Thread: cant get my razor-razor sharp!

dont apologize.you say i have destroyed the edge-but when i recieved my razor back from being sharpned i only stropped 50 passes onthe leather ,shaved and then 25 passes again only on the leather after drying it then put it away.
It was only after a few shaves that i felt the blade pulling that i tried the pasted strop,followed bythe aloxite.
I dont need to be told that i am doing something wrong- i need guidence as towhat i need to be doing with what i have to put things right.
Your suggestion of sending it away may be correct but i need to know whati did wrong before resorting to sendingitaway and making the same mistake.
I seethat you restore,and sell razors-your probably very good at what you do-please try and have patience with people that are less knowledgable as yourself.
After all isnt this website set upfor this very purpose?

Originally Posted by clock

dont apologize.you say i have destroyed the edge-but when i recieved my razor back from being sharpned i only stropped 50 passes onthe leather ,shaved and then 25 passes again only on the leather after drying it then put it away.
It was only after a few shaves that i felt the blade pulling that i tried the pasted strop,followed bythe aloxite.
I dont need to be told that i am doing something wrong- i need guidence as towhat i need to be doing with what i have to put things right.
Your suggestion of sending it away may be correct but i need to know whati did wrong before resorting to sendingitaway and making the same mistake.
I seethat you restore,and sell razors-your probably very good at what you do-please try and have patience with people that are less knowledgable as yourself.
After all isnt this website set upfor this very purpose?

But you are doing something wrong, that is what you need to know, you either
1. Stropped wrong
2. Shaved wrong
3. cleaned the edge wrong
4. prepped wrong

And it isn't a mater of patience you need to know that the problem is most likely in your hands, not the razor, I know this from what you have written so far...

"The razor shaved good then you did something and now it doesn't shave good anymore".. That 100 % tells me that it is in your hands -OR- the razor is of substandard quality and will not retain an edge... You have no way of knowing that in fact only a real expert would be able to figure that out in any reasonable time frame...

Now what else tells me that you haven't done your part is the "300 laps on a barbers hone".. No where, not one spot, anywhere on this entire site, will you find the words "Do 300 laps them try to shave" off any barber's hone, in fact on almost any hone, except maybe an Arkie but that is one of the reasons why we don't recommend them for razor except to experts with them...

This entire site is set up to help newbs, but you have to do your part and read the beginners sections..

I may have had some part in destroying the edge.

The Dovo "green paste" is way, way coarser than I assumed -- it's 5 microns, which is (very roughly) 5000 grit. That's coarse enough to degrade a bevel, and would give an edge too rough for good shaving.

I assumed that it was made with chromium oxide, which runs about 0.5 micron, and _is_ useful for "edge tuning" (after honing) on a pasted strop.

My apologies --

Charles

The 300 strokes on the Aloxite also could have caused chipping on the edge. A barber hone is, for the most part, intended to be used just for touch ups, using just 4 to 6 strokes at a time.

Glen's telling you what you did wrong WAS a way to give you guidance. Trust me, even if we don't necessarily always do it in the most sensitive manner, we are trying to help.

And I thought my sensitive side was showing

Awwww heck "clock",,, I'll be more sensitive, send the razor out here to me, and I'll see what is up with it, and re-hone it for you after I figure it out... The honing and analysis is on me, shipping is on you

Fire me a PM if ya wanna take advantage of the offer

The things that really jump out at me here are that your determination of the razor being sharp initially was based on a hanging hair test and shaving your chin for the first time with a straight razor. The HHT is not a reliable test for shave readiness and it can pre-dispose you to the assertion that a razor is not sharp when it is indeed shave ready. The chin should really not be attempted until you are really comfortable with shaving every other part of your face. Your chin is rounded and it is really hard at first to maneuver the razor keeping a cutting angle throughout the round part of the chin. This is normally why it tugs and scrapes as most people really are at a 45 to 90 degree cutting angle when shaving around the round part of the chin. It would not hurt to re-hone the razor and take on your technique a little at a time starting from the sideburn on your dominant hand side down to the jaw with short little strokes and longer clean up strokes. Then the cheek, the other side, the neck and on the chin, I recommend breaking it up into sections like under the lip, the sides of the chin and the round part last.

