Thread: How often?

I have been using straight razors for a little over two years. I generally hone my blades every six months or so or when ever I feel they need it. How often is the correct frequency for honing straight razors? Thanks.

Welcome!

I assume you mean for touch ups?

That'll vary depending on the razor, the grind, your beard toughness and how well you look after the blade. I reckon you might be able to get a month out of just a razor and a strop of daily use if you look after the blade, but really you should hone them when they need it. Thats the best advice!

When the blades starting to pull or not cut as well as before then give it a few touch up swipes.

Here is an idea of how the honing thing goes for me. I am assuming a properly honed razor to start with. I am very, very particular about my edges and also have a very heavy beard. When I use to use a DE blades would last only about 2 shaves. This is probably more than you wanted to know, but here goes.

1. After about 5 shaves I paste strop on hard felt.
2. After about 3 cycles of paste stropping I drop back an give the edge a finishing on a fine Asagi stone.
3. Once I have used the rock one cycle I drop back and go to about the equivalent of 8K and work the progression all the way up to a finished blade. Then I go to the beginning and start over.
4. When I get to the point that I need to go to the 8K again I drop down to 1K and reset the bevel. Here again, since I really have a razor that is almost there it takes very little time for me to do this step. I have to do this about once every six months.

Sounds like a lot of work but actually it is not. The final dropping back to the 8K takes only about 5 or 6 minutes per razor. I have about 4 razors that I use on a regular basis so that I can go a very long time before having to go to the rocks. Actually, to long, I like the process of honing and wish I could do more of it!

This is one of the toughest questions to answer because there really is no answer. A lot of the senior members will tell you that a razor should last a few months, but as Stu pointed out there are many variables to take into consideration. For that reason IMO it's wrong to give a timeframe, so the reasonable answer would be to hone when your razor needs it, meaning that it tugs and/or gives uncomfortable shaves.

When it does come time try your highest grit hone or paste first before dropping down ie paste then 12k (or equivalent) then 8k. If it's really deteriorated you may have to do some sharpening on a 4k or coti with heavy slurry, but going down to 1k seems excessive and likely unnecessary.