Thread: feather to straight

sorry everybody! more question!

went back to the straight again tonight and it wasn't so bad. Honed it on the Norton, followed by a .5 and .25 diamond paste, than stropped the hell out of it (no pressure but plenty of repetitions). I knew it was coming this time but there is so much more resistance (or maybe it is just feedback which could be a good thing) with the straight than with the feather. I imagine the feather is similar to the shavette in many ways so hopefully some more people can relate.

Does anybody have any pointer when moving from a machined blade for so long to a real straight. I realize that this is a completely different animal so I'm looking for any pointers I can possibly get.

Your razor isn't sharp enough for the shaving experience you're after. It's not just "machined blade" - commercial blades have teflon-like coatings which reduce cutting friction making them feel sharper than they really are (although feathers are awfully sharp to begin with). If you want a feathery experience you'll have to get the blade feathery sharp, which is doable but will take some practice and the right equipment. You'll need a razor with very hard steel, some fine hones, and a light hand on both the hones and the paddles. Your final step should probably be a few hundred light laps on newsprint.

The ol' Robert newsprint recommendationl........gotta love it! You really shouldn't need the newsprint following .25 diamond paste. When it starts to get close, limit your work on the Norton to a couple of 1-3's on the 4K/8K and then try only the .5 paste for 10 strokes. If really close then, try 10 on the .25. I have used the newspaper wrapped around a stone after coming off my Coticule or Escher stone and sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. Always worth a try though.

Try not to compare the straight with the feather too much. Those machined blades are very stiff and unforgiving. You need virtually no pressure to shave with them. Any pressure usually causes a nick. No pressure on the straight either, but the shave should feel more comfortable.

Good Luck.

0.25 diamond paste makes a nice edge, but in my hands it won't get the razor to feather levels of sharpness. The newsprint will. If the lap count if bothersome then make sure you've got a big B&W photo on the top side - that can cut the lap count in half. If that still to annoying then put a *very* small amount of 0.1 micron diamond on the newsprint. That can cut the lap count down to 25 laps or so.

Originally Posted by mparker762

0.25 diamond paste makes a nice edge, but in my hands it won't get the razor to feather levels of sharpness. The newsprint will. If the lap count if bothersome then make sure you've got a big B&W photo on the top side - that can cut the lap count in half. If that still to annoying then put a *very* small amount of 0.1 micron diamond on the newsprint. That can cut the lap count down to 25 laps or so.

Robert,
Is the newsprint lapping done with the edge leading, like honing or like stropping, edge following?
Thanks for the clarification!

You can do it either way. It's faster edge-leading but if you're gonna do it that way then it's critical that the paper be perfectly flat. It's easier to do it edge-trailing. The newspaper is very slow, so you really want to make sure you've done all you can on the 0.5 micron paddle before you get to this step.

Originally Posted by mparker762

0.25 diamond paste makes a nice edge, but in my hands it won't get the razor to feather levels of sharpness. The newsprint will. If the lap count if bothersome then make sure you've got a big B&W photo on the top side - that can cut the lap count in half. If that still to annoying then put a *very* small amount of 0.1 micron diamond on the newsprint. That can cut the lap count down to 25 laps or so.

I sure hope I get to your experience level some day. This is so much fun.

Lynn

well I honed my razor on saturday before I read this post. to do the newspaper will I hone it again or just go to the .25 or .5 paste followed by the newspaper?

Originally Posted by mparker762

If that still to annoying then put a *very* small amount of 0.1 micron diamond on the newsprint. That can cut the lap count down to 25 laps or so.

I found it difficult to get an even coat of the .5 and .25 micron pastes on the strop without some water but water and paper don't mix. What is the recommended method to apply an even coat of the .1 micron paste to the newspaper

I don't try to get an even coat, not even on chrome oxide - it's too easy to get sucked in to overapplying the paste if you go for evenness. I take a very small dab - about a 1mm-long line from the syringe - and smear it diagonally down the paddle at about a 45 degree angle. I apply the line sideways on my fingertip and slowly roll my finger as I rub it across the paddle to help ensure an even track across the paddle. I'll do about 4 smears in each direction (i.e. at 90 degree angles) resulting in a crosshatching pattern, then smear it lengthwise up and down the paddle as best I can. The first couple of razors you hone will smear it around even more, though you may not be able to see this because it's so thin. But it'll still work great. Using a thin coat reduces the drag and makes it easier to strop on the pastes using only the weight of the blade, resulting in a sharper edge.

I use the same technique for applying other abrasive pastes like coarser diamond pastes and chrome oxide, whether the substrate is leather, wood, vellum, cardboard or paper.