Thread: touch up after about 15 shaves

I find I have to go back to the stone and give a touch up after about 15 shaves, it might be my beard, because if I use a de generally I get no more than 3 shaves out of that.

Is your stropping technique effective?

Ain't nothing wrong with liking a sharp edge!

Originally Posted by FrankD

I find I have to go back to the stone and give a touch up after about 15 shaves, it might be my beard, because if I use a de generally I get no more than 3 shaves out of that.

I once had an apprentice who complained that his shaves were terrible. He'd mastered stropping (after cutting a 2" strop almost in half) so I sent him a good shaver and asked that he use it daily for One Week and to be sure to strop at least 50 on the cloth and 100 on the leather, then send the razor back to me.

When I received the razor, I didn't need a loupe to see the damage to the edge. The 'dings' were very apparent as they reflected light quite clearly.

You may have what I term 'A Beard of Brillo'.

My former apprentice had the same results with using a DE as you do.

If you need to touch up your razors after awhile I see no harm

Touch up when YOU feel you need to. After all, it's your face the razor is shaving. Nothing beats a new sharp edge when the razor starts to pull instead of slice.

For the first couple of months I used straights I was concerned that I was only getting 4-5 comfortable shaves from my razors. At first I believe it was a combination of the many factors involved in what is "hard" on edges. I am currently getting 12-14 shaves before I feel the need to touch them up. I am by no means done learning or inproving my techniques (honing&stropping). And have stopped worrying about not going for months in between visits to the 20K. I have a Fisher Inox that when I originally received and honed to a good usable edge. Still had two very small imperfections. Visible only with a loop. I went ahead and shaved with it. To see if they caused irritation etc. There was none. And I have touched that razor up. 10 times I would guess. And the imperfections are still there. Eventually they will be honed out. Not sure how many refreshes it will take.

So What do you touch up on? And did you hone from bevel or have it honed for you?

I'm no expert, but I did just do nine months of daily shaving without a touch up, using a Neil Miller dual leather strop. One thick the other thin. (Sorry, I'm terrible at remembering leather names - but it's the expensive one).

I have a course beard too, and I have trouble keeping some razors, especially those with soft steel, sharp. Something I tried was using and finishing with a little more pressure on the hones. It seemed to give a more durable albeit slightly less sharp and refined edge.

But there's nothing wrong with touching up. As others have said, nothing beats a freshly honed razor.

I have a Suehiro G 20K . That I use for my touchups. For bevel setting and any other work I have the Norton set. 1K,4K and 8K. I have a SRD red Latigo strop. I have had roughly similar edge "life". From a wide variety of makes and models. The one constant is my techniques. Initially I was concerned my frequent refreshing would result in short lifespans for my razors. My observation of my Fisher and it's imperfections remaining. Has allayed that fear. I do still endeavor to persevere and improve my skills and go farther in between refreshes.

I have found that the longer I use my straights the longer I can go without touching them up Do you have a posted strop? That might be a little easier for a quick refresh than bringing out the hones.

So, it could be your beard…

Generally if there is an issue with the edge life, it is the razor, the stones, or the technique (the Operator), honing, stropping and shaving.

The two you can eliminate easily are the razor and the stones. Look at the edge with good lighted magnification, 60-100X. Look for micro chipping at the edge from the side, and that the bevels are fully meeting, by looking straight down on the edge.

Make sure your stones, are lapped flat and smooth, especially the edges. If you are getting chipping, determine if it is the razor or the stones.

If the edge is chipping, joint the edge and re-set on a freshly lapped finish stone, the SG20 can easily re-set a jointed edge, make sure all previous stria is remove from the bevel. If the razor was honed on diamonds or with too much pressure on low grit stones, the edge can break down, jointing will remove weak steel and make a stronger edge.

Look at your stropping, the most common cause of short edge life. Slow down, use a light touch, stop before flipping and keep the spine on the strop at all times.

The most common causes of short edge life are, incomplete bevel set (not meeting fully), weak edge, (Aggressive low grit stones, too much pressure) and improper stropping. A properly stropped razor on just linen and leather can shave well for many months, with paste indefinitely.

Look at paste, quality Chromium Oxide or CBN can maintain an edge at a high level, very comfortably, indefinitely and prevent excessive honing.