Thread: Well, I Gave It A Try....

You don't HAVE to start from scratch. Do your tpt and tnt tests, gauge your current level of sharpness, and go back to your 4k w/slurry and this time do 40 circles down and back and 10 x strokes w/ a good bit of pressure. You don't want to torque the edge into the stone, just add pressure to the entire blade, then go back and do the same thing w/no pressure and test again.

Originally Posted by tiddle

You don't HAVE to start from scratch. Do your tpt and tnt tests, gauge your current level of sharpness, and go back to your 4k w/slurry and this time do 40 circles down and back and 10 x strokes w/ a good bit of pressure. You don't want to torque the edge into the stone, just add pressure to the entire blade, then go back and do the same thing w/no pressure and test again.

Sounds like a plan! I will go back & give it a try today & let you know how I make out. As for the Gold Dollar, I figured it was cheap enough where I wouldn't care if I destroyed it, but I may pick up another razor or two off of ebay to practice with. I have a Dovo that needs honing, but I don't want to do it myself so I may send it out to be honed.

Oh ha ha ha no wonder you couldn't get a bevel set, it's a gold dollar. One of the guys here had to grind down the shoulder to get it to hold an edge, but atleast you can get a feel for pressure vrs. no pressure, and if you torque that gold dollar no biggie, it probably wouldn't have been able to test shave anyway. Remember don't flex the blade, just apply downward pressure; I guess ummm almost like you are trying to sink the whole blade down into the stone keeping it flat...I hope that's understandable, it sounded better in my head atleast

Originally Posted by tiddle

Oh ha ha ha no wonder you couldn't get a bevel set, it's a gold dollar. One of the guys here had to grind down the shoulder to get it to hold an edge, but atleast you can get a feel for pressure vrs. no pressure, and if you torque that gold dollar no biggie, it probably wouldn't have been able to test shave anyway. Remember don't flex the blade, just apply downward pressure; I guess ummm almost like you are trying to sink the whole blade down into the stone keeping it flat...I hope that's understandable, it sounded better in my head atleast

No I completely understand! At first when I was trying to apply pressure, I kept lifting the toe of the blade up as I was pushing down on the heel, so I just need to practice even pressure across the whole blade. It really is a feel that you have to get used to!

The good news is that I wasn't even planning on shaving with the GD...I got it purely for honing practice, that's it. If I trash it, then no harm done. I couldn't imagine trying to learn this with my Dovo; I'd end up killing it!!

Search the term "JaNorton" there is a huge thread in here about using just the Norton 4/8 everyone from rank beginners to Lynn jumped onboard to put together a huge thread of info...

it takes some doing to read through it but I promise it will help

Originally Posted by gssixgun

Search the term "JaNorton" there is a huge thread in here about using just the Norton 4/8 everyone from rank beginners to Lynn jumped onboard to put together a huge thread of info...

it takes some doing to read through it but I promise it will help

thanks gssixgun! Yeah I watched the video you did for that thread, but I need to sit down & read the thread which I will hopefully gain some more knowledge from. I think I got the jist of what I'm supposed to be doing, but my technique leaves a lot to be desired!

I try to make all parts of wet shaving with a straight razor a Zen like experience. From honing to stropping to a relaxing hot shower to face lathering to shaving to caring for my blade post shaving. It's probably a bit easier for me, wife and i have separate bathrooms and shower areas, no kids about, and our golden retriever at 12 years old would rather stay in the zone
on his bed than make a fuss about anything except going for a walk a couple of times a day. The wife and I will be celebrating our 45th Wedding Anniversary in December so we learned a long time ago to respect each others personal privacy times.