Thread: Fromm trouble

Sorry guys, but I actually would not be wasting any time even trying to hone one of these. In my opinion, these Fromm's along with the new Timor and several others out there are very poor quality razors. They can be extremely difficult to impossible to hone and rarely hold an edge. When I get these in for honing I usually simply return them to people as I just feel these are decent razors.

Have fun,

Lynn

I'm with the Lynn Jedi. The older vintage Fromm are top, but those recent Fromm razors aren't really worth a dime imo. Poor heat treat and God knows what steel.

Yea, I had one gifted to me. I could't sharpen it, and it rusted quickly..I live in Colorado..nothing rusts here ....

ok, so I bought a cheap/old wad a butcher from ebay to see see if I get the same shape on that blade. It's really warped so it's not good to me. So, I kept working my fromm and it's only getting worse. Here is what I do, let me know what I'm missing. 1. Flatten stones under water. 2.rinse off any spare grit. 3. tape spine. 4. very lightly 3 passes, edge first, towards me on 4k 5. 3 passes, edge first, away from me. 6 turn stone 3 & 3 again. 7. 3&3 on 8k 8. 3&3 and check. Ok, this is all done without slurry but quite wet. I just ordered a 500, 4k and slurry stone. At this point, can I save my fromm and what should I be looking for to tell me that i'm doing something correctly?? I can take some pics of either blade if anyone would like.

FWIW -

a) if the bevel isn't set, a 4K stone will take a long time (like hundreds of passes) to set it.

b) Most of the "honing pyramids" I've seen (check the Wiki) use 20 or more laps on each grit. You may not be giving the razor enough time on each grit.

c) read onimaru's post about the too-long stabilizer. If that describes your blade, you need to fix _that_ problem before doing anything else.

d) what is the "turn stone" step in your description ?

Charles

PS -- If Lynn says "I won't try to sharpen that blade", I'd take his comment seriously.

well i made a mistake, I don't yet own a 4k so all that work I've been doing has been on a 1k and 8k. When I say rotate the stone I just turn it around. Ummmm, I pivot it the stone 180 degrees. Let's say, I have the stone pointing as if it were making a "T" against my chest, I flit the stone so the other end is now touching my chest but still making a "T". My stones are all the big, flat, rectangular norton stones.

Originally Posted by onimaru55

The heel does look wider on the pile side. A warp is not necessarily an even banana shape but uneven grinding can play a part too.

I have to agree with the "uneven grinding" as being the most likely explanation.

so I've gotten a 4k stone and even another blade. I got an old wade and butcher from ebay. It's warped a little but I'm not too sad about it. I just wanted to get another blade to see if I'm doing the same thing to that as I am my Fromm. I'm not, yet I can't get the fromm flat. Anything I should try? I'm wondering, I only have a leather stropp so I'm curious if I need something else. When I'm done with my 8k stone should it pass the hanging hair or does it need to be stropped for a bit? I'm really lost.

q31,

It sounds like you are still not getting good contact with the edge. Apparently the newer Fromm razors aren't as good as the one I purchased locally about three years ago, so Lynn's advice to give up on it may be your best course of action.

However you sound like a persistent guy like me. (Actually in my case "hard headed" is probably more accurate.) If you're interested you might want to dispense with the usual that isn't giving you success, and try placing the spine and edge of your razor on the edge of your 4K stone, tilting the heel down over the side and raising the toe so that it is in the air above the stone's surface. Now *lightly* draw the razor in a honing motion for two or three passes. Then check the edge. Repeat only a handful of times.

This will likely be met with derision by the experienced fellows. Perhaps rightly so, but if the alternative is to toss the razor in the rubbish bin what is there to lose?

Mind you, not too long ago in this same forum, methods such as honing in a circular motion, drawing an edge lightly on the edge of the stone to remove a bur or stropping with an abrasive paste as a last step to give a fine "tooth" to the edge was considered heresy until it was "discovered" by someone. What is of course happening is that we are all amateurs compared to the fellows who learned to maintain their razors hundreds of years ago, and are recovering the skills that faded with the advent of more sophisticated shaving tools. It can be frustrating, but can also be very rewarding. Don't give up; you'll soon get it down, then start teaching all of us new tips and tricks.

Cheers,
Jeff

it's just hard for me to figure what I'm doing wrong. When the Fromm was fresh out of the box I stropped it and shaved. From that shave on it's been all down hill. Let me ask someone this question. When Honing how much pressure are you fellas talking about? Some guys say no pressure, some guys say little pressure, but pressure is such an impossible thing to explain through writing. It's like trying to describe a color to someone that they've never seen before. Pressure. What kind of pressure should I be putting on the blade when honing? Just under it's own weight or just push on it lightly enough to still have color under my fingernails or push on it hard enough to make it white under my fingernail tips? I'm just not doing something correctly and it's going to drive me nuts. As far as video goes, if you search on the USA version of youtube and put in "straight razor ToxikWaste" he's the guy I'm doing my best to copy.