Thread: Shaving is horrible after professional sharpening

Sounds like over honing to me.
I am guilty of over honing from time to time.
Talk to the honer, i would think he can correct this.

Originally Posted by Hirlau

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.

Hi, I should have pointed out that this is the Fromm razor that I used for almost 20 years so any of the hone wear you are noticing is from me and I have no doubt I slipped a few times.

Someone else mentioned that my hone should be lapped. I'm aware of that (I learned it from the guy who sharpened my razors) and I plan on doing it. I haven't used that hone (or any hone) since I had them sharpened in January and the honer suggested that I won't need to use that grit hone for at least a couple of years.

I also wanted to report that I shaved last night and I noticed that the both ends of the razor seem to shave better than the middle part i.e., they seem to hold their edge better in those places. Is this any indication of anything?

Regarding the quality, I looked up the razors after dropping the Fromm and, as someone pointed out, the Mehaz quality may be questionable. I considered buying a new razor but the honer looked at the steel and said that they were ok quality; he suspected that both razors were made using the same blank. And it was much cheaper to have them honed instead of buying a new razor. Also the Mehaz is stamped "Solingen" on the backside of the tang which I read somewhere that if it is stamped it is genuine as opposed to it just being etched.

The honer told me the combo of hones he used but I can't remember.

One thing I will also mention is that before getting the razors sharpened I was only able to shave once a week because I had to wait until the hair was long enough (and my hair grows faster than most if anything). But since I had the razors sharpened I can do it more often which indicates to me that it is sharper. That's why I thought of my original theory that the cutting bevel is thinner than it used to be-- sharper, but more susceptible to warping during the shave...

dq

Just from what I'm seeing (and I know you say you have been shaving with a straight for 20 years) but it looks like you have been using a razor with a sub par edge. Sometimes we learn bad ways and over time they become reinforced and you just get used to them. I would respectfully suggest maybe your shave technique may need some honing. Other than that try having your edge redone by someone else and see what happens.

Originally Posted by thebigspendur

Just from what I'm seeing (and I know you say you have been shaving with a straight for 20 years) but it looks like you have been using a razor with a sub par edge. Sometimes we learn bad ways and over time they become reinforced and you just get used to them. I would respectfully suggest maybe your shave technique may need some honing. Other than that try having your edge redone by someone else and see what happens.

I have no doubt that I have picked up some bad habits over the years and I'm sure there's room for improvement (I only shave with my dominant hand for example). I learned before the era of youtube and extensive online communities dedicated to one thing (there wasn't a rec.knives.straightrazors or anything like that back in the day). Still, the technique isn't rocket science, and I don't think poor technique contributes to the razor giving-out half-way through a shave...

Anyway, I'm certainly open to getting a new razor if necessary. I was just hoping to avoid that and save a bit if it is only a marginal improvement.

dq

By bad habits, he means you are settling for a subpar edge and are not using the best maintenance and or shaving techniques. This is common, even with cartridge razors.

I used have seen guys shaving with very dull cartridge razors, and calling it good. The same is true for straights, for most the cause is improper stropping. I have honed tons of razors, guys claimed to have been shaving with, that would be impossible to get a smooth shave from. I have no reason to doubt them, but all have opened their eyes once shaving with a truly shave ready edge.

Yes, lack of good mentoring is often the cause, also there is a lot of bad information on the web. A few minutes of coaching has improved the quality of shaves for many.

The importance of proper stropping cannot be over emphasized and it may be that your razor was properly honed and stropping technique or strop quality has degraded it. Very common, one stroke can ruin an edge, and the amount of time you have been doing it doesn’t mean you are doing it right. Have you ever watched guys hitting golf balls at a driving range?

Once the edge is damaged, it must be re-honed, at least touched up.

Like your stone. If you have been shaving off that stone, there is no way you could have achieved a smooth shave ready edge from it as is.

You are not alone and help is but a pm and perhaps a drive away. That is what we are all dong here.

Don’t give up, if you would like send me one or both of your razors and I will make them shave ready, PM me.

I once got a razor that came from the factory with a foil-like edge, like mainaman mentioned. It required stropping mid-shave to be comfortable. It was indeed shave-ready, but not as comfortable as I liked. So I simply gave it a good stropping on canvas followed by a good stropping on leather. I then shaved with that razor for over six years before honing, and only then because I got curious about what I might have been missing in my shaves. (I was missing nothing in sharpness or comfort.) So you might want to just keep stropping your razor as needed, because it might well settle down to needing only to be stropped once per shave.

Solid advice JeffR sometimes a careful and smooth stropping can save a lot of headaches. and straighten a multitude of Razor "sins".