Thread: Lost on a stormy sea without a paddle or compass

It is not a problem at all and you are very welcome. There's not enough kindness in this fast paced, technology focused world.

At the end of the day, the most important way to evaluate anything involved with straights is shaving with them. Staying within a tight budget is a very respectable endeavor. Many gems have been found in antique stores for very cheap. You may want to read through the "Butchered Blade" thread to see some incredible things that people have done with poorly treated razors.

The "Go Advanced" takes you to a screen that has more options above the box that you type into. I never use it. I typically use the green "+ Reply to Thread" button at the bottom of the page or I will use "Reply with Quote" that shows up at the bottom of a specific post if I am going to respond to something someone else wrote.

One thing I forgot to mention in my previous post. You also referenced a "50,000" grit hone. As far as I am aware, there are no hones produced or mined that would be rated that highly. Whether the seller swindled you, didn't know what they were selling or was swindled themselves doesn't really matter. If you can take a picture of the stone, it may help people to identify what you actually have. On the other hand, if it works as a finisher or pre-finisher, it doesn't really matter what the name or grit rating is.

Dinner Mint: Thank you for the response. I guess I always felt a bit odd about a 50,000 grit. Kind of feel foolish having mentioned it, even the jacking around about the Arkansas stones I purchased. guess I don't even know if they are really Arkansas stones or not. I simply assume it is because it is labeled as such. Guess I should just keep my narrative shut. I have no expertise about straight razors or its accouterments. Despite my years of using one I never ventured into any in-depth study about them, I just use them to shave with, and I attempt at best to sharpen them. I must say that in my beginnings I really had a difficult time in sharpening one. An old alumni friend was a barber and he explained to me how he was taught in barber school, and from there my blades did sharpen up. Then I recognized I needed stones to get them to a higher level of sharpness. I went Japanese stones; even with them I had a time of getting them sharp. All of my sharpening is by instinct rather than any particular educated skill. I don't know how my grandfather achieved it, but he would use a peddle powered wheel of some kind of stone. He sharpened everything with that grinding stone.
I also use lapping film in my sharpening. It is the last few steps before stropping them. I get the paper from "www.BestSharpeningStones.Com". They have a little insert that identifies the grit of the colors and there are pictures of microscopic results. According to them these lapping films produce the best possible edge, however, how does one know how many strokes should be applied? Again, I just go by intuition.
Thanks for your support and kindness. IT is much appreciated.

But you're here now, so you'll definitely learn more about them. That is the purpose of this forum. To learn about razors, maintain that knowledge and help those with using them. I wouldn't feel foolish about mentioning it, if you can gain more knowledge about the stone, it could help you achieve better edges. If your stones are marked as Arkansas stones, they probably are. However, I don't have any experience with those stones. Your best bet for identifying hones is to post pictures of them. If you have any problems, I can help you with that. I would argue strongly against keeping your trap shut. Just from what you have mentioned in your previous post, you work harder on your edges than many here.

However, having japanese stones is pretty nice. There are quite a few very knowledgeable people with regards to japanese stones. I have not purchased one and am hesitant about jumping into that rabbit hole.

Many people on here will use a loupe of 40x to 60x to monitor the scratch marks on the bevel. Once all the striations from the previous stone are removed while using the current stone, then proceed to the next step in your process. However, it is not necessary. Knowing how your razors react on your stones can be just as good, if not better than using a loupe. One other method I use to determine when I am finished with a stone, is water running up the blade with little to no pressure. This shows that there is a little gap between the blade and the stone, that no water can pass through.

Lapping film has been used with success by people on here as well. As far as quantity of laps, that will really depend on the razor itself and the previous stones used. However, your intuition is probably good through years of shaving with your own edges.

You have an impressive array of sharpening accessories and enough knowledge to use them. Don't sell yourself short.

You are very welcome and smooth shaves to you!

Dinner Mint: Be careful of your replies to me. I could become rather annoying and irritating. I shall assume a good night.