Thread: Sharp Razor why the irritation

Ok I tried searching but didn't really find what I need. I have a Henckels platinum that I have put through two pyramids starting at 40 and working my way down in increments of 10. It's very sharp and the edge looks good (at least to a newbie) in a loupe. I stropped it 100 times and shaved. It shaves well. Nice and close. However I have more irritation than I am accustomed to with a blade sharpened by someone who actually knows what they're doing. Will more stropping tone it down or do I need to take it back to the stones? It does drag slightly more than the other blade as well.

Sounds as you are maybe struggling with a less than shave ready razor.
And no wonder, it takes a bit of time developing the skills to hone a razor properly.
The fact that you actually had a decent shave, albeit with some irritation, is not bad at all to be honest.

Just for clarity, what stones are you using for honing it?

And for your question on stropping it to a shave ready state.
No, it needs to be properly honed first, then you can maintain the edge using strops.
Pasted strops would be a different story, but I recommend you get it properly honed, and work on your honing a bit more on a beat up razor.
Good luck!

Hi preach, I find that if I use 10-15 laps of CrOx on a pasted strop after honing then linen/leather it really smooths out my edge. If it's sharp and shaving well, then that should do the trick. Don.

I'm not convinced that this is a non-shave ready issue, especially if the shave was close and smooth.

First, how many shaves has the blade seen? If the answer is only 1 shave just be aware that this isn't uncommon. Sometimes it takes a shave or two for the edge to 'settle'; linen can help the process, but for the most part the second and then subsequent shaves are more comfortable.

Second, this could very possibly be a pressure issue. You may be using too much pressure with a freshly honed blade, leading to razor burn and discomfort.

Third, do you have any pastes? As has been said already, paste like chrome ox can go a long way towards a comfortable shave.

It sounds like you are on the right track, it's just a matter of doing some troubleshooting...

I'm using the norton 4000/8000 I used a norton 1000 to set the bevel. I have a balsa strop from whippeddog.com. I'll give that a whirl tonight and see if it helps. It shaved close and left me pretty smooth. Overall I'm pretty pleased, it was just less comfortable than my Boker that Larry at whippeddog.com honed for me.

Also to clarify my question, I'm just curious if a blade can be shave ready but a little rough. Like maybe stropping would reign it in a little.

Originally Posted by Preach

Also to clarify my question, I'm just curious if a blade can be shave ready but a little rough. Like maybe stropping would reign it in a little.

Technically yes, it can be considered shave ready, but the comfort factor needs to be dialled in a little more. Sometimes stropping can help (try that first), pastes will get you there too. Failing that you can always go back to the stones for a few laps.

Shave readiness is relative. A blade honed to 8k is shave ready as much as a blade honed all the way up to a Shapton 30k. There are even some dedicated German straight shavers that shave off a 5k-6k hone, so ultimately it's about the ability to shave whiskers as opposed to a strict definition.

So for chuckles let's say the balsa strop doesn't do it and I go back to the hones. How many laps are we talking?

If you have a really sharp blade, it needs to be "reined in" by using it more lightly on your face.

Originally Posted by Preach

So for chuckles let's say the balsa strop doesn't do it and I go back to the hones. How many laps are we talking?

If pastes aren't cutting it anymore (pun intended) then yes you will have to go back to the stones. You could either do increments of 10 extremely light laps on the 8k side (testing for improvement after each set of ten) or alternately you could do a very small conservative pyramid as outlined in the wiki.