5/8 hop skip jump bleed. 6/8 bbs

Bout fifty shaves in I think. Shaving almost exclusively with two razors. A 5/8 Kropp full hollow and a 6/8 wostenholm full hollow. Kropp been causing me bother so have spent even more time on hones, according to all tests: arm hair. 60× loupe. Treetopping etc kropp is sharper and smoother yet seems to want to stop whenever it meets a hair on atg pass. Then title says it all. Wostenholm just seems to slide on through and give lovely shaves. have also used other 6/8 razors with same ease as wostenholm. do others find the same difference between these sizes?
P.s. am going to sharpen up another 5/8 soon to see whether is just this razor.

This is one case where size doesn't matter.

It just needs more honing or maybe because of the size you are wielding it differently?

I too am about 50 shaves in and have several razors of different sizes. I always feel like I get better shaves with 6/8 razors or the 7/8 I recently purchased. What thebigspendur said is probably the difference. At this point in the game I feel as though I'm doing ok with the learning process so for right now I just keep on shaving and learning better ways to get better results.

Going to try a 5/8ths tomorrow and see how it goes. Good Luck with your new hobby!

Seeing as to how you are only 50 shaves in there are a few questions I have. Do you have a razor that was professionally sharpened by a reputable vendor? If not, send it out to have one to compare to. I started out shaving and honing at the same time, and until I tried a true shave ready edge from a reputable vendor, it was apparent my edges were sub par. I personally don't use any 5/8 razors. I like the heft of larger razors. Personally when I was at 50 shaves there were too many variables that were not tweaked properly to be able to put the blame on a razor. Lather, razor angle, razor pressure, soap/cream used all play a big role in the outcome of a shave. What hones do you have? Some razors will shave awesome on a hone, and a different razor on the same hone can be harsh. Lots of factors at play,

Am also improving lather etc but even including this the biggest difference is still just the two razors. With the wostenholm my shaves are consistently really really nice.

It seems like the Wosty has an edge that works for you, but the Kropp doesn't. That's most likely because the Kropp wasn't honed as well, or was damaged by a user. It's unlikely to be the size of the blades that's the issue, though size could certainly have led to stropping problems that may have damaged the edge.

Tomorrow will hone a bengall 5/8 that looks to be in sweet condition and see if that is any better. Face is taking a while to heal. Cheers for input guys.

Wow! If your face needs time to heal, the edge must really be off. Maybe your Kropp suffers from 'toxic edge syndrome'. Sometimes the metal gets damaged chemically over time and cannot be honed to a shave-worthy edge.

I'll be curious to see how your experiment with the Bengall goes. I've had a few Bengalls, and they've been fine shavers. In fact, one of my favourite razors is a 7/8"+ Bengall.

Good luck!

Try lighting up on your stropping and doing more laps. It is very easy on a full hollow to use too much pressure and either chip the edge or cause the edge to lift off the strop, by flexing the blade.

Do at least 100 lite pressure laps.

Stropping is the most common cause of poor edges.

Look straight down on the bevel, looking for shiny spots (micro-chips), they will cause an uncomfortable shave.Attachment 194403

In the end did a henckels instead. Saving bengall for when more experienced. Got a lovely shave, only spots of blood were scabs from previous kropp shave. Cant figure out what it is. Kropp passed looking from all angles under magnification. Henckels didn't even shave arm hair properly. But lpoked good under magnification. Also didn't finish to as fine stones as wostenholm and kropp. Going to leave kropp on the side until I have some more experience. Cheers for chiming in gentlemen. Dmnc

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Originally Posted by dmnc

Tomorrow will hone a bengall 5/8 that looks to be in sweet condition and see if that is any better. Face is taking a while to heal. Cheers for input guys.

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Are you applying too much pressure on your strokes? I know I was and it made for a face of fire even without cuts. Just a thought.

I will also add that I think your soap can have a great effect on quality of shave. Everytime I use a artisan soap I bought for me at least it leaves my face feeling on fire a bit. My MWF soap however is a treat to use and nary many issues that aren't my own fault. I think the lanolin helps a great deal.

