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I finish my honing on a coticule, and usually end up doing a few laps on the Chrome Ox paddle strop before putting a razor in my rotation.
I have come to the conclusion that my razors seem to improve with use and stropping (I give them 15 linen and 50 leather before each shave) and reach their peak somewhere between 5-10 shaves after honing.
Just curious, has any one else found this to be true? Is it just my honing isnt up to scratch?
Grant.
Well stropping does actually affect the edge in a process called burnishing. So any grooves left by the stone will be gradually polished away as you strop, effectively refining the edge until you reach that peak performance at around shave 7.
Thinking about it, pressure and low grit hones will leave deeper grooves in the bevel, so if you use a higher grit stone and/or less pressure the edges will be smoother right off the stones. So instead of it taking 7 shaves to get that sweet spot, you'll be there right from shave one.
Thats not to say anything is wrong with your honing though, it may also just be a case of your skin prefers the razors edge after a couple of uses once its mellowed out a bit...! Some people do prefer the edges after a couple of uses, with both DE's and straights.
I personally find that I really like the edges off my Maruichi, and finishing on other stones just doesnt deliver that sharp but soft edge I like. I also make sure I use only the weight of the blade on the higher grit stones to really get the edge as smooth as possible. I'm also a fairly heavy stropper, and I do 30 material and 60 leather before each shave, then 15 material and 25 leather afterwards.
But if you want to experiment theres a few things you can try;
- Less pressure on the hones, especially at the end of the honing process.
- More stropping after you finish on the CrOx, so do 30-40 material and 75 or even 100 on leather for the first stropping to get to that sweet spot faster. Then just do your normal stropping routine for each daily shave.
- Embrace the HAD and go on a quest to find that mystical Hone of Hones that delivers the best edge for you..! :D
Good luck and keep us posted!
Not to divert the thread, but I get my best shaves off my finishing hone and have a hard time telling the difference (currently can't) between that and finishing off chromium oxide pasted paddle strop. My best shaves are right off the hone (with some stropping of course) and then degrade from there. My first genuine foray into responsible maintenance of a dedicated single razor has left me with the impression I shouldn't even go past a week without refreshing. So I never really get to 8, 10, or 12 shaves in (for this particular razor anyway).
There is a very old thread on here where Poona and I are discussing this...
Here was a trick we used back then, Keep in mind we did not have anything but Nortons back then so we looked for every advantage we could find...
If you take your razor after the hones and get it as sharp as you can then strop how you strop then shave... Now take the razor back to the pasted strop and do that part of the routine again from the pasted to the linen to the leather... you will find a much smoother shave on the second shave...
I think basically the same thing happens over a few shaves the hair bangs the heck outta the edge then the strops smooth it up and then around shave 5 or so you get SMOOOOOOTH... but try the re-stropping routine and see what you think...