Thread: Keeping a New Shave Ready Edge Sharp

Originally Posted by HoldFast

I've been using my new Bismarck for a while now.I think it is getting close to that time when I must bring it to the altar of honing. I am wondering to all those with more experience than I....

What have you found to be the best way to bring a once new, shave ready blade back to its peek performance?

I know I can..

1) Ship it to a "honemeister"...excellent results
2)Use a 12K? chinese or otherwise
3) Use a barber's hone? Not sure what "brand" or "grit" is best here.
4) Drop to a Norton 4K/8K and then up to a 12K?

Any and all suggestions are welcomed.

In addition, I also know that as a new shaver, it is smarter to go with a honemeister at this point, but keeping in ind that one day would like to keep my blades in top condition on my own....which method do you use to keep your razor sharp?

Thanks.

In part it depends on what you are willing to pay
and what you have access to.

A combo hone like the Norton 4/8K or
the 3/8K Naniwa Super Stone is a workhorse.

I like my 12K Naniwa Super Stone a lot. As
fast as it cuts it may be the only hone you
need as long as you do not roll the edge.
If you do roll the edge and need more you
can to visit a work horse combo hone
or send it out. Make sure you have a
flat lap solution no mater what hone you get.

I have never regretted my balsa hones.
The smoothness that CrOx or Diamond on balsa
gives me is very pleasing.

An inexpensive solution is film on glass
or a flat granite tile. 5 micron followed
by 0.3 micron produces a very sharp edge.
Woodcrafters has packages of abrasive film
that I think are a bargain especially since
there is no need for a flat lap.

If you buy hones be aware that grit ratings vary
and if you stay with a single hone vendor you
will have a good progression.

Summary:

Tight Budget -- go for film on a granite tile
perhaps a Chinese 12K

Budget -- send it out. ~$20 is a bargain!
sending a razor out is a safety net to always
keep handy. If you try to hone your own
and do not like the results a pro can help.

Generous Budge -- 12K Naniwa Super Stone
send it out if it needs more than a touch up.
add one a Naniwa each year until you have enough.

Big Budget -- Naniwa Super Stone set in one chunk.

Grand budget -- Shapton on glass or Naniwa Chosera set one chunk

HAD Budget.... all of the above plus a dozen naturals and 25 barber hones.

Originally Posted by niftyshaving

Summary:

Tight Budget -- go for film on a granite tile
perhaps a Chinese 12K

Budget -- send it out. ~$20 is a bargain!
sending a razor out is a safety net to always
keep handy. If you try to hone your own
and do not like the results a pro can help.

Generous Budge -- 12K Naniwa Super Stone
send it out if it needs more than a touch up.
add one a Naniwa each year until you have enough.

Big Budget -- Naniwa Super Stone set in one chunk.

Grand budget -- Shapton on glass or Naniwa Chosera set one chunk

HAD Budget.... all of the above plus a dozen naturals and 25 barber hones.

JimmyHAD budget...

IMHO, sending your razor out to a honemeister every time it needs a routine touchup is not a viable option, unless you are in that "higher budget" category. Plus, it kinda defeats the whole self-sufficiency concept that attracted us to this hobby in the first place.

Touchups are painfully easy to do, and the options really are wide-ranged: barber hone, finishing hone, 8K, pasted strops etc. Of course HAD comes into play, but that's another story...

Check out the suggestions on "Abrasive Stropping" here:

http://www.whippeddog.com/upld/Strai...ing_Manual.pdf

There are extensions to that document that Larry supplies with his pasted strops, that essentially develop this philosophy:

. . . Start with the finest abrasive you have.

. . . If that doesn't work, go to the next-coarser abrasive.

. . . Repeat until the edge is sharp.

Under this philosophy, you should try FeOxide or CrOxide strops, before using a C12K, barber hone, or Norton 4K / 8K stone.

The hones will remove metal _all along the bevel_; the strops will not.

There's a summary of all this in one sentence, and it agrees with several of the posts above (from people with more experience than I have):

. . . Remove as much metal as you have to, to get the razor sharp, and no more.

Charles

Thanks to everyone who gave some info. It is much appreciated.

Originally Posted by Ryan82

IMHO, sending your razor out to a honemeister every time it needs a routine touchup is not a viable option, unless you are in that "higher budget" category. Plus, it kinda defeats the whole self-sufficiency concept that attracted us to this hobby in the first place.

Touchups are painfully easy to do, and the options really are wide-ranged: barber hone, finishing hone, 8K, pasted strops etc. Of course HAD comes into play, but that's another story...

Unless, of course, you buy a new razor from SRD this holiday season.

One of the most valuable tips that I learned off this forum was to wipe down my blade well after shaving and then give it about 15 laps on the leather strop before putting it up.

I have a 3 razor rotation and that tip alone has delayed me having to touch up my razors by many weeks and sometimes months.

20 laps on the linen, 30 laps on the leather before a shave and I'm shaving smooth.

As far as I know, any finisher would do the job. Look at the old barber´s manuals, they only used one hone on their razors.

I like using natural hones a lot, especially coticules (you can do serious honing work on them, too).
I don´t have one of the following hones, but I´m pretty sure that any natural finisher like Escher, Charnley´s Forest, a translucent Arkansas, … are sufficient to keep an already shaveable edge sharp.
I have no doubt, that synthetics will work good, as well. Which hone to buy is absolutely personal preference, in my opinion.
And since you need a finisher anyway, starting at the finer end and buying coarser stones if you feel the need sounds like a valid plan to me.

Regards,
tok

Originally Posted by kelbro

One of the most valuable tips that I learned off this forum was to wipe down my blade well after shaving and then give it about 15 laps on the leather strop before putting it up.

I have a 3 razor rotation and that tip alone has delayed me having to touch up my razors by many weeks and sometimes months.

20 laps on the linen, 30 laps on the leather before a shave and I'm shaving smooth.

how does stropping after the shave save your edge as opposed to just stropping before the shave?

Stropping on the linen/webbing after the shave removes any remaining lather you can't see, but stains (rusts) the edge. Stropping on leather after the shave makes sure the water particles a towel can't get off since they are quasi-embedded in the steel's pores are removed.

I've tried both methods. Stropping after shaving did make the edge last longer between touch-ups, but it wasn't dramatic. ie: 8-10 laps on a pasted bench strop weekly versus every 10 days.