Thread: Honemiester advice needed desperatley!

I'll try to be as brief as possibe. First I'll list my equipment:

DOVO Stainless steel (ice tempered whatever that means) razor
Norton 3" combo 4k/8k stone

Jemico russian red strop Note: I did do the break in procedure on it because it did'nt lay flat. Got it wet, heavy weight on flat surface for about 8 hours, then rubbed with pumice stone, then stiff lather, clean, stiff lather with hand and bottle. Seems to be flatter but not perfect. Linen side seems to put a better edge on it.

Now here's the problem. I think I'm very close to getting a good edge on it. After failing to get the HHT, I found and did the pyramid on it once though (checking often). The edge seemed to be about the same every time. Like I just hit a road block. I could only get it to pass the fingernail tests (45 deg tilt, and regular passing over wet nail). It just would'nt pass the HHT. It would catch one every now and then somwhere on the blade but not like it should. Even after stropping a buttload. Then, i decided to try the linen side of the strop. Big improvement. Passed the HHT on MOST of the blade. It seemed just a bit dull from the point down a centimeter or two. I'm using the most even pressure on the hone, paying very close attention and going as slow as I need to. Even on the rest of the blade it seems to struggle a bit with the HHT. I tried to shave today and while it did actually shave, it was nowhere near where it needs to be. Very uncomfortable. Had to pick up the DE. Anyways, here's my questions:

1.Should it pass the HHT before it ever goes to the strop?
2.It my strop in need of more flattening possibly (since the linen seems to work best
3.What the heck am I doing wrong? I'm about to go crazy. I have been doing tons of research and I've been on this for days now!

Thank you guys so much for any advice. I'm not giving up, and I love this site!

For starters I have MAJOR concerns about your strop. You MIGHT have ruined it but wait for someone who knows a bit more about'em to give you a more definite answer. Worst case scenario, get one from Tony Miller, they come ready to use.

Stainless steel blades sometimes are more difficult to put a shaving edge on. However, Norton is a fast cutter, so it should be able to make it much easier. Did you lap the stone before using it? That's the most likely culprit.

Hey thanks for the advice. No I did not lap the stone first. It's brand new so I thought it should be flat. I hope I didn't ruin the strop. It came kind of folded up when I bought it so I thought flattening would be in order. Plus with all the research (and various opinions on everything) I've just gone to town with all my gear. It's getting pretty spendy. I must admit that even with the frustration I'm still enjoying the process. Now if I can just get a shave!

sheesh bud, sounds pretty well done first time honing. you said it passed the HHT on most of the blade, i'd definitely say the next test is a shave test. so, go take a shower, and have yourself a shave with it and see how it feels.

oh, and lapping the stone is a good idea. my norton 4/8 needed to be lapped flat when i first got it.


~J