A Very Educational Exercise

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10-23-2010, 05:18 PM
LawsonStone

A Very Educational Exercise
Learning to hone has been fun, but one problem I've had is that I tend to use razors from antique stores, ebay, etc. and they are all different, all need more less degrees of restoration, metals vary, the works.

Some time back i purchased a 7 day set that was beautiful but the scales were warped so much the razors would put whiskers BACK on your face...so I put the box away and forgot about it.

Then I learned how to straighten out the scales, got out the razors, and realized these Solingen "Fri-Kour" blades were in excellent shape and were all in identical condition except one with a tiny chip.

So this AM I hone them all using the same method on each except for the Sunday razor which, after setting the bevel, I used a BBW/Coticule on. I had my microscope out to watch the bevel form up, and studied how each razor responded to my efforts.

Results:
- I am missing a lot of leg and arm hair!
- I have 7 very nice razors that seem very well honed
- I have been able to practice important parts of the process multiple times on razors that are basically the same, i.e. eliminate variables and focus on technique
- I had a very relaxing morning!
Not a bad exercise!
10-23-2010, 05:39 PM
justalex

My eyes have turned a very dark shade of green.

I'm also nurturing my honing skills and would love to have 7 identical razors to practice on, but having the variety of differing razors is nice too.

congrats on your very well honed razors

regards alex
10-23-2010, 05:43 PM
ScottGoodman

Does sound like a good morning!
10-23-2010, 06:02 PM
gssixgun

Those Fri-Ko razors are very nice shavers, I have had quite a few go across my hones...

7 day sets are a honing challenge in themselves, as you want them all to be exactly equal as shavers....Also you want the wear and the bevels to stay equal.... Personally I don't look all that forward to doing them my slightly OCD brain gets way to wrapped up on keeping them all the same :D

Here are some pics of a 7 day set of Dorko's I just did last week

http://straightrazorpalace.com/635322-post1.html

http://straightrazorpalace.com/673182-post36.html
10-23-2010, 08:20 PM
souschefdude

Holy cow. How long did that take? I was working on a resto the other day, and gave up after 1 hour on a 220K Norton stone and about 30 minutes on a 1K. The bevel is finally set, but I didn't have the energy/patience to finish on the 4k and 8k.
10-23-2010, 09:02 PM
Alembic
Quote:
Originally Posted by LawsonStone

Learning to hone has been fun, but one problem I've had is that I tend to use razors from antique stores, ebay, etc. and they are all different, all need more less degrees of restoration, metals vary, the works.

Some time back i purchased a 7 day set that was beautiful but the scales were warped so much the razors would put whiskers BACK on your face...so I put the box away and forgot about it.

Then I learned how to straighten out the scales, got out the razors, and realized these Solingen "Fri-Kour" blades were in excellent shape and were all in identical condition except one with a tiny chip.

So this AM I hone them all using the same method on each except for the Sunday razor which, after setting the bevel, I used a BBW/Coticule on. I had my microscope out to watch the bevel form up, and studied how each razor responded to my efforts.

Results:

I am missing a lot of leg and arm hair!
I have 7 very nice razors that seem very well honed
I have been able to practice important parts of the process multiple times on razors that are basically the same, i.e. eliminate variables and focus on technique
I had a very relaxing morning!

Not a bad exercise!
Sounds like a darn fine morning indeed. So how did the BBW/Coticule compare.

Also, you stated you learned to straighted scales - could you share?
10-23-2010, 10:09 PM
LawsonStone

1 Attachment(s)

Quote:

Originally Posted by souschefdude

Holy cow. How long did that take? I was working on a resto the other day, and gave up after 1 hour on a 220K Norton stone and about 30 minutes on a 1K. The bevel is finally set, but I didn't have the energy/patience to finish on the 4k and 8k.

it actually did not take very long at all. These were full hollow 5/8 razors in lovely condition. I was extra worried about spine wear so I used the lightest stroke I could execute.

To set the bevel it took, on a Norton 1K, 40 X strokes, 40 circles each way, and 40 more X strokes. At this point they shaved moistened leg-hair very nicely. My legs look good too! :) Then I gave then about 20 X strokes on a Naniwa 1K because, well, any stone that smooth has to help make the bevel nice!

Then I gave them, on average, 25 X strokes on the Naniwa 3K and 8K and checked that they could cut arm-hair above the skin, then finished with, on average, 30 strokes on the Naniwa 12K. I say "on average" because I was watching for the water to start running up the razor evenly across the edge, and also on the Naniwa stones there is a kind of feeling the razor gets when it's right. Maybe I'm goofy but that's what I think for now!

Then I hit the CrOx strop for 30 laps, then 30 on fabric, 60 on leather.

One of the razors, Sunday, after setting the bevel, I used the BBW/Coticule method described in the honing Wiki here--a thin slurry on the BBW to refine the edge and then water and light strokes on the Coti to finish. Because I'm still curious about the "coticule edge" I only stropped that one on fabric and leather, not CrOx.

Here's a picture of one of the razors:
10-23-2010, 10:11 PM
LawsonStone

I'm not totally happy with my straightening of the scales. I held them in steam while lightly compressing the scales into the position I wanted, then held them that way until they cooled. This could have been much more precise, to say the least. I also had to tighten the pivot pins on 3 or 4 of them.
10-24-2010, 02:39 AM
JimmyHAD

A few months ago I got a 7 day set of Kobars and honed them at my leisure. One every week or so. I used different hones on one or another and didn't keep track of which was honed with what. A bit later I got 6 Genco Fluid Steels in a barber's green felt roll. I wrote a number on the scales with a marker from 1 thru 6 and made a note of what I honed each one on. I used a different series of hones on each of the 6. All roads led to Rome though. They are all good regardless of which hones I used. :)
10-25-2010, 01:18 AM
LawsonStone

I thought I'd report at lest on the razor in this set that was honed, after the bevel was set using the Norton 1K and Naniwa 1K, on the BBW and Coticule.

The shave this AM was one of the best I've had since I started in April. Very smooth, but really cut nicely on a full 3 pass shave.

So tomorrow I'll try one honed on the Naniwas and hopefully be able to compare!
10-25-2010, 06:57 AM
PhatMan

Lawson,

Your comment about lack of arm & leg hair made me chuckle :)

I have had some very odd looks from people in the office since I started shaving with a straight a couple of years ago.

Initially, they thought I had joined a Fight Club (or taken up knife fighting) - from the cuts and abrasions on my face !

When I started honing, strange bald patches started appearing on my arms & legs, which led to further strange looks :)

When I told them I shaved with a straight, this confirmed their opinion that I was barking mad !

Have fun !

Best regards

Russ
10-25-2010, 12:58 PM
Neil Miller

Quote:

Originally Posted by PhatMan

Lawson,

Initially, they thought I had joined a Fight Club ...

Russ - sadly you have just broken the first rule of Fight Club... :(

Regards,
Neil
10-26-2010, 07:38 AM
PhatMan

Neil,

Oh nooooooooooooo.............!! :gaah:

Have fun !

Best regards

Russ