Thread: SOTD Sep 17 - Sep 23

Ivo, what are you honing that Puma with? In any case, it could also be your shaving technique. Try scything to get those tough whiskers outta there. I sometimes resort to it when I realize that the blade needs to go back to the hone after a while.

Originally Posted by FiReSTaRT

Ivo, what are you honing that Puma with? In any case, it could also be your shaving technique. Try scything to get those tough whiskers outta there. I sometimes resort to it when I realize that the blade needs to go back to the hone after a while.

Ilija,

I did the aggressive sequence on a Norton 4k / 8k, then 30 passes on a Lithide hone and 60 (I know I can get by with 30 but I enjoy it) on a huge 3" strop from Tony Miller. It is fairly sharp, as I shaved most of the growth without problems. I have a bad scar from mountain biking on my chin, it's raised a few milimeters above the normal skin level, so the pressure got its edge. It's still a very small cut, 1mm or so but it bled worse than it looks. You can't even see it now.

I think I'll do the conservative process tonight.

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

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.

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.