Thread: What is your sharpest shaver?

Originally Posted by matt321

My LeGrelot 1/4 grind sharpened by Martin at Rasurpur.

I emailed him and asked how it was sharpened. He says he uses the Naniwa Superstones, TI paste on a narrow paddle strop, and then strops on the cordovan hanging strop.

Interesting.

Now that I'm joining the Naniwa Superstones cult, I'm curious to see the difference compared to my actual setup.

Mine is a TI that I finish on a 12K+

I think it's my Sheffield 6/8 wedge.

sharpest might be my 5/8 roundpoint simple $5 Robeson Nubak (and it doesn't cut my strop!)

I have several straights, all but two were professionally sharpened. They are all carbon steel. I have the following makes, Filarmonica, Double Duck, Dovo, Henckles, C-mon Cadillac, Thiers Issard and Wapienica. I purchased the Wapis from The Invisible Edge in England and were sent to me shave ready. All of my razors shave very well but the Wapis stand out as the best. They provide the smoothest, closest and most comfortable shave of any of my razors. They have stainless steel scales which makes them feel a little unbalanced since the scales are heavier than other materials. The Wapis are also not the most expensive razors I own.

My sharpest is F&L's Electric razor, so far it's leaps and bounds ahead of my other razors in terms of sharpeness

For pure just shaprness and not comfortability I'd have to say it was the Engstrom Frameback I gave to my brother in law from Sweden, that thing could cut hairs off your face without touching it.

As a side note, when I shaved with her, I hated it, felt like pure hell, the hairs were flying off but my face was screaming...totally uncomfortable to me atleast.


cheers
D

I don't think I have particularly sensitive skin but I agree with you sirshavesalot. I like "mild edges"- very sharp but not harsh- if I find an edge is harsh I'll strop it twice or thrice before I use it (like after the shave, the next morning, then before the next shave). I know that ten older members are gonna berate me for that (and I'm gonna put in the disclaimer that I'm a newb and have no grounds for that and it should not be seen as advice or a definitive statement) but I think it helps "break it in" and let it calm down a bit easier than on my face.... that's what I'm feeling in any case.

I've gotten to the point with my razor honing (was sharpening cutlery previously, razors are a little different) where I can make an edge too sharp.

It will shave well, but just too much bite to it. I think maybe that is part of the reason the Nakayama is so revered. Whatever it does to the edge, makes it very smooth.

Oh here we go again with the too sharp thing...

Once again razors only get so sharp, period...
The too sharp feeling is either a harsh finish that your face doesn't like or you overhoned the edge past it's maximum sharpness and the edge is rough... Now I am not saying that you might not have personal preferences like myself I don't like wedges and heavy blades because of the way they feel on my face but that is because of the stiffness of the edge not the sharpness...

Also I was noticing that some of you think that the stones and the person using the stones are going to make a difference in the edge of the razor... They will make a difference in the feel, but not the absolute sharpness of the razor... Only the razor, as in grind, and steel, is going to determine the absolute sharpness that each particular razor is capable of...

The absolute sharpness is really determined at around the 4k level on the stones after that you really are just finishing to a feel that your face likes ...
Undoubtedly some engineer type is going to talk about the last 1/100 - 2/100 microns of "sharpness" that you are going to get from 4k-30k+ but really in the grand scheme of things that isn't going to make a bit of difference to your hair...

I only say this for clarity for the newer guys...

Also that "harsh" to sharp feeling can be tamed exactly as Khaos just stated if it is the finish and not overhoned...