Thread: When is your Straight Razor Sharp

I am Glock27 here. I am seventy-one and started using a straight razor close to forty years, there about. I started post Viet Nam Era. My first and only razors have come from antique dealers. In the beginning I had no idea how to sharpen a straight razor, so I connected with an alumni who was a barber. He sent me instructions, but said barber schools no longer taught the use of straight razors. H-m-m-m. I tried and tried to sharpen that blade, a Wade and Butcher. Today I still don't have the expert knowledge of sharpening. I have been having problems with some Joseph Allen & Sons bades. The edge and spine matched. Heavy toe grind, heavy spine top grind, heavy heal, heavy shank end grind. I finally used electricians tape recently and discovered that it only worked on water stones as oil loosened the adhesive.
My Joseph Allen's, after a lot of grinding never felt sharp to me. I gave up because they would not reach that feeling of being sharp. Today I thought-- Braugh! Try it any way. I never felt it cut the face hair which you know is more course than arm or leg hair. I am thinking, it is not cutting as I expected, but to my stunning surprise the face hair was gone. How does this happen? The blade feels dull to the touch, but it cut. How does that happen?
I shave once about every three to four days. My hair tends to grow slow. If I let it go too long it is tough to cut even with my best razor, you can feel it drag and scrape across your face. Ugh! Other razors I have will slice thin layers of skin if one is not careful, and I seem to be able to keep them sharp.
I have read and attempted the instructions, but for some reason my mind just does not want to cooperate. How have I been getting my razors sharp all these Years? I have no idea, but they manage to get sharp. How is that possible? Currently lapping film has been helping me in some way. How is that possible?
All of this is confusing. How can I possibly make it for nearly 40 years using a straight razor and not know how to sharpen it? It is probably the reason we see so many abused razors as most of these people had no idea how to sharpen the razor, but the managed to get by with a scrape and a drag. My hope is that this sight will be able to afford me the knowledge. I don't have a lot of time left to get it right.
Is it possible someone else here has had the same problem?
Before I stop I would like to thank everyone who have responded to my posts. Thanks.

In a case like yours the best bet is try and get together with a member who lives nearby or attend a get together. Otherwise I'd send the razor out for honing.

If you haven't been able to learn to hone properly all these years you have probably reinforced a lot of bad habits which will be hard to break.

In the meantime show us some pics of your razors and tell us what hones you have besides the film.

First off I am computer illiterate. To take pictures and transmit them I would not have the slightest idea about how to do that. I have a camera that uses a SIM card to store pictures and transfer onto the computer. At one time I had six trail cameras I used to get the drift of deer pre-season. These cameras used SIM cards and I loaded them onto my computer.
In the beginning I used a five inch Washata stone and a three inch Arkansas white of translucent stone. Later I bought two ceramic stones bout four inches by one inch, a brown and a white stone, then, in frustration, I bought a set of diamond hones, and shortly after I picked up a Col Cronk strop. It is about 24 inches long with a linen back and is 2 inches wide. I had a little better luck with them than the old stones. I eventually invested in the Norton Water stones (maybe 12 years back) going up to 8000 grit. I moved to getting a full set of Arkansas stones 8x3x1/2 soft, black and translucent and then a Chinese 15,000 grit, but it needs to be flattened and I have not bought a stone to do that with yet. In the past year I moved to giving the lapping film a go and they seem to help a lot. I have seven razors I am able to keep sharp, at least to my estimation, without any serious problem. Some seem to be a bit sharper, the ones I can get a ring from when I pluck the blade with my fingernail. My stroke on the stones is heal to toe (point) of the blade and the same on the return. I have also used toe to heel and heel to toe on the return stroke. Recently on three blades I had been having problems with I went to using electricians tape to raise the areas where the grind has been heavy usually the heel or toe, or both. This approach has improved my gaining a sharper blade.

Well. That about rounds out my history. Guess I have been relatively lucky. Thank you for your interest

As I mentioned I have been doing this for nearly 40 years, possibly a few years less. This year is my first venture into a site of this nature.

- - - Hi guys, I have tried a lot of things, except that I don't have a leather strop and refuse to invest any more money in a rabbit hole. I bought a piece of vinyl (much cheaper than leather) and then put a few drops of olive oil on it. The oil will cause a CrO2 crayon to create a green slurry and I have tried stropping with that. I had questionable success with that. The blade will pop hairs off my arm, but not my face; it is still almost impossible to shave with.

