I'd like to know
1. The grind
2.The steel (carbon or stainless)
3. Your finishing method if something unusual
My Sharpest is a Wacker 6/8 wedge, carbon steel. Done on my Nakayama. But I'm curious if we see any patters.
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I'd like to know
1. The grind
2.The steel (carbon or stainless)
3. Your finishing method if something unusual
My Sharpest is a Wacker 6/8 wedge, carbon steel. Done on my Nakayama. But I'm curious if we see any patters.
I think it might be my George Savage & Sons 8/8 wedge. I didn't hone that one myself, so I'm not exactly sure what she was finished on.
My blades off my Asagi are also very sharp - a Fily 14 (full hollow, carbon steel), a Red Imp 133 (full hollow, carbon steel), and... I forget which other one I finished on my Asagi... maybe it was only two...
Oh, my big Greaves took one hell of an edge off JoeD's escher. Thats another huge wedge (17/16, carbon steel).
This is a hard question to answer. If i had to chose it would be between my 8/8 froduer spanish poin full hollaw or my 8/8 wade and butcher wedge. Thats sucker you could drop hairs on all day and they would pop. Previously i had been finishing on a shapton 12 k. Recently i purchased a grey escher. That was the difference maker. I thought i was doing something wrong but once i got my hands on that thing my edges improved greatly.
So far my LeGrelot 6/8" 1/4, not honed by me though.
Tough call. I have 3 that stand out from the rest, a 8/8 Spanish point hollow grind Dorko, 8/8 wedge Joe Chandler and my new production Heribert Wacker 6/8 silversteel wedge. That Wacker is the big surprise of the bunch. Super edge and shaves like a million.
Mine is a 6/8 Wade and Butcher Celebrated Fine India Steel Razor. It is a 1/4 hollow and is finished on a Chosera 10000 and a very fine coticule. The Chosera for keeness and the coticule for smoothness.
Next would be my Ellis Hybrid, which is probably a suped up wapi (1/2 hollow 11/16). What Bill does to them I do not know but it remains in the top few.
That does not surprise me a bit. I have two Wackers, and they are both great.
My sharpest razor; that vary from week to week, mostly due to honing.
Right now I would bet it's my Mastro Livi 8/8, honed by Lynn.
My top three (definitely ranked, but it was tough, so I'll give you three instead of one):
First: J. A. Schmidt and Sohne, Solingen, 6/8 extra hollow, honed by Utopian, splits atoms but you can't even feel it!
Second: Friedr. Baurmann and Sohne, Solingen, 4/8 1/4 hollow, honed by hi_bud_gl, couple touch up by me, the best being on a Nakayama, smooth and comfortable
Third: FWE Leader, Solingen, 6/8 extra hollow, honed using cot with slurry, bbw with slurry, bbw without slurry, coticule without slurry, and finished on a Thuringen, smooth and comfortable
Currently, my sharpest tool in the shed is my 6/8 Le Grelot 1/4 grind Carbon steel, though not sharpened by me but by Martin at Rasurpur. Would have to ask him what hones he uses.
An extra hollow carbon steel finished on plain leather (pretty usual I guess)
(I know you didn't ask, but it's an ivory handled heljestrand - thanks, Chris!)
before its first shave (for me), it went through a full procedure: dmt 600, belgian blue, coticule, nakayama, chromium oxide on leather, dressed linen, plain cowhide, and finally plain roohide
As I go through and rehone my 1/4 hollow and wedge (same steel, same maker) the wedge comes noticably sharper every time. Why don't we have any modern wedges being made?
One thing that seperates the wackers in my opinion is the steel is harder.
I have a friodur 8/8 inox and I love the way that steel responds to the hones. Hollow grinds just don't do it for me but oh how I love the steel on these clevers.
Keep it going, what else? I've not heard of some of these razors being mentioned and they are beauty's.
It's really a toss up between the first two:
Plain label Solingen purchased from and sharpened by Rasurpur. It's made of carbon steel and is a full hollow. He finishes with an 8k or 12k Naniwa and TI sharpening paste.
