Gradually Improving Edge For The Experience

I've done a little experiment with a relatively soft razor to try to learn what my finishing hones are doing for the shaving edge.

I shave every other day, at most. I once used a shave cream that I deemed sub-par for open razor purposes, which may have been my fault because it might have required a harder, stiffer lather to achieve the same cushion and lubricity as other creams/soaps. But I've attempted to limit all the variables in gauging the edge I've been working on.

A 5/8th Wapienica (re-scaled with plastic, no imbalance) freshly honed off a Norton 8k. I use a Spyderco Ultra-Fine 8"x2" as my finisher. If you look at the Wiki on the Spyderco Ultra-Fine you'll see the problem with lapping from the factory often leaves much to be desired and this hone is also not the best for providing feedback (by feel). I've used this 8"x2" finishing hone held in hand with regular hand soap, much like a barber's hone held in hand with lather instead of water.

First time I used the Wapienica after the Norton 8k was 20 laps with mildly soapy water. Not the best shaver for what I'm used to. Next shave I took it for 20 or so more laps, definitely keener. However, I had used the cream whose lather didn't have the lubrication or cushion up to par with my usual cream for the last few weeks. But the "bite" of the razor was reassuring. The shaves were not as good as when I honed off this finisher to indeterminate number of laps (which was part of the purpose of this casual experiment).

Resuming using the cream I was accustomed to (Proraso if you must know) I took it to 20 more laps on the Spyderco UF without soaped water, just regular water, again with hone held in hand (I really like the finishing hone in hand rather than on a cloth on the holder/stand on the tabletop). Even better, sharper, closer, safer, more efficient (i.e. faster) shaver!

Then I did it yet again with the same hone-in-hand, no soap just water, for twenty more laps. Stropped up as usual and shaved. Again a discernible improvement. So going by increments of 20 or so laps, first two sessions with soapy water, last two without soap, at each stage there was noticeable improvement in sharpness, with "bite" being exaggerated in the one instance of using a different shave cream lather.

My "experiment", as casual as it was, was flawed in that I used a different cream once, and didn't take it progressively with the same hone set-up in that I used water at the later stages. In a way I was using a small, incremental progression of laps and changed from soapy water to pure water. The soap water, however diluted, functioned as a cushion, much like a shaving lather cushions the skin from the razor. This works well for people who still need to work on their honing technique, whose subtlety naturally peaks at the finishing stages, where a cushion is most appropriate (not done on porous stones, just the ceramic Spyderco).

I've had my second shave off the hone (no abrasive-pasted paddle-strop used for any of this). Of course, the shave was smoother because it isn't raw from the hone, and possibly due to incidental additional stropping (paddle strops). I switched from the ubiquitous Proraso to a Mama Bear soap (purchased in early 2008 and hardly used) and the shave was simply fantastic. I had very close shaving around the mouth and mustache, which is the hardest for me to shave close with an open razor and functions as the true test of an edge's smoothness and sharpness to gauge a satisfactory level of safeness, ironic I know for the concept of "open razor" conspicuously lacks the "safety" designation, but true nonetheless and not an idiot with a clear complexion* in the slightest.

*an oxymoron, alternate definition being someone who shaves with a good edge

So, I took a razor I had an established relationship to, with a shaving cream I have much experience with, and intentionally did not hone out to an indeterminate number of laps as is my usual habit. Just to see how the shaving edge would perform. It was interesting and educational. The soapy water functioned as training wheels, and ultimately it doesn't seem like I needed it, at least not anymore (if I ever had).

It was a fun experiment and illuminating. Granted it took about half a month and careful attention to my facial skin condition. I chose this as the time to do it because I've been using my Wapienica almost exclusively for a number of months. It is regarded as a softer steel in the wet shaving communities and thought that would be a positive factor in shedding insight into edge development.

P.S. I love my Wapienica!