Thread: Old blade, new shave

Hi gang. Thought I'd pen my intro here since I have a nagging question anyway

I have looked around the forum and watched countless videos, read innumerable threads and cannot seem to find the answer.

I am trying to use my grandfather's pre-WWII Red Point, but I cannot seem to keep an edge on it. I have had it appraised and professionally honed (which I suspect was a waste of money given my results), and last weekend found a professional barber here in town who showed me the works.

My strop is new, but I have dressed it once and the barber showed me how to prepare it pre-shave as well as prep for the shave. Ironically, the easiest part for me is the shave itself, if the blade would retain an edge.

My routine: I steam the face well, then rub in cocoa butter, re-steam. Apply lather, and while it soaks in, I strop the blade about 40-50 times on the leather after rubbing in some lather to moisten the strop and give it some bite (the barber really made this happen, and the blade was sharp on the fingernail test). Re-steam the face and then re-apply lather, rubbing it in with my fingers. I gotta tell ya, my face feels great, but I cannot get the whiskers to come off - they laugh at the blade.

Any thoughts on if the blade is just too old, or if there's something else I can do to get this process going? The one time it has come close to working (after the barber prepped it), it was awesome and I will never go back to a store bought blade.

Thanks in advance!

This thread may help... http://straightrazorpalace.com/razor...nt-razors.html

That razor is supposed to be a good razor that can hold an edge. I'm not an experianced veteran at this by any means, but I have sharpened knives for a while, and also do my own straight razor now... I would tend to think that it either has something to do with who sharpened it (make sure that it was someone reputable for sharpening straight razors - preferrably one of the hone meisters on this forum), the stropping technique, or the shaving technique (not holding it at too steep of an angle, very light touch, etc.). The way you could check to make sure that it is not the blade itself's fault is by getting someone here to sharpen the blade, and then not doing anything to it once you receive it but shaving right away... see if it works for you. Then you would know that the edge is good and could focus on one of the other points.

Also, I have heard that the fingernail test is not a good test to do on straight razors because it actually damages such a thin, highly refined edge. Read the following post... someone actually posted a pic of how the fingernail test damages the edge.

http://straightrazorpalace.com/begin...tml#post671604

hope this helps!

Don't use the thumb nail test (in fact, any test other than the shave one) on a shave ready razor, it will blunt the edge. It's for testing if the bevel is set and that's it. Take the blade back to your barber or send it out is my advice. Then, only strop and shave. You shouldn't even need to strop the first time. At this point, the only test you are interested in is the shave one.

The Red Point thread was the first I read, and the barber really did know what he was doing (30+ years experience as a union barber out of babrer school). My stropping technique is deliberate and not too fast, and light on the leather. What the barber showed me was that prepping the strop was where I would see the biggest difference. Lathering the strop and rubbing it in well gave is almost a suedey feel, something that would grip the blade better. My angle is good, and if I had to wager a guess, I'd say the blade is just not honed well. Since it is essentially an antique, I may just hang onto it as an heirloom and get a new blade. My other alternative is to send it to Lynn and see what he can do with it.

Thanks for the reply.

No offense, but you seem to be introducing multiple variables at a time when it may be an idea to deal with them one at a time. There's no reason why an antique razor can't give a good shave (if it's not shot, of course). Also, it took me six months before I stropped properly and I'm still learning. I'm still learning about blade angle nearly three years in (each blade is a little different).

I agree with you and Allen... I would send it off to Lynn to be guaranteed it is done correctly. My guess is that you will get a great shave after that. Nothing makes up for a bad edge/bevel.

I should have specified that I applied the scientific method during this process, changing only one thing at a time (stropping method, face prep, blade sharpening). Shaving is not rocket science, but I concede that as a new straight edge user, I have much to learn. While I was at the barber, I got a shave (with his blade) and did one cheek myself - successfully. My hunch is that since the blade had not been touched in half a century, the hone I had done was not done properly. Thanks all for your advice.