Thread: Question about a not quite shave ready straight.

OK, I've been on here a lot lately asking for advice. So I hope I'm not wearing out my welcome.

I bought a straight from a guy in the forum and I'm pleased with the razor. It was supposed to come shave ready and it's almost there. But it tugs my beard something fierce and it's just not quite as sharp as it needs to be.
I don't mean to insult his honing skills or to imply he didn't sell me as advertised either. Just in case I'm giving that impression. Because he was a fantastic seller and it shipped promptly and was exactly as advertised. I'd buy from him anytime.
But it's just not quite dialed in for me. I stropped it 40 laps after the initial trial and it improved a lot. Then I gave it 8 laps on the red pasted, canvas side of my strop and that improved it a bit more.

Ok too much detail maybe. Should I just send it out to be honed or should I keep working on it with the pasted strop? And how many laps should I start out doing on the pasted strop. 8, 10, 50... somewhere in between?

Thanks to anyone taking time to read this and offer advice.

Is this a paddle strop and what grit is the "red paste" you're using?

The general answer I think is to keep using whatever you're using. Make sure you stop and strop on plain leather often or you'll go overboard. Use a wooden match to tear back the edge if you overhone. It easy with those pastes.

Then, if that fails, send it back to him and ask him to work on it a bit more. Or send it out.

You may also want to buy a stone.

Originally Posted by AFDavis11

Is this a paddle strop and what grit is the "red paste" you're using?

The general answer I think is to keep using whatever you're using. Make sure you stop and strop on plain leather often or you'll go overboard. Use a wooden match to tear back the edge if you overhone. It easy with those pastes.

Then, if that fails, send it back to him and ask him to work on it a bit more. Or send it out.

You may also want to buy a stone.

Its a dovo strop with the cloth side pasted with red paste.

Is it your only razor ? You might get it with the strop and paste. If not send it back to the seller if he is willing and you have confidence in him or get it honed up by a pro and then if you want to learn honing get a few reasonably priced on ebay or in the classifieds and practice on those with a Norton or a Naniwa or whatever. If you aren't experienced at honing I wouldn't recommend your only razor being the one you practice on.

Just for the heck of it you might want to take a look at the edge under magnification. An eye loupe or better yet one of those hand held radio shack type microscope @ 60 or 100x would tell you something about the integrity of the edge at this stage of the game.

When I first started looking at edges with magnification I was surprised to find micro chipping in razors that shaved but felt rough and pulled. If you have a good view of the condition of the edge you'll know what you need to do with it.