Thread: Honing a new razor

Honing a NEW razor ie Dovo / TI etc etc etc is a bit different then getting to experience an NOS edge...

You should relish the experience and do as little as possible to that edge for as long as possible and slowly learn what they did in the old days.. Many NOS razors were "Hair Tested" and they were quite Shave ready from the factory..

Rushing that razor onto the hones/pastes will lose that entire experience... Take it slow if at all possible

When I got the opportunity I did what I figure somebody would have done 100 years ago

I used the strop first shaved for 1 week
I tried using a Barber's Hone next two different ways for the next 2 weeks
I tried an Escher next and then finally after about a month of messing with the razor I broke out the full Shapton set and brought the razor into the 21st century

It was a fun experiment

Sounds good - if I had all that Also I'm not sure what NOS stands for

I'm also unsure of how to "check my bevel" or what I'm supposed to be looking for.

All I really have is the Norton and two sides of a balsa strop with Green CromOx (0.3 um) and Red IronOx (0.1 um).

Maybe I should have posted this in the Beginner's section. Sorry guys...

Your type of razor is often called Mint or NOS = New Old Stock

There is a slight difference between the two if you are being technical..
Mint is a used razor in perfect condition....
NOS is just what it sounds like, a razor built years ago, that is still un-used, and preferably still in the original packaging...

Nos new old stock if I am not mistaken

If you are not yet sure how to check the bevel and edge under good light and magnification, for example a 10X loupe, then you are about to embark on a journey when you don't know your starting point. If that blade were mine, I would leave it alone until I figured out what its present condition is. Meanwhile, as I did, I would learn to hone on flea market razors that you cannot do damage to. Once you get one of those shaving, you will have learned enough to transfer those skills to a quality blade. At first honing is just making mistakes and learning from them. I would suggest you do that on a razor of little value and move on from there.

If it was me, I'd get it properly honed from scratch and that way you know that you are getting a truly shave ready razor that you will know how to maintain. Your razor might have a micro bevel that shaves a little bit but until a proper bevel is set, will never be truly shave ready.

lol ok. Well I actually got this razor with that very idea. I didn't expect it to be in perfect shape like it is. Then I read another thread about how it's a shame to buy an old razor for the purposes of learning to hone... Back to the bay I guess lol...