Thread: Greetings from the Ozarks of Missouri!

Hello,

I am glad I found this forum! I have for some time wanted to find someone knowledgeable in sharpening straight razors. I am a knife maker and strive to put the best possible edge on my knives. I have sharpened straight razors before but always felt like they could be better. I recently heard of using 0.5 micron CrO and I am looking for a supplier. Any help would be appreciated!

Thank You,

Patrick Roehrman

Welcome to the forum!

You will find tons of useful stuff here, and tons of helpful members! Take a look around the forum and get familiar with the different subforums and it is always good to start by looking around in the library here.
Yes, .5 CrO is useful to give the razor a smoother edge. But a good leather strop is needed in any case. I cant help you with any supplier, bought mine from the bay here in Europe somewhere... But Im sure someone will help you with that too.

Please note, honing a straight razor is NOT the same thing as sharpening a knife really sharp. There are threads here where you can discuss knives too, but it is not the same thing as a straight razor. Just something to keep in mind!

Cheers and welcome!

Thank You,

Originally Posted by JackeHj

Welcome to the forum!
Please note, honing a straight razor is NOT the same thing as sharpening a knife really sharp. There are threads here where you can discuss knives too, but it is not the same thing as a straight razor. Just something to keep in mind!

Cheers and welcome!

Just read the article on scienceofsharp, great article. Confirmed some of what I had suspected, I teach others to sharpen knives in a traditional Japanese manner of edge trailing once the bur is formed. Pretty neat to see some great photos of the edge and what is happening.

One of my main curiosities is can someone actually cut a hair by dropping it on a razor. I have heard plenty of old-timers say they have seen it done but never ever seen someone actually able to accomplish it. I feel like I can achieve levels of sharp that most cannot but have never been able to do that. I figured if anyone could it would be someone who really knows how to sharpen a razor.

I truly believe for the most part, we have lost skills over the years not gained them.

Originally Posted by MTKnives

One of my main curiosities is can someone actually cut a hair by dropping it on a razor. I have heard plenty of old-timers say they have seen it done but never ever seen someone actually able to accomplish it. I feel like I can achieve levels of sharp that most cannot but have never been able to do that. I figured if anyone could it would be someone who really knows how to sharpen a razor.

I truly believe for the most part, we have lost skills over the years not gained them.

This is what we call a hanging hair test, HHT. I use it to check my razors when I hone them, it gives me a hint to how much work still needs to be done. When the hair pops depends on the hair. But if you use the same hair all the time you can develop a good feeling of the sharpness of the blade by doing the HHT. But it is not really an important test, the only way to really test a razor is to shave with it!

Hello Patrick. Welcome to Straight Razor Place!

Originally Posted by MTKnives

Thank You,


Just read the article on scienceofsharp, great article. Confirmed some of what I had suspected, I teach others to sharpen knives in a traditional Japanese manner of edge trailing once the bur is formed. Pretty neat to see some great photos of the edge and what is happening.

One of my main curiosities is can someone actually cut a hair by dropping it on a razor. I have heard plenty of old-timers say they have seen it done but never ever seen someone actually able to accomplish it. I feel like I can achieve levels of sharp that most cannot but have never been able to do that. I figured if anyone could it would be someone who really knows how to sharpen a razor.

I truly believe for the most part, we have lost skills over the years not gained them.

Yep, we have lost arts going away almost daily. Lynn Abrams might be able to drop cut a hair and a few others who are pro sharpeners/honers here on site, I would like to see it, the HHT works similar to the drop cut.
Almost forgot, Welcome to SRP and I make knives too..

Originally Posted by FAL

Yep, we have lost arts going away almost daily. Lynn Abrams might be able to drop cut a hair and a few others who are pro sharpeners/honers here on site, I would like to see it, the HHT works similar to the drop cut.
Almost forgot, Welcome to SRP and I make knives too..

Thank You,

I have been using the HHT and tree toping test for quite some times on my knives I try to have all my knives tree top before I send them out. Some may say that that is not good for a knife, but I try and use the best steels and ones that can take a finer edge. I still have a lot to learn, and I look forward to it I have never seen the drop test before. I have tried it several times, once or twice I got a hair to stick (if I had to guess I would guess that it cut part of the way through the hair). With the HHT I like to see how far I can cut out on the hair. Check out this video where I split a hair three times in the same spot

Originally Posted by JackeHj

This is what we call a hanging hair test, HHT. I use it to check my razors when I hone them, it gives me a hint to how much work still needs to be done. When the hair pops depends on the hair. But if you use the same hair all the time you can develop a good feeling of the sharpness of the blade by doing the HHT. But it is not really an important test, the only way to really test a razor is to shave with it!

But I don't shave Well at least I haven't for several years. I am fixing to shave my head though.

Hi and welcome. I would suggest Hand America or SRD for the crox.

Welcome, Patrick.