RasurPur Online Shop - The finest tools for a perfect shave
My Hess is a 1/4 hollow, stainless steel and sharpened by Utopian. Utopian said he usually finishes with, "20 to 50 strokes on a Nakayama Asagi."
The third sharpest is my 1/4 ground, carbon steel, Le Grelot sharpened by Rasurpur.
I've maintained them all with Chrome Ox.
My sharpest is the Filarmonica 14 Para Barbas Duras, honed by Max to perfection. My second most is a Puma 222 5/8 sharpened by some dude on eBay (sounds crazy, right?).
Interesting...
But you did say sharpest right???? Not what's you favorite shaver???
By far, not even in the same realm in sharpness are just about any of my USA's made in NY
The Kinfolks or the Geneva might be the tops of that bunch but it is a close group...
Oh all of them are carbon steel extra hollow grinds...
Like I said this is for pure wicked mean sharpness....
A Fillie 14 I honed, a Wonderedge by Glen, RW HCS honed by RW, and a TI 7/8 honed by Chris Ellison. All full hollows, with hard steel.
Not only are they sharp, but they hold the edge.
It's is a real tough call. I keep everything shave ready, but if I have to pick one razor, it's actually my Wonderedge's, Each are finished on a Nakayama. They are scary sharp....then my Livi.....
I've gotten razors honed by some of the leading honemiesters and I would say from the results of my shaves I am a fair hand at honing myself but there is 'always a faster gun' and many are faster than me. I would love to say that my sharpest razors are some that I have honed but, living up to my avatar, I cannot say that.
I bought two razors on ebay from a seller known as Cedarfurnitureman. He is a young man from Mississippi named Quinton. He is a forum member as well and his screen name is Razor Talkin. His vocation is making custom furniture out of .... you guessed it..... Cedar wood and his passion is restoring straight razors.
These two razors, bought in separate auctions, are the sharpest I've encountered out of somewhere over 150 that I now have. They happen to be a Shumate Tungsteel and a pre-Dovo Bismark but I'm convinced that it wouldn't matter what brand they were if Quinton honed them.
I was so impressed with the edges that I contacted him and I've spoken to him at length on his honing. I expected to find out that Quinton has many Eschers, Coticules, Nakayamas and such exotic stones and uses some secret techniques. To my surprise he uses a Norton 1k for bevel setting and follows that with the standard Norton 4/8 pyramid he learned from Lynn's posts on the old Yahoo SRP group. He finishes with diamond paste on Balsa with 1.0, 0.5, and 0.25.
I am fond of the expression that it ain't the arrow, it's the Indian. Quinton is the personification of that old adage. With all of our searching for the ultimate sharpening stones and trying this or that method he is getting razors as sharp IME as they can be gotten with that boring old workhorse the Norton 4/8 pyramid .... and a hell of a lot of skill.
Edit; Speaking of the skill, upon Quinton explaining his method I've tried to duplicate his results on my hones and I ain't there yet.:) I'm going to keep at it though.... you're not a loser until you quit.
That is neat Jimmy, thanks for sharing it
Too bad I can't trade hones for skill
You know Jimmy, That sounds similar to Bob Keyes, aka Altima55. He's very basic, Norton's, Nothing fancy, but he does use Diamond Pastes. He has given me some of the sharpest blades I've ever come across. The thing is, some are too sharp for me shave with comfortably. That's a big factor. Sometimes, sharpest, is not the best. At least for me. I cannot use .25 diamond. I can tell you just by shaving if a razor has been honed on .25 diamond.
I have heard that the 0.25 leaves a harsh edge and that is why the finest DP I have is 0.5 but Quinton's edges are comfortable for me and still about as good after 4 shaves each razor as they were when I got them. I've heard about Altima55 but I've yet to buy a razor from him.
I might add that razors I've gotten from a guy named Lynn Abrams are also some of the sharpest I've ever cut a whisker with. :)
Well, I think any of these could be my sharpest but RIGHT NOW:
McPherson 'The famous Frass' 6/8, full hollow, carbon steel. First razor I ever honed, honed with the one coti method and it's mean but I don't use it often.
