Thread: A Thank-You

Keep at it! You'll also find that the more you hone the better you get. This morning, I shaved with a razor that was one of the first that I honed. At the time that it was honed, I was sure that it was shave ready and it did shave well. However, now that I'm a few months further down the road, it definitely needs to go back to the stones. You'll be surprised how quickly your edges will improve once you find a method that works for you. One thing to keep in mind, especially on your finer grit stones, is that less pressure is better. It took me a while to understand what no pressure really meant.

I just shaved with this razor again and it's definitely the sharpest razor I have. Please don't think I'm trying to brag, but is it normal for some razors to take an edge that's just wicked, as apposed to being a good shaver?

Some razors become good shavers in your hands because you've lucked into the perfect combination of steel, grind, hone, and technique. I've heard that Double-Ducks are very honer-friendly, but can't speak from experience.

I have blades that make me feel like I can work magic, both at the hone and on my face, and other blades that make me feel like a total noob. As Glen said earlier, there'll always be one out there that will resist.

Some blades, once you've maxed them out on a particular hone, will be wicked sharp but feel really harsh on your face. The edge on a softer steel, like Sheffield, will break down if you try to hone it out on a stone that's too fine. You'll get one or two nice-feeling passes, then it'll start to degrade and tug.

It's not a bad idea to keep a honing notebook, so you can keep track of what hones and techniques have given what results on what blades.

Something I'm doing right now is experimenting with my stainless blade, trying it out on different finishers after every couple of shaves. Gotta keep the lather constant for that, since lather can have such a large influence on the shave.

Congrats on your good results. It's an ongoing adventure; enjoy the challenges.

Best wishes

Originally Posted by Foxhill

Thanks! I'm going to have to keep it going now, because I rolled an edge on the strop yesterday. LOL. Darn narrow blades are hard to strop correctly.

Congrats on the success of your first honing job. You know I was just thinking the same thing the other day about narrow blades being harder to strop correctly. That was after trying a wider one that I need to hone just to see.

Bob