Thread: Not Sharp or Just Not Very Good?

Originally Posted by JimmyHAD

Just for reference if you could post a photo of the blade on the Cattaraugus I'd like to see the condition before recommending the pro honing. That is a well regarded brand, so it should be a good shaver. Uneven hone wear could be an issue.

Not sure if this photo is sharp enough to see it clearly. Let me know if not and I'll try to take another.

I haven't ran into but one Cattaraugus razor and if memory serves me right it took a great edge. Some very hard steel. I'd sent it in for honing, should make for a great shaver

Originally Posted by Thomptd65

Not sure if this photo is sharp enough to see it clearly. Let me know if not and I'll try to take another.

I can't really judge the spine but the blade profile looks good. If there is no uneven wear on the spine it is probably fine. I would send it out and see what it shaves like with a pro honed edge.

Well, the photo does not show the bevel very well, but if you enlarge it and sharpen it a bit, you can clearly see, the hone is riding on the tang, well past the end of the heel’s edge.

This is keeping the heel off the stone and caused excessive wear on the spine over the heel, when more pressure was used to try to force the heel on the stone. This has resulted in rough deep stria on the heel. Hard to see if the bevel at the heel is complete, but I doubt it.

There is also excessive hone wear on the spine at the toe, but the toe bevel is not in the photo.

If a razor is honed with a stabilizer or tang keeping the heel off the stone, fully half the bevel may be incomplete and will not shave well.

The honer, must be experienced in honing razors. This type of needless wear is typical of Knife honers.

Could just be the ergonomics and the size of the Aust blade fit your style better. Could also be the quality of the honing. Aust does great honing on his blades as does Ulrich of Koraat.

The razor is fine.

There is nothing wrong with it nor there is any indication of it having been honed incorrectly. Hones don't ride on tangs. If someone were honing very very badly the tang might make contact with the hone but there is no indication of that in the photo, as evidenced by 1) the intact bevel on the heel end of the blade and 2) no indication of wear on the tang. Regarding #2, if there had been any such wear, it would be visible in two locations. First, the junction between the two planes of the tang would be flattened out; but it is not. Second, the acute angle at the blade end of the tang opposite the spine would be worn down; but it is not. The wider spine at the heel is due to the original grind, not improper honing.

Extra hone wear at the point is extremely common. In fact several barbering manual recommended it for the creation of a smiling point. This razor has a trivial degree of extra wear at the point and it will have little to no impact on honing or shaving.

There is no indication of a knife honer having honed this razor.

Cattaraugus was one of several excellent razor makers in New York. If you get that razor honed properly, it should serve you very well for a long time.

Not a bad looking razor at all, has a lovely smile to it. Should shave as good as a RA or better with a proper honing.

“The razor is fine.

There is nothing wrong with it nor there is any indication of it having been honed incorrectly.”

“If you get that razor honed properly, it should serve you very well for a long time.”


Good Lord, man, which is it?

Do you even read what you write?

Originally Posted by Euclid440

“The razor is fine.

There is nothing wrong with it nor there is any indication of it having been honed incorrectly.”

“If you get that razor honed properly, it should serve you very well for a long time.”


Good Lord, man, which is it?

Do you even read what you write?

I stand by what i wrote. There was nothing unclear about it.

Originally Posted by Euclid440

“The razor is fine.

There is nothing wrong with it nor there is any indication of it having been honed incorrectly.”

“If you get that razor honed properly, it should serve you very well for a long time.”


Good Lord, man, which is it?

Do you even read what you write?

Originally Posted by Thomptd65

I was blown away by how much better the new razor shaves than my old one. Smoother I guess is the best way to describe it. Is this because the new razor is that much better or is my old razor just not sharp enough? I guess what I'm asking is it worth it to send the old one out to have it honed by someone I know will do a good job or is it just not a great razor? Thanks in advance, -Troy

Given that I do in fact read what I write...

Troy, for your sake I will clarify this latest semantic distraction.

"There is nothing wrong with it nor there is any indication of it having been honed incorrectly.”

As I wrote before, the razor is fine. That means that it is structurally intact. Previous honing has not caused it any sort of harm as had been claimed. If you spend much time looking around this forum, you will see instances in which razors have been badly harmed by incompetent or inexperienced (dare I say "incorrect") honing. Your razor showed no sign of this. Your razor still has the potential to be a great shaver because it has not been honed incorrectly.

“If you get that razor honed properly, it should serve you very well for a long time.”

"is my razor just not sharp enough?"

Just because previous honers did not damage the razor with incorrect honing, that does not mean that the most recent honer sharpened your razor to its pull potential. If he had, and if your razor had shaved well, then that would suggest that the razor had been honed properly and would have been "sharp enough." Because it apparently is not shaving as well as your Aust razor, there is a good chance that it will shave you better if you have someone else hone it properly.