Thread: My first decent Straight Shave - with burnt blade!!

A month back, I received a razor from a member here. It was ready to go but my wife felt that it should go over a flame really quick to "MAKE SURE" it's clean. This ended up burning and warping the edge into a potato chip. I didn't want to feel like it was a waste, so I used the razor exclusively to practice my honing technique. Sure enough after weeks of practicing, the blade started to develop a bevel, even though I could still see the wavy patern on the side of the blade. Last night I moved up from the DMT 1200 to the Norton 4/8K, then to the 12K. Stroped it 25 passes and left it.
This morning doing my usual routine I did 25 more passes on the strop and braced for what I though would be horrible...


The thing Shaved!! Better than the DOVO and the TI which I received "Shave Ready"
It still wasn't as good as my disposable straight but I can imagine that the DOVO and TI would shave great once they've been sharpened. But that a burnt junk blade shaved better than the other two simply boggled my mind. Is there an explanation??

P.S. I REALLY enjoyed the shave.

why a flame, she couldnt use alcohol and a cotton ball? Glad it worked out alright!

Originally Posted by nun2sharp

why a flame, she couldnt use alcohol and a cotton ball? Glad it worked out alright!

This was on a previous thread but because it was a used razor, she was afraid I might catch something and even though i boiled, barbicided, and rubbed it with alcohol, she still felt it wasn't enough.

Originally Posted by ProfessorShak

A month back, I received a razor from a member here. It was ready to go but my wife felt that it should go over a flame really quick to "MAKE SURE" it's clean. This ended up burning and warping the edge into a potato chip.

Hence the main thing to learn here is never listen to your wife... When I started this (obsession) as she calls it she was petrified that I would pick up some horrible illness from the used razors. I listened to her once and almost ruined a nice razor, did screw up the scales though.

+1

Only with a disbelief that beggers description.

The last time I asked my wife for input on shaving was prompted by the question......

Will you please shut the door?

Well, first of all I remember that thread and on some level cannot believe you put that blade to your face.

Second, kudos for giving it a go and not killing yourself

As to why it gave a better shave than your other razors I cannot honestly say. By rights, if the edge is wavy, it should have been a shave fraught with danger and incidents. But you say it honed fine - so is the edge really wavy? What did you hvae to do to get the entire edge sharp? Was there a lot of rolling X pattern going on?

James.

My guess would be that the flame softened the steel somewhat which allowed for a finer edge to be put on the bevel and, and, and.......
You hopefully realize that was all total BS...

I can't believe that the edge wasn't ruined completely I guess we all just learned that straights are a little more durable than we think.... Great job and way to stick with it...

BTW DON"T let the wife flame the Dovo and TI

First, congratulations. You're definitely making progress.

Second, I'm no steel specialist, but I wonder about the hardness of that burned blade.
Maybe your fire treatment softened the steel a bit, which makes it easier to hone.
Maybe not, and you just found out, that once a good bevel is set, honing a razor can be pretty straightforward.

Whatever, it's great news that you got a decent shave out of that razor, and I think it won't be long before you repeat those results with your other razors.

Way to go!

Bart.

I would say the shave was similar to a disposable schick 2 blade razor, which for me is still unsatisfactory. But compared to the other straights I have, it shaved and I looked shaved. I'm still shooting for that "Right Shave" but this is sort of a motivating event that let me know that I've made progress in my honing skills.

I bought 2 packs of 320 grit waterproof sandpaper, cut them in half to have 20 sheets total. Each sheet was folded in half and laid on the edge of my granite tile. After pinch sanding the edge and honing, I have 3 sheets left. Then I went to the DMT D8C for about 100 passes then the D6E for 200. I did 2 aggressive honing pyramids, then 60 passes on the Chinese 12k, 10 passes on 1.0 micron diamond paste, 20 passes CrO.

I guess It should be sharper considering the work I've done, but as much as I've learned, I still have many honing issues to deal with.

Next time: the wife will be standing there in the kitchen, as you go to put the blade over the flame. You turn to the stove (or othet flame producing device....what did you use?) and so now with your back to her she cannot see that you are actually not putting the blade into the flame....Put on a good show- "Wow, now THAT's getting hot! Ooooh, I almost burned my finger there.." etc....


Another fact you may be able to counter her bacterium phobia, is that the cutting edge is no longer the same cutting edge as was used previously due to honing, etc.

As a matter of fact, maybe you can send your razors off for a professional honing, and tell her the $20 is for autoclaving and sterilization?