Thread: Get it honed or hone it myself?

I recently got an SR; still learning.

Sorry for the crappy cellphone picture. It says Egyptian on one side, and Jones Bros & Co Toronto on the other. Is meant to be shave ready and from a reputable source.

However, I'm pretty sure my blade should be sharper. I've tried the hanging hair test (pass), nail test (acceptable after stropping), thumb test(fails near the heel, acceptable near the tip) and obviously it fails the shaving test. I do stretch the skin and use a guillotine motion (works better than the scything motion for me), but it's still not sharp enough, because I've never managed to cut through hair easily, it always requires at least some force, and in coarser areas it won't even go through without significant force even when stubble is at it's shortest after multiple passes.

The question is not if the blade is dull, but if I could sharpen this razor using a chinese 12k or if I'd need smaller grits, and since I don't want to buy many kinds of hones, this implies sending the SR away to get it professionally honed. I don't doubt my capacity to learn to hone or to categorize the sharpness (sounds quite smug, I know), mostly I don't want to buy a full set of hones, but I'd prefer to avoid possible damage to the blade during travel and not having the blade with me to improve my technique while it's being honed.

If I get a hone, I'm planning to get this Whipped Dog Straight Razor Shaving Equipment

Hi coz and welcome! When I did a TNT (thumb nail test) I ruin the edge of the blade. That test is only done when setting a bevel. It may be possible to get the edge back with a finisher like the one you show from whipped dog, but I recommend that you send your razor out for honing by a professional with a reputation. When you get it, I would shave with it without stropping. This will show you the sharpness and smoothness of a proper shave ready blade. After this, you would have a bench mark to try on your own. Hope this helps Double O

Originally Posted by Double0757

Hi coz and welcome! When I did a TNT (thumb nail test) I ruin the edge of the blade. That test is only done when setting a bevel. It may be possible to get the edge back with a finisher like the one you show from whipped dog, but I recommend that you send your razor out for honing by a professional with a reputation. When you get it, I would shave with it without stropping. This will show you the sharpness and smoothness of a proper shave ready blade. After this, you would have a bench mark to try on your own. Hope this helps Double O

Yup, that's some good advice there!

Were you doing a thumb *nail* test or a thumb *pad* test? As Double O said the nail test can do very bad things to an edge.

Welcome to SRP!

One other thing. My first two month I got bad shaves, had to finish with a DE most of the times. It wasn't till the third month, when I started to get some good shaves. After six months, they started to get consistently good and after 9 month exceptionally good consistent shaves. My blades where all hone by pro's, until I started to hone six month into the journey. To this day, I some times wonder if the blade that doesn't get a good edge is my doing (honing) or the blades fault. In other words, how are you going to know if you are honing it right or it is your beginners shaving technic? By eliminating one variable you can concentrate in the other. Double O

I call troll. Otherwise.. do the aforementioned courses of action. Thumb nail test is ruiner and all along needed a real re-bevelment (as light as needed) and a real re-edge-enment. (or whatever-thats-called). Please re-define thumb test and how hard your defile the edge during it...

Does the OP's blade appear to be shortened or is it just me?

Hello and welcome to SRP!

If I were you I'd send it out for honing rather than doing it myself. As others have said, as soon as you ran that razor's edge over your thumb nail you damaged whatever level of fineness it had (if indeed it had any at all) and therefore some honing work is required unless you are prepared to tough out a bad shave with a (probably very) sub par edge.

Secondly, and this is a pedantic point on my behalf (and may not be considered true by others), a chopped up Chinese 12K natural is in no way, shape, or form, a Barber's hone. In my opinion a Barber's hone is something quite specific, and this item you link is not it. Quite honestly, do the "per stone" math: $15 for a quarter of a $35 stone? Even the vendor and creator of this frankenstien-esque hone creation is telling you not to do it. Besides which, it is well known that full-size Chinese 12K stones are quite slow cutters and the only thing that really makes them useful is their size. Quarter that size and you are just asking for honing headaches, again IMO.

On top of that, I suspect that this particular razor requires a lot more honing than could be achieved on a full size Chinese 12K.

So to reiterate, send it to someone to hone and avoid if you possibly can buying quartered Chinese 12K stones.

Good luck.

James.

Thanks for the welcomes!

I did both a thumb nail and a thumb pad test. I read the thumb nail test ruins the edge, only after I did it. Silly me.

The blade is not shortened in the pic, it just has, what I believe with my limited experience, to be an unusual shape near the heel.
I did both a thumb nail and a thumb pad test. Obviously the thumb nail test was a bad idea.

The shave I get now with an SR is slightly better than with a cartridge (which gives me ingrown hair at the bottom of the neck). I did help myself with a DE before, today I had just the second shave without using a DE at all.

I assume the blade can get a good enough edge, since it comes from a recommended source, so if I can't get it sharper I'd assume it's my technique.

Troll? I'm amazed that it's frequent enough in this forum that it is considered. I have a balsa strop with chromium and iron oxide, which improved the edge after I ran the test.

I appreciate the feed back on the Chinese 12K hone. I wonder, could I do retouch work with an 8k hone, or is it crucial to have a hone with a grit of 10k or more to get a very smooth edge?

Originally Posted by Coz

I appreciate the feed back on the Chinese 12K hone. I wonder, could I do retouch work with an 8k hone, or is it crucial to have a hone with a grit of 10k or more to get a very smooth edge?

I think you definitely can get a good shaving edge out of the 8k. As of lately, I been stoping on the 8k shapton glass and shaving, to see how I'm doing and progressing on my honing. Some blades have given me a very smooth and fairly close shaved, out of the 8k, no paste or anything else. Double O

I am shaving off a 8k hone and having no problems what so ever. Even at my beginner level. I figure after I have settled in and confident in knowing what a good shave is , then I can start to improve up the fine hone ladder of learning.