Thread: A Once great shave...

So I have been getting a pretty good shave with my straight. Now, all of a sudden, I seem to be getting a lot of nicks where I rarely got them before. I do have honing gear, but I had Lynn hone my razor the last time which was approx 3 months ago. My last 3 shaves have generated a lot of weepers which I'm not accustomed to. My shaving products and technique are the same, so I am thinking that it is time to hone.

My reservation is that the last time I honed my razor, I feel that the edge was actually worse then when I started. I followed the pyramid plan with a 4k, 8k, and 12k.

I know is would be mostly conjecture, but are there thoughts out there that might explain what I have been experiencing?

Honeing properly takes lots of practice. If the razor was honed with tape on the spine and you did not use tape the results will be different. It may also be your stropping ability.
I use paste on the canvas. Strop canvas first and finish on leather. The edge lasts a real long time.
I am sure someone else will come along with additional help.

I didn't use tape, and from what I understand Lynn doesn't use tape. I will try several laps with the 12k followed by strop tonight. Also am planning on taking a day off. The blade still passes the HHT.

Is this your only razor or do you have more? Seems like your only one, which I think could be a little tricky. Starting something new and not having a definite comparison will increase the difficulty.

The HHT is a little controversial, especially because all of our hair is different, even on different spots on one's forearm. I like the TPT, I was able to become more confident with it when I could compare side-by-side with a professionally honed razor and even a DE blade in a shavette. Plus you won't have bald patches from checking the entire length of your blade repeatedly

Ok, following up. The issue is definitely with my razor. I used another razor, which was flawless. The HHT, while controversial, passed on the "new" razor, but the same hair did not pass on the "old" razor. When moved back to the "new" razor, it worked. The issue is with honing. I tried honing the razor through the pyramid method, and finishing it off on a 12k with little success. Its sharp, just not as sharp as the "new" razor.

I need to work on the honing and get better at that. Once I have more confidence, then I can transition to the TPT test.

Since it seems like this issue is related to sharpening/honing I will leave it at that.

Thank you for the reply.

It probably only needed a touch up with the 12k and not a full bevel re-set. You could try 1 layer of tape and 10 - 20 laps on the 12k. I generally give it a lot of laps on the strop after a fresh hone, seems to smooth the edge out.

Yup. What Grazor said.

Thank you Grazor and Uzi. I did tape the spine, lapped 20 times on a 12k stone, and then stropped accordingly. I just finished shaving with it and had a much better experience. It is definitely much sharper...still pulling on the hair a bit, but that didn't result in any cuts. I appreciate the feedback.

Try another set of 20 laps on the 12k, that might be all it takes

Originally Posted by spot19

Thank you Grazor and Uzi. I did tape the spine, lapped 20 times on a 12k stone, and then stropped accordingly. I just finished shaving with it and had a much better experience. It is definitely much sharper...still pulling on the hair a bit, but that didn't result in any cuts. I appreciate the feedback.