with a bit of force on the blade, could feel the metal being sheared, then finished off with a twenty or so passes with progressively less weight. I then stropped for forty or so passes on a two sided strop until the blade was actually making a sort of musical note at the end of each pass!
Shaved with it this morning and got the best shave I've had in months, I'm well chuffed with myself!!
Repeated the procedure on my dulled Dovo and now instead of one dulled razor I now have a choice of two excellent razors to choose from each day.
I've got a lithide finishing hone coming from Tilly so I should be able to improve on my efforts.

Thanks to everyone for help and advice.

Contratulations on your honing success, snaggletooth!! I'm in the process of ordering the 3 hone beginner set from Tilly, and I'm curious to know... Did you use the hone dry? Could you be more specific on your two sided strop? Pasted or not? Thanks.

I used the blue hone wet, soaked it for about 15 mins before use. Also, I had a go at refining the edge on the lithide hone I received from Tilly today, dry this time. This resulted in a much better edge, although I'm sure I can improve on the end result.
The strop has a very smooth side and a slightly more abrasive side, on the abrasive side I have added some strop paste (badly) which has resulted in a very shiny black coating on the leather (I'm sure this is now dulling the blade during use). I regret doing this now as the strop cost over £70 and I'm pretty sure that side is ruined.

That 3 hone set looks very good, I may add a rougher one to my set to complete.

I'd agree that Tilly is a joy to deal with! I recently rec'vd a Wester Bros. Med/Fine and a Lithide Fine hone from her. Previously I had only used Arkansas white and black with not too good results. I've recently traded them off to a fellow knife collector. My old razors are slowly improving, but after getting a truly shave ready Imperial razor from Lynn for my benchmark, I realize I have a long way to go. I'm planning now on working on the dullest of them, which has no sentimental attachment, till I can get an acceptable shave from it.