Thread: Shaving is horrible after professional sharpening

Before I was just using a 6000 grit Japanese natural waterstone every few months and stropping linen+leather before every shave. He said that it wasn't fine enough so I bought a 10,000 grit synthetic and a CrOx balsawood board. He also looked at my strop and said it was a bit dry and suggested that I lightly sand it down with 400 grit sand paper and treat it with an oil. I did this and found some neatsfoot oil from my local hardware store. The strop is much more supple making it less slippery which affects the way I'm used to stropping-- so maybe I'm not stropping it properly?

I don't think the guy did butchered the blades or anything. He specializes in sharpening straight razors and I seem to recall that he said he didn't need to use a wheel because the damage wasn't that severe. He also said that the razor blade quality was decent so it can't be that either. I have a loupe so I'll take some pics...

One thing he did say which contradicted what I originally learned (I think from Arthur Boon's original site) was that the shaving edge should be mirror finish. This contradicted what I read when I was learning which Boon said that it should be a dull finish. I remember Boon's site also cautioning overhoning too.

dq

Yea… so the first question to ask a Straight Razor honer is, do you shave with a straight razor?

If the answer is no, look elsewhere.

The second question is how do you hone razors? The answer should be, by hand, on stones. Anything else, look elsewhere.

It sounds like it might be a combination of issues, the honing and your strop. First contact the Honer and see what he says and does. Do not send it back to him, if he is primarily a knife sharpener or does not shave with a straight.

And what does the edge look like under magnification when you got it back and now? A 6k edge is pretty rough, what stone are you using?

Photos of the razors, stones and strop would help. Hate to trash the honer without knowing more…

A 6000 grit natural Japanese waterstone is a contradiction in terms. Is it a natural stone? If so, then it has no accurate grit designation. If you were shaving just fine with this for years, then you probably did not need anything else. If you are not satisfied with the edges you have been maintaining all along, then your new synthetic hone may help.

Ok here are images through my loupe. There are two razors:

Fromm:




Mehaz:





Also here is my 6000 grit hone:


dq

The issue you have could be either foil edge, which is extremely rare occurrence, or the bevel is not quite set. The images provided look good but do not provide enough magnification for me to see the condition of the edge. What hone progression did the honer use?

Really hard to comment much on the edges of the two razors, from the photos, other than they have been honed without tape and the Fromm needs some heel re-shaping.

The Mehaz is of questionable quality as you well know.

Your stone appears to not have been lapped. Lapping may improve the edges it will produce, but still is not fine enough to produce a smooth shaving edge. You really need at least a good 8k stone to shave comfortably off of.

You might take a damp white paper towel and wipe your strop and see if any grit became imbedded in the strop from sanding.

Whoever did this to a razor , has no idea what they are doing when it comes to razor honing. I don't know anyone associated with this site, SRP, that hones, who would do this to a customer's razor.

Other than the minor issue with the heel, I don't see what is wrong with the areas marked by the other arrows. Would you please elaborate on them?

Sure Ron, a short post before I call it a night.

Look back at post # 4;

"I haven't contacted him as I wanted to get some others' opinions first (maybe there's something obvious I'm missing).

This problems affects both razors and there's no hone wear. Both razors were brand-new and one of them was only used a few times before I had it professionally honed.

I'll try and take pics tonight..."




The arrows indicate some hone wear, to say the least, I'm not saying that is either good or bad.

The part that is of concern to me is, whoever honed this razor, rode right off the edge and onto the shoulder, to a great extent, probably the reason for the heal issue.

Have you tried to hone them yourself the way you are used to efter getting them back? If that doesn't work, ask the honer the questions previously mentioned here. If he cant give you good answers, I would recommend sending it to someone here on the forum for a check up. Much easier to locate the problem if you have the razor in your hand. Im sure there are someone in this forum who would gladly check it and hone it for you! Where do you live?

And I would probably ask for a refund from the honer in question, if he did in fact cause the problem...

Could you also post some close up pic of the strop. Not sure if 400 grit sanding is fine enough... But that depends on the leather I guess.

Welcome to the forum!

Jacob