Thread: How many" touch up" before resetting the bevel.

Originally Posted by JimmyHAD

I've got a surgical black (vintage norton/pike) and a vintage norton/pike translucent that give me real nice edges with light oil when I use them.

Utopian said that he kept a rotation shaving well for 4 years on a barber hone. I don't remember if he specified the brand. One other thing to consider is that what might be satisfactory for one guy, in terms of sharpness and smoothness, might not be satisfactory for another.

Jimmy i remember Utopian thread about keeping a couple of razors on a barber hone for 4 years probably 5 by now the hone was "Its a Peech"

Originally Posted by JimmyHAD

One other thing to consider is that what might be satisfactory for one guy, in terms of sharpness and smoothness, might not be satisfactory for another.

Thank you for stating this again.I use CroOx on rough leather once a month and only strop every 2-3 shaves.Dovo says you can go 6-12 shaves without stropping,but that is way to rough for me.8 months in I'm thinking that my 2 razors need a visit with my 4/8 stone for a lite piramid honing to smooth things up.

Originally Posted by Theseus

In the 14 or so years before I found this site and all the AD's kicked in(including HAD), the only thing I needed for my two razors was a surgical black Arkansas. That stone kept the razors shaving sharp that entire time without having to drop to a lower grit. I just touched them up once every couple of weeks and they were good to go.

Hey that's my story

Same here before I found SRP I used an Arkie and had 2 razors, it worked fine..

SRP tends to set a very high bar for "shave ready" but honestly a good shaver can shave quite well with way less edge, the last 1-2% is what we chase, where we spend the real money, and is totally not needed for a close comfortable shave ...

Originally Posted by Theseus

In the 14 or so years before I found this site and all the AD's kicked in(including HAD), the only thing I needed for my two razors was a surgical black Arkansas. That stone kept the razors shaving sharp that entire time without having to drop to a lower grit. I just touched them up once every couple of weeks and they were good to go.

I was about to post the exact thing you just said.
Adding to it though...I know everyone has a favorite razor that just does such a fine job you hate to do anything to it. However once in a while it needs attention. The surgical black or translucent with just a few strokes brings them back every time for me.

Stingray

Originally Posted by Theseus

In the 14 or so years before I found this site and all the AD's kicked in(including HAD), the only thing I needed for my two razors was a surgical black Arkansas. That stone kept the razors shaving sharp that entire time without having to drop to a lower grit. I just touched them up once every couple of weeks and they were good to go.

Sorry - I just had to dig out old post # 8 and state that that... is hilarious!! I nearly spit out my coffee!

SRP = AD's!!

I can go with just stropping for at least a month. If a touch-up is later required, I do just a few laps on 8K, then 16k and 30K. I then strop on leather only. I never use linen, felt or any pastes at all.

This is an interesting topic. But I have this question. Members tell they touch-up their razor after a month, or three months, or whatever. But I do not know if that implies 30 shaves, 90 shaves etc.

I shave every third day. Can I assume that members shave daily unless otherwise mentioned?

Originally Posted by strtman

This is an interesting topic. But I have this question. Members tell they touch-up their razor after a month, or three months, or whatever. But I do not know if that implies 30 shaves, 90 shaves etc.

I shave every third day. Can I assume that members shave daily unless otherwise mentioned?

This is probably a YMMV situation. Everyone's beard is different, technique different, etc so the number of shaves before a touch up will vary. I personally touch mine up when it feels noticeably different from the last shave with it... varies from razor to razor.

Originally Posted by northpaw

Seems like if some guys can keep a razor going for quite a while on just leather,
and eventually go to a pasted strop when that no longer works,
and then to a barber's hone or other finisher when that fails,
and then back to an 8k,
and then...etc.

I mean, I reset bevels more often than I need to on some of my beater razors just for practice, but for someone who knew what they were doing, unless they dinged the edge or something, they could probably go almost forever before truly resetting the bevel.

I believe this is how the majority of guys back in the day did it. A razor with a bevel set once and just kept that bevel with one stone for a very long time. When that no longer worked they would take it to some one to get it reset.

Originally Posted by Martin103

Just curious to find out how many touch up one razor will take before needing to reset the bevel ...

I haven't read through the replies to your thread but I'm sure several people stated that it depends on how you use your razor, how you strop and touch up the edge and the razor itself. I use so many razors that I personally can't answer your question. I probably use one specific razor once a year or two and I shave every day or two. The best advice I can give you is to keep refreshing the blade until refreshing no longer gives a smooth shave. I'm guessing that will be a year or so under optimum use and care, more if you just use your Thuringen. With 12 razors at your disposal and proper care and refreshing of the edges I would venture a guess that it will be years before you will need to refresh the edge on your razors. As soon as the first one starts tugging after refreshing your edge the others may not be far behind. The good thing is that you can send your razors out for bevel setting/sharpening and still have a bunch to shave with. If you are not going to hone many a razors besides your initial 12 it may be cost effective to send then out for honing since you will have years between each razor needs to be set to the hones. Your Thuringen hone will give a flat bevel where you Crox and felt will give a convex bevel. Going from your felt to the thruigen nay take more time to refresh the edge since it will need to flatten the bevel before it can reach the edge. If you put your razors on the Thuringen early enough you may never need to reset the bevel, just be sure to put enough time into it to get the edge as sharp as it can get. Thuringens are slow cutters. There's always the option to use slurry on your Thuringen and slowly dilute until just water. This will speed up the metal removal if done properly.