Thread: Stropping Sharpness vs. Honemeister Sharpness

Dear Fellow Razorheads-Have watched numerous videos by Lynn, Sham and others, bought a Norton Whetstone set, a Naniwa 12K, a Chromium Oxide prepped strop , a Big Daddy Strop and several other razor mnt. items, I have run into a quandary. Been shaving straight for about 4 mos now, with about 1 year safety razor "Shavette" experience. With that in mind, I have a few questions.
Does a newbie shaver ever return to the honemeister sharpness, or does stropping just maintain the edge at a lower grade of sharpness? I noticed that two of my razors no longer grip the thumbnail, although they do passibly shave with several passes. Both were sent off around 2 mos ago. Both have been stropped regularly.
If the blade fails the nail test and 100 strops doesn't improve things, should the shaver go back to 12K? I've tried 20 passes on the Chromium Oxide treated strop to no avail.
Does anybody have any input on pre-shave oil? I have a 2 oz bottle coming and thought that it might help with the problem areas around the mouth.
I now fully understand why safety razors from Gillette were greeted with such enthusiasm!
Doubly frustrating for me, as I perform mnt for a living, restored over 100 tube radios while laid off, motorized a bike after 4 foot ops and consider myself very handy. Helped restore and own a 1963 Falcon and restored around half of my gun collection (Several of my guns are close to 100 years old!). Thanx for ANY feedback-Gearhead
Thanx for any input, as I cannot continue to send blades away at $20.00/pop!-Gearhead

The "nail test" is usually only done while honing and then a bit more work is given to the bevel. If you're using it as a sharpness test before shaving then you've probably dulled your edge.

Thanx for the quick feedback! So the only shave test is arm hair or HHT?-Gearhead

Stropping before each shave will help maintain the blade's original sharpness but only if your stropping technique is good and even then not forever. I don't use any tests but just go by when I think a razor does not shave as well as it should. At that point I will try a few laps on a pasted balsa stop and do a shave. If that doesn't work it goes back to a finisher like the Nani 12K. If it still doesn't shave well enough I go back one step in the honing progression and so on till it does shave up to snuff. That is just how I do it and everyone has a different maintenance routine.

There are quite a few different techniques that have to be learned and refined when shaving with a straight that go into making up a good shave. How well you can hone, strop, lather and actually use a straight. Any one or combination of them done sub par can lead to a poor shave and an edge not keeping it's sharpness long. It is a bit complicated and frustrating to sort it all out. You are right too that it is one of the reasons safety razors were so well accepted.

I have been at this coming up on the 1 year mark and just fairly recently have all the bits started to really come together. I still have enough failures too, just call me a slow learner. I don't know if that helps any but just saying it takes time to get good at the many different aspects of maintaining an edge.

Bob

I'm much less enthusiastic about non-shaving sharpness tests after having tried them all with a fresh double-edge razor blade, where they all show that the edge is impossibly dull.

Originally Posted by gearhead222

So the only shave test is ....

The only shave test is actually shaving with it! If you like it, fine. If not, you gotta do some sharpening work.
And I'm not trying to play the smart-ass here. Really, at the end of the day, the quality of the shave is all that counts.

Thanx again guys! I actually have the shaving bit down-it's the mnt. that's killing me! Bob-you are so correct-a quality straight shave is a whole lot of bits coming together. BlueDun, you are correct about the shave being the judge.Mdarnton,I cannot argue with your logic, although safety razors are a breeze by comparison.
Just have to keep slugging along, I guess. Thanx again all. Great forum-Gearhead

I'm with bobh on what he said about backing up by steps. I just honed my 48 rolls because I saw a small curl on the edge. I only went back to the naniwa 12k. That was all it took to remove the curl. It did however take a couple of shaves and stropping to restore smoothness to the shave. This seems to be pretty normal. Someday I would like to experience a Lynn quality hone. And compare the just honed edge to what I am doing. Sigh, if I could only talk myself into parting with any of my razors for a couple of weeks.

Dave

20 strokes on Crox is too much to ever do at one time. Ofc, you knew I was going to say that.

And to back up what others have said. Don't use the thumbnail test on a shave ready razor. You more than likely ruined the edge you had. That's a 1000 grit bevel check type of test. Not a super fine 12k grit shaving test.

A razor, properly stropped, should last a minimum of 3 months of daily shaving before it needs ANY sort of stone work or Crox. And even then it should only need maybe ten or less on a 12k to come back to a perfect shave for you. I know you like that Crox, which is why I told you earlier that you could use it at a maximum of once per week, IF YOU MUST. But it's not a maintenance tool. I regard it as a ONE TIME ONLY, icing on the cake type of thing. I don't suggest it for maintenance. Others do. But it's not giving you what you want, so maybe try something different. Like..not using it, or using it like I suggested. 5-10 strokes max. Now ofc, keep in mind that it's too late for the two razors you are now talking about. They probably need stone work. Try 10 at 8k and 8 at 12k, then strop on linen and leather(forego the crox). Then shave it. See what happens. Better? Worse? The same? 40 at 4k, 10 at 8k, 8 at 12k, strop linen, leather, shave. Put the crox away for awhile and see what happens without it. Make it's use mean something to you. If the razor holds it's edge longer without, well, that tells you something. It doesn't seem to be helping you to use it, so try NOT using it, and see how that goes. Just some things to consider.



Good luck!

Dear Regular Joe and GotLead-Thank you for the excellent feedback! Shaved today with my Hamburg Ring and realized that it was too dull to shave with. Switched to my Cowboy and got a good shave! Going to take the Hamburg Ring to the 12K and see what happens. Was not going to use electrical tape with such few passes. Will keep you all updated-Gearhead