Thread: Oh My Goodness What HAVE I Done!

Great news! Sounds like you're doing better than most of us at attaining the Wisdom of Low Lap Count.

RoughkypeMy reason for embracing WLLC is that I also have FFU (Fear of [expletive] it Up), I've heavy handedly destroyed many, many MANY previously beautiful things in my time...One time, at age 19, my twin brother decided to remove the thermostat in his HQ Holden (Google it) 1/2 way between Woomera and Port Augusta (or there abouts; it's basically desert (Google Maps it)) to 'aid in cooling'. Unfortunately I was the one who needed to prove how much benefit I was getting from weight lifting and stripped the bolts holding the thermostat housing. We had to drive a couple of Ks, stop for and hour, drive a coupe of Ks, stop for an hour, etc for many, many MANY kilometers...So I'm trying to be really, really REALLY careful...

Are those Meercats???

I wish. Those'd be some bigass scary meerkats. My hands would be up because they told me to put them there. But no, they're a friend's golden retrievers. I was Guest Conductor.

I had a long, sad motorcycle story begin with a helicoil that came out on a spark plug. It lacks the drama of the desert and the narrative assistance of a twin brother, but shares the heartbreak of stripped threads.

Actually, I'm not sure it was ALL the way from Woomera to Port Augusta, the years may have embellished the tale...
I really think I did way too many laps when I first got the hones a few weeks ago. I now understand those who buy cheap, rusty, blunt razors and do them up...
I wonder how often I should do the 5 laps/3 laps thing? Once a fortnight? Once a month? Just as a general rule, knowing later the feel of the blade will dictate..

The way I did it was once I was regularly using an open razor to shave with, I would generally use that razor exclusively/monogamously until it wasn't providing the closest shaves. It never got to tugging or skipping about (unless the lather dried, which would be my fault, not the razor's), just not cutting as close as it used to, and the shaves would take a little longer. Then I could use another razor to compare to and experience the dramatic difference, or refresh on a hone.

When you stick to a single razor you can try to discern it's hardness, resistance to edge deterioration, longevity before refreshing, etc. It can be an interesting part to shaving. You are probably aware that for razors that have been overhoned (i.e. without tape) the angle of the edge may be beyond the metal's structural stability, so you'll lose the edge quicker.

Yeah, that may be an idea Axel, but presently I'm enjoying rotating the razors I have. When I got my second razor after using the first for about two months without honing, I really did notice the difference. I used the SECOND one this morning after refreshing all three the other day (5x8k, 3x16k) and it was almost back to how it was when I go it. I don't know if it's just the razor, or just because it was the first, but it seems the other two haven't matched it for overall sharpness. Then again, it could be just that combination of thickness and size. The first, a Burrell Top Flight is a think a full hollow 5/8, while the W&B is a 4/8 and less 'flexible'. The Emil Kronenberg is also a 5/8 but maybe a 1/2 hollow (I know those terms are pretty subjective). That extra amount oh hollowness, and as you mention maybe the steel, makes all the difference. I didn't know about the 'over honing'.

I don't think the angle change caused by tape is enough to cause, prevent, or otherwise influence overhoning. Excessive honing pressure, such that it deflects the blade and you thin the metal behind the edge rather than thinning the edge, could cause that edge breakdown. Honing to a grit finer than the steel will support (e.g., to 30k for a Sheffield blade) could also cause it. I don't know if 16k is pushing it for Sheffield steel; my finest known grit is the 12k Naniwa.

I just honed and tested a full hollow 4/8 for someone. It shaved OK on the broad easy bits, excelled in the tight spots like under my jawline and under my nose, but was pretty squirrelly everywhere else. Definitely a more difficult shaver than a 5/8 or 6/8 of any grind.

I'd guess that combinations of grind and steel hardness affect the wear rates of different razors. Carl, I'm afraid you're going to have to buy at least six more razors, two apiece to match the size and grind of your current three. Of each trio, one should be a Case (or a TI, if you're feeling really flush), one should be from Solingen, and one should be from Sheffield. Then you can compare hardness/longevity within each size and grind, and size/grind across hardnesses.

This is your mission, if you choose to accept it. This post will self-destruct in fifteen seconds.

16k pushing it for Sheffield steel? Does that mean I may be incorrect using the Shapton 16k on the W&B? I WAS thinking of getting a 4/8 a while ago, but now I think for me a 5/8 full hollow is perfect, not that there's anything that is really perfect. I'm about to get a Klas Törnblom frameback, so that will be interesting. I don't feel I can accept the mission. And what is a 'Case'? I do like TI razors, esp the Evide Sonnant 5/8 in white. There's no way I can be married AND buy six more razors, but 3 is possible, giving a total of seven. I'd then need to sell or swap my new three razor case and maybe buy the Dovo 7 razor case...
Maybe I could always cull the four razors to three; the Emil Kronenberg would be the one to go, I think...

I only use a finishing stone, maybe 6-10 passes, every other month now. More often with less skill is normal. The 16k too much concept is strange business to me.

Hmmm, AFDavis11, do you need to hone other than that, or are you saying the 16k every other month suffices to keep the edge?

I'm trying to visualise why 16k maybe 'too much' for some steel. I guess as the smoothness of a surface increases, 'ridges' and 'grooves' are removed. Maybe 'ridges' and grooves' act as buttresses just like in architecture? It would be nice to have some idea what I'm talking about, sometimes...