Thread: Very small fractures on the blade

I'm sorry and i'm new here but did you say that you had a theirs with Sheffield sliver steel? i thought theirs made their own blades in france

I've had blades like that from over honing, or the edge is to thin and starts to crumble. Try starting on a 1k with a raised spine and x-strokes until the chips are gone, then go to circles or x-strokes until it cuts arm hair, check the edge with a eye loupe or whatever you use and make sure they are gone, if not repeat or drag the edge across a corner and repeat the circles and edge strokes. Once the edge is perfect then hone as usual.

I hope this helps

Just my opinion but I would guess serious over stropping on the CrOx is leaving larger micro chips?

I emailed Classic Shaving with the pictures and the problem description. Before I try any honing on my own I'll check with them to see what they can do for me on their end. It helps to play it safe when venturing into unknown territory .

Originally Posted by rodb

I've had blades like that from over honing, or the edge is to thin and starts to crumble.

I had my blade professionally honed by Classic Shaving when I bought it. I'm starting to wonder if the warranty (if it exists) will have it either re-honed or replaced. I've never honed a straight razor before, and to be honest It's something that I won't be stepping into lightly when I do hone my razor for the first time. I'll use your method if CS says I'm SOL. Though I've had excellent experiences with CS so I have faith they'll some something for me lol.

Originally Posted by Nick31

Are you sure you've never had a run-in with the "faucet demon", or gone too high on your strop so as to hit the metal fasteners? The close-up picture looks alot like blades I've seen (unfortunately, 1 was my own) that have met something besides whiskers?

Nope, just linen, whiskers (occasionally skin and blood lol) leather, and toilet paper.

How many shaves ???? did you get out of your system ???

Originally Posted by gssixgun

How many shaves ???? did you get out of your system ???

Around 100 or so.

Looks like micro chipping. Can be honed out. Not sure why it would have happened. TI made razors branded 'silver steel' for many years. They changed to a new alloy a few years back. I've got some of both types and they are all good IME. Micro chips happen. Poltergeist maybe ?

Originally Posted by Stones

Around 100 or so.

Then it is fine IMHO, 100 shaves is a good run, you have to do a complete bevel set , which you should only have to do a touch up, but that could be a few different things that caused it...

beard
stropping
pasted stropping
and all the shaving related things too..

You have to adjust just one of those variables next time through and see what happens..

What about your other razors, has this happened to them ???

100's really not at all bad. I'd certainly cut out the daily stropping on the pasted side though, may lead to wear problems on down the line.

Originally Posted by Stones

Mahtay: I wasn't aware that I was stropping it too much. I'll look into it and change my habits wherever needed. When I troubleshoot computers I always look at the basics and move up, I should probably apply the same principle to my maintenance habits.

Attachment 101417

Attachment 101418

A much better picture

They look like chips to me, either too thin an edge (shoulcn't be a problem on a quality razor,) stropping without the spine touching the strop and putting sideways force on the blade edge, inadvertent bumping against something hard, or my earlier suggestion-incorrect heat treatment leading to faults in the instrinsic metallurgy of the blade. Maybe a smith could check it out and see what the metal looks like to him...? Good luck!