Thread: Shaving is horrible after professional sharpening

Hi guys, this is my first post here so please bear with me. First of all, I've been shaving with a straight razor for nearly 20 years; I learned from books and archaic 90s websites. Over time I learned how to shave and maintain my razor quite sufficiently. A couple of months ago I dropped my razor while stropping and completely ruined the blade. I couldn't hone it back into submission so I had to go to a professional straight razor sharpener (these people didn't exist in the 90s or were few and far between at least). I took my razors to a highly-regarded sharpener (name withheld) and he was able to fix my blade and, indeed, make it sharper than it had ever been (he also sharpened another razor that I could never get sharp enough).

The strange thing is, yes, it is sharper than it has ever been and initially shaves well but then gives-out halfway through the shave. I have to re-strop it to get anything out of it. My old edge didn't have this problem even though it was duller.

My suspicion is that the edge is now so sharp that it can easily warp and needs to be straightened (stropped) back to finish the job.

Has anyone else had this problem? Any remedies? Do I need to re-examine my stropping technique?

cheers,

dq

Have you tried contacting the professional and explaining the issue?

Originally Posted by monkeypuzzlebeefeater

Have you tried contacting the professional and explaining the issue?

Contact the honer first is what I would do as well, they would probably correct the issue for no charge (unless it's been a considerable amount of time).

Does the razor have excessive hone wear? If so maybe the bevel angle is too shallow after the honing.

Post pictures if possible

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...

Originally Posted by quixada

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...

Sounds like a honing issue, definitely contact the honer.

What was the damage when it fell?

Hello and welcome to SRP. A few things that might be a problem, bevel angle is one, previously mentioned of your honer changed the angle to the point where yes it is very sharp but also thin and fragile it wont last and you may have to strop excessively to keep it straight. Another possibility is wire edge formation or false edge whereby the edge also appears to be sharp but breaks down quickly during the shave and you need to go to the strop to finish mid shave multiple times. Tough to say what happened to your razor without some detailed photos of the blade using some magnification. There are some tests for wire edge that involve running a pin starting from the spine with pin head pointed at the edge and seeing if it catches at the edge on either side indicating a burr. Do this on both sides along the blade and see if the pin head catches it should just glide off if honed properly. I am curious how you have been honing and maintaining your razors for the last 20 years? What do you use for hones and methods? try to document as much as you can about this experience i'm sure it will be educational for you and everybody else.

Could be he's not that reputable a honer, maybe just a knife sharpener who put your razor on a grinder or belt instead of using the correct hones and really increased the angle or messed with the temper, lots could go wrong, tc

Originally Posted by tcrideshd

Could be he's not that reputable a honer, maybe just a knife sharpener who put your razor on a grinder or belt instead of using the correct hones and really increased the angle or messed with the temper, lots could go wrong, tc

If the honer was like the above DON"T send it back! We've seen pictures and read horror stories about knife sharpeners and grinding wheels

Welcome to SRP. From your first post I gather that you honed and maintained your razors up until the accident when you dropped it. IME when I've gotten a razor uncomfortably sharp on a high grit finisher I've dropped down to a coticule, or if you don't have one, down a step in the grit ladder. Usually that has taken care of the harshness.

Now in your case it seems that the edge may be overhoned, falling apart from the sound of it. Check it with an eye loupe, or other magnification, and see if there is any indication. Anyway, since you honed them in the past you ought to be able to bring it back now that the pro honer has corrected (we hope) the damage caused when it was dropped.

I agree. Now that it's "fixed", you will hopefully be able to hone it back to the way you liked it.