Thread: First hone

Hi everyone, I have just acquired a John Watts straight razor and had it restored and honed by theinvisibleedge. However, I am finding shaving with it really quite painful (even after stropping)! I am thinking i need to buy a hone to touch it up again maybe. Not sure if it is just a bad razor, i have ruined the edge with incorrect stropping, it wasnt honed enough or my technique is bad

What would people recommend.....a norton 4k/8k or a naniwa 12k?

did you shave with it before stropping when you first got it back? some folks strop the razor before sending it back so that when you get in the mail it is completely ready for a shave. you might want to contact the vendor for suggestions.

if all you are doing is touch up then the 12k or any other finishing stone is a good choice.

enjoy,
jim

Thanks for your reply! it came back stropped and i didnt have a strop at that point, so i just went ahead and had a go at shaving with it. It is definately sharp because it takes hairs off my arm easily, but hurts and pulls on my face.

If i go for a 12k Nani, do i need to know how it was honed previously or can i go straight in and hone it?

The Invisible Edge doesn't use tape so you can go straight ahead and hone it. They do ship their razors shave ready and stropped so if it hurts and you're getting a lot of pulling it's either your technique or you dulled the edge stropping it. If you're new to honing (likely, since you don't have a hone) make sure you read up and watch the videos on honing before trying to touch it up as it's quite possible you'll make it worse. Go easy with a light touch.

A second alternative (assuming you can afford it) would be to buy another inexpensive but shave ready razor (whipped dog has very affordable ones that come shave ready) and shave with it a few times without stropping it. This will give you another frame of reference.

Good luck!

I have to ask if your first shave was OK and then the performance dropped off in consequent shaves after you stropped it? If it did then that would be a sign that you have dulled it with poor stropping technique. Using too great an angle on the blade can add discomfort too. You could try using about 1 spine width gap between face and spine and adjust from there.

A Naniwa 12000 or any other good finishing hone would be good for touch ups. If it needs more work than that to bring it back you will need more hones in courser grades. If you decide to hone yourself get a practice razor to learn on so you don't mess the edge up on your good one.

Bob