Thread: SOTD Sep 17 - Sep 23

Rooney small style 1
Harris Arlington soap
HandAmerican strop
7/8 square point Heljestrand
Harris face milk

Honed on pink translucent arkansas four shaves ago I think. Very smooth comfortable shave. Still no apparent deterioration in the stropped edge, and no noticeable in-shave deterioration either. So far it's holding up at least as well as a stainless edge. I'm planning on using it the rest of the week at least and see how long it goes before needing a quick refresh (carbon blades generally need about 5 laps on the barber hone after shave 3 or 4, stainless usually needs 10 after shave 4 or 5).

Originally Posted by mparker762

carbon blades generally need about 5 laps on the barber hone after shave 3 or 4, stainless usually needs 10 after shave 4 or 5.

Michael,

Thanks for this, I noticed the same with only 3 - 4 shaves. I thought I had average beard, but I have seen performance deteriorate over 3 shaves. I have been hesitant to touch up the edge, because I thought I only need to do it after more shaves... Stropping does not seem to help that much, so I guess I'll just have to refresh edges more often. I am glad I got the Norton combo and the Lithide I will probably do some 8K laps and then finish up on the Lithide

Cheers
Ivo

I find this sort of last-bit-of-sharpness honing goes faster if I strop the razor first to get the fin aligned properly, otherwise the hone cuts it off and the first stroke the razor actually gets duller.

Ivo, if all else fails and you just can't get it sharp enough, try honing without the lithide, just the Norton. Before you resort to desperate measures, did you lap the lithide?

Originally Posted by FiReSTaRT

Ivo, if all else fails and you just can't get it sharp enough, try honing without the lithide, just the Norton. Before you resort to desperate measures, did you lap the lithide?

I will, Ilija - thanks for the tip. I think it needs very little to get it where I want it

I did lap the lithide for 10 or so minutes (lightly) on 600 wet/dry sandpaper, got suction + uniform color, eased the edges, so I think it's as good as can be.

Ivo

Different people get different life on an edge. I inherited my tough beard and my olive complexion from my mom's side of the family. I've jammed electric razors with my beard, which is a whole new definition of pain let me tell you. For newbies, the biggest cause of blade dulling is probably careless stropping, so I'd worry about that first. The second biggest cause for guys that hone their own is probably mild overhoning, which produces a weak edge. Make sure you've eliminated the causes you can change before blaming it on things you can't. I still worry that there's something wrong with my honing or stropping, but am comforted by the short lifespan I also get out of DE blades, electric razor blades, and cartridge razor blades.

Go ahead and strop your blade like you would for shaving, then give it five of the lightest laps you can manage on the lithide, and see if the edge comes back.

Oh yeah, and make sure you've lapped your lithide, norton's aren't the only hones that need it.

Today I shaved with the Tonsorial after another honing session. Instinctively, even though it gave me a decent shave last time, I KNEW it could do better. Well now I know why they called it the Tonsorial GEM and they sure weren't kidding. This morning's shave was super-smooth. The blade just glided over the hair and made it disappear. It just might usurp the bismarck as my #2 shaver and get very close to or even with the Taylor. The rest of the routine was the same.

That pink translucent is one heck of a stone. Before I bought my Norton 4k/8k I had purchased a Black Surgical. The fellow at - JP Farm (Ebay Store) recomended this stone to me.

The cost of the Norton was modest, compared to that pink translucent.

Mine's pretty small, only 4x3, but it's first quality and a convenient size for hand-holding. I can get bigger ones, and if this experiment works out I'm tempted to scare up an 8x3. They are pricey though and pretty rare, especially in the first quality grade.

Blacks and translucents aren't generally considered suitable for razors because their grit is so coarse and they are slow cutting, but there is a small but vocal contingent of woodworkers who claim that arkansas makes a stronger edge than the waterstones (there are a lot more guys out there honing their chisels and planes on nortons, shaptons, and coticules than there are straight razor guys sharpening razors on them). Since my beard is so coarse I figured I'd give it a try.

The woodworkers claim that the black works by producing a very fine wire edge which you then strop off leaving a sharp edge. This doesn't seem like a good idea on razors, but the pink translucent has a rep as a equally fine (or finer) grit hone as the black but that cuts at a reasonable speed so it doesn't make a wire edge very readily.

Luck Tiger Molle Brushless under
William's Shave Soap
Puma "High Class" 6/8
Dominica Bay Rum with Lime A/S

The Molle under the shave soap really promotes a nice smooth shave. Keeps the lather from drying and softens the skin. Great combo.

Scott