You definitely way overdid it with the barber hone as normally 5-6 strokes are plenty to refresh a razor. Next time, try just stropping and working on your technique before any corrective measures without getting some help or advise and there is plenty on the forum and in the wiki.

Good luck,

Lynn

Originally Posted by clock

I dont need to be told that i am doing something wrong- i need guidence as towhat i need to be doing with what i have to put things right.

Not likely you can put things right at this stage without some corrective honing. Take up Glen's offer of repair & focus on you stropping & shaving skills.

Your suggestion of sending it away may be correct but i need to know whati did wrong before resorting to sendingitaway and making the same mistake.

None of us were there to know what you did wrong initially but the most common mistakes in stropping are heavy pressure & mis-strokes that cause the edge to be rolled over or otherwise damaged while nicking the strop. You would not be the first person to have this experience so be patient with yourself

Thankyou for your offer.(respectfully decline )
I understand that using the aloxite for approx 300 strokes was excessive(even using lather).
The razor is still sharp,and i can still shave my whole face,i have no problen doing that.I know there is no where that says to use that amount of strokes,as i said i have only resently got the hone,my problem was that although i could and still can shave with my razor i felt that the edge still needed to have a finer/sharper edge to stop the pulling of hairs not just round my chin but on my cheeks etc.
I had originally only stropped carefully onleather before and after shaving but felt that the edge was not shaving its best.
only then did i use the pasted strop and then the aloxite.
I am open to all constructive critisism,its as i say i took care to do the stropping light touch,blade only pressure even strokes etc,these are things that i consider i was doing correct. The strokes on the hone i tried after,doing things on the leather and the pasted strop didnt bring the required results.
I thank everyone who has taken the time to write and i am sure that i will find a formula with what i have at my fingertips to eventully get the required result.
As they say practice makes perfect.
respectfully clock.
p.s. never laughed so much when you thought i was sensitive !!!
Just good manners and polite.

my problem was that although i could and still can shave with my razor i felt that the edge still needed to have a finer/sharper edge to stop the pulling of hairs not just round my chin but on my cheeks etc.

Remember that getting a good shave with a straight takes more than a sharp razor. You can give a beginner the best razor on the planet, and they will still experience pulling because their technique has not yet developed. However, if the razor is dull, that beginner will not be able to discern whether or not the fault lies in the razor, his technique, or both. This is why it is so important for a beginner to have a shave ready razor.

In addition, honing is also an art that takes time to develop the skill to do properly. If you are just learning how to hone and have nothing to compare your own work to then you won't know if you are getting your razor in a shave ready condition. Even a razor that isn't shave ready will be extremely sharp, so without experience or a professionally honed razor to compare your work to, how will you be able to tell if you have achieved shave readiness? The shave test won't work since you have yet to develop your shaving technique.

Since your razor has been through so much, if I was in your shoes I would send it off to be honed. You have a very generous offer by gssixgun, who is a reputable honer. Why not take him up on it simply to make sure your razor is in shave ready condition?

Originally Posted by clock

. . . my problem was that although i could and still can shave with my razor i felt that the edge still needed to have a finer/sharper edge to stop the pulling of hairs not just round my chin but on my cheeks etc.
I had originally only stropped carefully onleather before and after shaving but felt that the edge was not shaving its best. . . .

A suggestion (FWIW):

. . . If the edge is _almost_ right, try a pasted strop with a fine paste -- e.g. 0.5 micron Chromium Oxide.

In my limited experience, it can turn an "almost-shave-ready" edge into a "shave-ready" edge, quickly. I'm talking about 5 - 20 laps.

See here:

http://straightrazorpalace.com/strop...aste-when.html

and here:

What hone(s), paste(s), or spray(s) do I need? - Straight Razor Place Wiki

If you're stropping correctly on plain leather, and the razor is good, you should
only need _occasional_ use of the pasted strop.

Charles