Wilkinson 4/8, Full hollow, carbon steel. 2nd razor I ever honed, one coti method, gets used a lot and needs touching up. Beats every razor I own when it's at it's best.
Crown Cutlery, 9/16, full hollow, carbon steel. Took a killer edge.
And the big surprise was 'le petit', quarter hollow, carbon steel. It's a 4/8 with a cutting edge of 2 1/4, get's used all the time and took a wicked edge.
I would have to say my Dubl Duck Goldedge.
Honing progression:
1200 grit - bevel
Norton 4k/8k pyramid
Chinese 12k
Chromium Oxide
Strop
All my razors are equally sharp. And to choose one razor it's very difficult.Quote:
What is your sharpest shaver?
6/8 full hollow shumate 0125
carbon I think
sharpened on a couple combo hones unknown origin and grit and finished on a unmarked barber hone. stroped on a bare paddle
It is my silent hair assasin.
A C-Mon Wedge (more like a 1/8-hollow). DMT D6EE, barber hone, and stropped on a 1 1/4" latigo hanger.
Vintage Iwasaki size 1...Probably Swedish carbon steel.
Scary sharp, honed by my barber.
Next up is probably my Wapi, 6/8 1/4 grind (?) honed by our very own Hoglahoo...how'd you do that, man?
Thanks for the post Jimmy, it really struck a chord with me. I think we all get in a frenzy to get the ultimate piece of rock and a razor made from ubersteel, in our quest for the ultimate edge. Don't get me wrong I enjoy the quest and journey towards shaving Nirvana, but it is nice to be reminded simple methods and a good skill set is all that is really needed.
Charlie
Visi...
My sharpest shaver is a 7/8 Henckels Friodur square point which I honed myself. I'll be dipped if I can remember the progresson of hones responsible for the edge, but I can say that because of a slight hiccup in the edge, which I wanted out, I started with some very coarse stones and worked the bevel very aggressively - for a long time. It's now all better: straight, beautiful, and sharp. And it shaves like a dream, but chicken that I am, I still prefer a round point. Among the reasons for this is that I bravely shave my whole face (no decorative hair islands, such as a moustache or goatee, to navigate around) and don't really need, or use, the sharp corner for any detailing. ";"
I have a couple of new razors coming (major RAD) which promise to shame the Friodur(s) for sharp. This RAD thing is probably better ranked as a colonel or general RAD.
:tu
Probably my Spanish razors, all hollow ground, because I love them so much and honed them to try to reach that ultra-sharpness.
My Filarmonica's where honed using my regular progression and finished with CrO pasted paddle strop.
As for my Palmera, well, I did an experiment last week and it took a wicked edge. I have a couple of vintage JOSMON pastes (the paste manufactured by Jose Monserrat, maker of Filarmonica razors) and they are like brown crayons. I smeared one a little bit with some drops of neatsfoot oil to make it easier to apply on the strop. Now my paddle strop has CrO on one side (green) and JOSMON on the other side (brown). I don't know the grit of JOSMON paste, but in order to avoid ruining the fine edge of the blade I did 30 laps on each, first the JOSMON, then the CrO, the result was an edge almost too sharp. It is less forgiving than the Filarmonicas, but slightly sharper.
Right now, it's my SS Dovo (1/2 hollow), finished on a vintage BBW/coti combo I inherited. But that could change soon, it's almost time to touch up m astrale!
Cheers!
I have to override my previous post in this very same thread. My LG 1/4 hollow has no longer the Crown of "Sharpest Blade" in my rotation.
Since it was honed by Martin at Rasurpur, the sharpest straight I have (and it is scarily sharp) is my Custom Joe Chandler. The blade is American-made Carbon steel, about 5/8+ and 1/4 hollow grind. Have no idea what Martin uses to hone and to finish up, sorry. But he is very good at it. Next time this very same blade needs to be honed, I will try to send it over to Lynn.
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.