Thread: Straight razor sharpening and my Edge Pro - Pic intensive

I can sharpen an 8 inch chefs knife (Henkles) with DMT hones D8EC, C, F, EF, and EEF in a few minutes usually. Depending in the edge condition, I will omit one or more of the coarser hones.

I have a great deal of experience with the edge pro. I prefer hand honed edges for every sort if knife. The harder the knives get used the less I like the edge pro.

Reason bring, with hand honing I do NOT hold a perfect consistent angle. In fact, for harder use knives I intentionally add more variation thus imparting more convex nature to the edge.

Simply put, Convex edges will stand up to more abuse. I have proven this to myself with everything from pocket knives to competition blades (all of which are sharpened to pass HHT).

The ONLY blade I actually want a V edge on is a straight razor...but the razor itself comes with all the guide I need to accomplish a keen V.

YMMV but if you like straight shaving and the tradition associated with it, my guess is you will prefer sharpening kitchen knives free hand. Only you can really tell though.

I intend to play with convex edges at a later time with paper wheels. However, this is not a knife forum and I will continue to use my EP to get the edges that work for me.

As for the "tradition" associated with straight razors, I appreciate how men of yesteryear have shaved and understand what it entailed. A minimalist approach for the sake of shaving. In this case, for me, I want to approach it as a hobby and experiment which will take me wherever I decide to go.

Paper wheels certainly have their following, but they really are a poor tool for building a convex edge. They do work ok for maintaining a convex edge though.

I'm not trying to discourage you from using an EP on razors. I just think this conversation needs balance for others. The method may work fine, but so does a much less expensive norton stone and it requires none of the other pomp and circumstance.

I'm not trying to sell anything here, just conveying the fact that there are many ways to hone, and more expensive highly elaborate methods have not been demonstrated to be superior in any point in history (as evidenced by the widespread use of stones and hones). However, some of the guided razor hones through history certainly are interesting to study.

I have had "LOTS" of conversations with paper wheel guys. Most knife guys think they are the cats meow, but veteran razor honers know that they ARE NOT for razors. Most knife guys don't understand "razor-sharp", but all razor guys understand "knife-sharp". Proof is in the pudding, all it takes is sending a shave ready razor to a knife guy and see if he can duplicate the edge...been there and done that.

Originally Posted by shooter74743

I have had "LOTS" of conversations with paper wheel guys. Most knife guys think they are the cats meow, but veteran razor honers know that they ARE NOT for razors. Most knife guys don't understand "razor-sharp", but all razor guys understand "knife-sharp". Proof is in the pudding, all it takes is sending a shave ready razor to a knife guy and see if he can duplicate the edge...been there and done that.

I agree. Paper wheels are not ready for razors. I would not try them on a razor.

Regarding pomp and circumstance. Perhaps poor choice of phrase. Use of a digital level to duplicate angles just seemed like a lot of extra work considering the blade has a "free" angle management system built right in (and it requires no batteries or calibration even after centuries of use)

Hello everybody. I decided to start shaving with a straight razor a few days ago. That includes sharpening them myself. I've been working on my knife sharpening for about 5 years and have had the EP for over 3 years. So of course I wondered if the EP would be useful for razors. This thread has answered most of my questions. As with knives it will boil down to what one person prefers. The final edge is really the only thing that matters. Since I've never touched a razor to stone before I'll be trying about everything I can. I also have been used to using the EP (for knives) to profile an edge but for the final touch up for sharpness I use free hand. Free hand or EP both work, it's just what you prefer I think.

@Unit. Did I see videos of you chopping 2x4s and such in two in your garage or someplace 2 or 3 years ago? Did you try chopping rolling tennis balls? The person in the video was just getting iinto chopping contests I think. If that is you, I enjoyed the videos and enjoy the obsession in getting a sharp edge but I still wonder "what is it about a sharp edge that makes grown men act like they (we) do?"

I still haven't touched razor to stone but will be doing that tonight. I got a cheap razor on ebay to start with. No sense in destroying an expensive item. Wish me luck. After I turn the edge into a hacksaw blade I plan to shave with it.

Jack

I took this WJ razor and laid it flat on the EP table with full intentions of sharpening it using the spine as the stone guide.



I marked the blade and spine with sharpie and did some passes.

Here is the angle progression.

17.20 degrees (flat on EP table) - one side is almost cutting to the edge. The other side is no where close. Why is this?

"Uneven spine wear. Angle change."

I continued with the following settings until I reached a good angle that had bevels going to the edge.

17.30, 17.40, 17.50, 17.80, and finally 18.00.

With 18.00 both sides of the razor were being honed to the edge. And what do you know? The spine is not being touched at all. Numbers don't lie. I could have honed down the spine and blade edge to match the other side of the razor, but I did not want to waste the time. Uneven spine wear is not a misconception.

The honing progression was as follows:

1k stone
2k, 3k, 6k tape
.5 micron Chom-ox on balsa
.3 micron tape
.25 diamond spray leather strop
Homemade EP leather strop.

When I was doing the HHT after the .25 step, the razor was cutting but not as crisply as my other razors. After the leather stropping on the homemade strop the razor was passing the HHT with flying colors.

I did a test shave this evening with minimal prep and only using the Bigelow soap, no preshave oil. This razor sings when cutting whiskers. My oldest daughter was watching me shave and commented on how loud the razor was. My other razors sound like velcro being ripped apart. This one has a definite tone to it.

m-

Mario

You could have used tape on the spine to get the same result on regular hones. Just a different way of doing it.

Bob

This thread is still going on ? Can't imagine why .........