Is the Wosty a stiffer blade ? If so you may need to lay the Kropp flatter on the face.

Have figured it out. Was using mwf with kropp and figaro with wostie. While consistency of lather looks good am just not getting same glide from mwf. Tried it with wostie and turns out magnification was correct. The kropp is sharper. gave up and went to figaro for second and third passes so bad was it feeling. Feel mildly foolish now for asking as was my silly mistake not noticing was always using one soap with one and another with tother. Thanks for all the thoughtful replies.

I've been using my DE because I was worried that I wasn't stropping correctly and might have messed the edge up. So this weekend I dedided to try a couple of things out. 1) tried my first cold water wet shave....... wow, that's a huge improvement in the quality of shaves for me. 2) I wanted to get back into the SR and use it.
I've been shaving in the shower but decided to pamper myself and try the cws at the sink. Now I'll be shaving my head during the shower, (just get better shaves and don't worry about the mess), then face shave after. I thought it would take more time but surprise, it was actually faster. I decided to try my C&E Nomad and was quickly reminded that it is one very thirsty soap so switched to Col Conk Lavender and proceded to perform the first pass with my sr. I stropped after the shave, first on linen/40 laps then on the cow/ 70 - 80 laps. I noticed a little tugging during the shave so I wanted to examine the edge with a loupe. I can barely see 3 or 4 little chips in the edge. Wouldn't this be the cause of the minor scratchy feel at times during the shave? Can these be stropped out or do I need to have it honed? They seemed to shrink with the stropping but I just don't know.....
thanks gurus,
G

Ggoongreen:
To answer your question (micro-chips can and do often cause a harsh shave) and I never met a chip that I could strop out on linen & leather, it's back to the hones for an edge like that.

I live just to the south of you if you want I will take a look at your razor for you, PM me if you need some help with this.

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Originally Posted by dmnc

Bout fifty shaves in I think. Shaving almost exclusively with two razors. A 5/8 Kropp full hollow and a 6/8 wostenholm full hollow. Kropp been causing me bother so have spent even more time on hones, according to all tests: arm hair. 60× loupe. Treetopping etc kropp is sharper and smoother yet seems to want to stop whenever it meets a hair on atg pass. Then title says it all. Wostenholm just seems to slide on through and give lovely shaves. have also used other 6/8 razors with same ease as wostenholm. do others find the same difference between these sizes?
P.s. am going to sharpen up another 5/8 soon to see whether is just this razor.

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When you become a REAL experienced shaver (several years) you will be able to use either one with facility. For now, go with what's getting the job done.

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Originally Posted by CaliforniaCajun

When you become a REAL experienced shaver (several years) you will be able to use either one with facility. For now, go with what's getting the job done.

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Have figured it out. Was using mwf with kropp and figaro with wostie. While consistency of lather looks good am just not getting same glide from mwf. Tried it with wostie and turns out magnification was correct. The kropp is sharper. gave up and went to figaro for second and third passes so bad was it feeling. Feel mildly foolish now for asking as was my silly mistake not noticing was always using one soap with one and another with tother. Thanks for all the thoughtful replies.

Thanks for the offer. We have a place down on Benson Lake just north of Shelton on 3. Maybe we can coordinate a time when I'm going down for the weekend. Another SRP member, Matt (coordinator for PNW meet up last summer), is out of the Silverdale area. He's also experienced at honing and offered to help me. Just a matter of the distance between us all. :D
G

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Originally Posted by Ggoongreen

I've been shaving in the shower

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Please stop this practice. Its not good for your or the razor's health!

Not a straight! Never in the shower with that weapon. I use a Headblade sport for my head during the week and then practice DE on the weekends. Face is DE thru the week and try to get practice time with straight on weekend. I don't have a lot of extra time, during the work week, so I stick with what is fast and easy. I didn't seem to go through anymore blades when I was using the DE in the shower but now I've gone to the "cold side".