- - - I have a Geo. Wostenholm blade from Sheffield, Eng. with a combo 4000/8000 stone.

- - - My best success has come with lapping films and/or diamond pastes, but still cannot shave with it. For day to day, I rely on Gillette safety. . . . . Comments please .

Originally Posted by Barry2

- - - Hi guys, I have tried a lot of things, except that I don't have a leather strop and refuse to invest any more money in a rabbit hole. I bought a piece of vinyl (much cheaper than leather) and then put a few drops of olive oil on it. The oil will cause a CrO2 crayon to create a green slurry and I have tried stropping with that. I had questionable success with that. The blade will pop hairs off my arm, but not my face; it is still almost impossible to shave with.

- - - I have a Geo. Wostenholm blade from Sheffield, Eng. with a combo 4000/8000 stone.

- - - My best success has come with lapping films and/or diamond pastes, but still cannot shave with it. For day to day, I rely on Gillette safety. . . . . Comments please .

You might as well sell off your straight razor stuff.

You are wasting time, effort, and money on the wrong things. Yes, vinyl is cheaper than leather.

This is also cheaper.



Seriously, use a decent quality leather strop or give up. Have you ever shaved with a razor honed by anyone else?

Originally Posted by Utopian

You might as well sell off your straight razor stuff.

You are wasting time, effort, and money on the wrong things. Yes, vinyl is cheaper than leather.

This is also cheaper.



Seriously, use a decent quality leather strop or give up. Have you ever shaved with a razor honed by anyone else?

- - - Some guys claim to be able to strop with a piece of leather cut from the leather belt they are wearing, and they have the videos to prove it. I have tried that with added CrO2 and it doesn't work for me.

- - - Some guys use expensive 15 K and even 30K stones without leather, so I doubt that leather is the only route.

Originally Posted by Barry2

- - - Hi guys, I have tried a lot of things, except that I don't have a leather strop and refuse to invest any more money in a rabbit hole. I bought a piece of vinyl (much cheaper than leather) and then put a few drops of olive oil on it. The oil will cause a CrO2 crayon to create a green slurry and I have tried stropping with that. I had questionable success with that. The blade will pop hairs off my arm, but not my face; it is still almost impossible to shave with.

- - - I have a Geo. Wostenholm blade from Sheffield, Eng. with a combo 4000/8000 stone.

- - - My best success has come with lapping films and/or diamond pastes, but still cannot shave with it. For day to day, I rely on Gillette safety. . . . . Comments please .

Utopian is harsh, but has a point. There's no replacement for a good leather strop. If you want to be cheap about it, buy some leather and fittings and make one, but substituting faux material isnt gonna cut it. Also most people put CrOx on the back of their linen strop and keep the leather clean for final stropping after the paste.

Sounds to me like your bevel isn't set. Get hold of a jeweler's loupe so you can inspect the edge. You might also want to invest in a 1k hone, but the work can be done on your 4k provided you're willing to put in the time. All the lapping film and pastes in the world will do no good if the bevel isn't right.

What brand is your 4/8 stone?

What brand is your 4/8 stone?

- - - My stone is a Norton 4K/8K. I bought my first razor about 10 years ago and I have put a lot of hours into this from time to time, then come back months or 2 years later and try it again. But nothing seems to work; that's why I tried a few bizarre items. I know that most of you guys are confident in the leather strop, but why won't a leather belt work just as well? I have a few of those. So why buy one ?

- - - My guess is that the bevel is or should be obvious to close inspection. I think mine is OK, but may be wrong.

- - - And why would leather be effective while vinyl is not ? Some guys swear by lapping on news papers or on their jeans. My experience tells me that this is not a science and even with a microsope, nobody can tell you what is happening. There are a lot of guesses, and speculation, but nobody knows for sure.

Barry2.

Eyow Barry2. Vinyl? I think a slice of old denims would have been better.
It is my understanding that if you get a straight razor too sharp it will just pass over the hairs. I have absolutely no idea how you judge whether a blade is too sharp. For me just because a straight might shave arm hairs you have to remember that face hair tends to be more course and tougher than beard hair. Hope someone can answer the question "How do you determine when a straight razor is too sharpe?"

Welcome Glock, there are many of us in Michigan.