Difference in Razors question

Hey Guys,

I think I know the answer to this but I'm kinda in a state of second guessing myself on it.

I have three razors in my collection that I find VERY reliable. I have a Robeson SureEdge, Henkels 50, and a Simmons Keen Kutter that I can get two or three shaves from without stropping in between. These three take and hold an edge wonderfully.

I have other razors that I get one side of my face and their edge is shot. I look at them under the scope and I can see that my whiskers have tore up the edge. I realize that these razors are just junk that won't hold an edge. I can accept that.

The ones that are bothering me are the ones in between. They just almost finish the job before the edge starts to degrade. One in particular is a ERN sword and Crown. I thought these were supposed to have a reputation for being good razors. YET... I hone and strop it exactly the same as the three listed above and it just doesn't work on this razor. I have a few others that are in the same boat, a Solingen made Osborne hardware and a German made Jas T. Scott.

It my understanding that these German made razors should be fairly good razors, I am treating them exactly the same as my "GOOD ONES" yet I don't get he same results. I just can't seem, to get them to take and hold an edge very well.

I try not to take a "voodoo black magic water/moon in the right phase" type of approach to such things so I'm sure it has to be one of two things. Either, these razors need a different approach than the others due to different alloy or what ever...or I got my hands on a few Solingen and Wald lemons.

You old timers got any wisdom or insight on this?

Ray

To answer I have to make an assumption that the razors in question have not been damaged in some ie: Buffer Burned by some less then qualified "Razor Wrecker" on e-bay :)

Making the assumption that the razors are sound, then you are either lacking at the bevel set, of over doing the finishing stage...
The finishing stage is easiest to correct : back off the pressure and the lap count and see what happens...

The bevel stage is a bit harder to correct because you have to be honest with yourself and make sure that the bevel is well and truly set.. Look at the whole bevel though a magnified loupe and make sure it is complete and then honestly check to make sure it is sharp from toe to heel...
A weak bevel set can cause the problems you are describing, the razor shaves then the edge deteriorates... I just finished testing the exact same thing for a friend...

Thanks GSsixgun you just gave one of those epiphany moments.

So what is probably happening is that I am hitting the honing dead on with some of the razors but falling short on others.

I have a Zeiss surgical scope that I use for my engraving and I have been inspecting my honing at each stage through it. It only goes up to 20X but that surely should be enough to see any edge damage. So I don't really think it is my bevel.

You mentioned overworking the finish stage. I think that may be where I screwed up. My progression on the razors in question was a progressive 1K, 4K, 8K, 12K Chinese stone, then finish on my ultra fine hard arkansas. I have a flat leather bench paddle that I have some semichrom polish paste on. I stroked these razors for about 10 passes on that before stropping.

On the first batch of razors I did (my "good" ones) I did not do the Arkansas or the leather paddle with the semichrome. I think that might be my variable. Those two steps are causing me to overwork those edges.

I will recheck my bevels but, taking what you said and looking back at what I did I think the finishing steps is probably where I went wrong.

Thanks bunch for the education.

I think there are a group of guys getting together in the KC area on Dec 3. It would probably be good for me to wake up early that morning and make the drive. Reading online and watching videos is good but there is nothing that replaces having someone actually show you how to do something.

Anyway, thanks for the help. I think you may have just straightened me out.

Ray