Not Sharp or Just Not Very Good?

Hello- I received a new Ralf Aust 6/8 Spanish tip this week for Father's Day. This is only my second razor as I only started shaving with a straight six months ago.

My other razor is a Cattaraugus Cutlery Barber's Friend that was my wife's grandfather's. I had it honed here in Munich by someone I think knows what they're doing. I haven't had any major problems, but since this is the only razor I've used I didn't have much for comparison-until now.

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

Definitely have the old one honed. If the blade is in good shape you should get years of use out of it.

We often say to have one professionally honed as a base to judge other honing on. It is fortunate yours shaves but may have been smoother when you started, you just don't remember.

Send it out for honing.

I agree with the above, you must have the other razor honed. Maybe the Ralf Aust is a better razor, maybe it isn't, but for a fair comparison, the other should be honed. Glad you enjoy them.

Cattaraugus Cutlery is a blade favored by many. I would expect that you will find it a completely different shave after having it honed. I have no idea how long you have shaved with it before now, also new users tend to be a little hard on edges. It does take a bit to get on top of your technique. I would have it honed and take another run at it. It is possible that the old blade had encountered something in it's life that left it incapable of holding a shaving edge, but it is so worth trying to have it fixed.

Something else you might consider is the stropping. When I was first starting out (and sometimes even now) I didn't have a good stropping technique developed, tended to have too much pressure and over-used the linen. This caused my edges to deteriorate quickly and made me think it was a bad blade or wasn't honed right. So, yes you should get it honed then check if stropping has anything to do with it. Good luck, keep at it.

Have it honed. There should not be any other reason it will not give a nice comfortable shave. It all comes down to the edge.

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I agree with all the replies. Send it out and get it honed. You have a piece of family history there that is worth the effort and expense. It might surprise you how it shaves once it has been honed by a pro. I am guilty of stropping the edge off of a good razor. Watch some videos and keep asking questions. Either way Enjoy The Shave!

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.

Thanks. It's good to know its a decent razor. I don't know much about them and I don't see them discussed much. I'll send it out and see how it compares after I know there's a good edge on it.

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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.

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Attachment 239779

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

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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.

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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. :gl:

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?

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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?

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

Quote:

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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?

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Quote:

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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

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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.

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Originally Posted by Utopian

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.

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Thank you for the clarification. I was pretty sure I understood what you were saying before, but I appreciate the extra clarification. It's good to know the razor is worth investing in and not damaged. That's exactly what I wanted to know. I suspected it wasn't as sharp as it could be, but without shaving with another razor and without the experience I couldn't be sure. As stated above, it's likely that it once had a good edge that I took off while learning to strop correctly.

Next step I'll send it out to a reputable honemeister and see how it compares. Thanks for the feedback and input. I'll update the thread when I have it back shaving again.