Thread: is my razor too sharp?

Originally Posted by chee16

so i did some CrOx stropping and then hitthe linen then the leather and the edge looks really nice now plus i did the TNT test before and it was ruff, now it is nice so tomorrow will be the test. my fingers are crossed.it seems to have made a big difference though. thanks for the posts everybody.

The TNT is usually just used to assess the bevel formation, not beyond 4000 grit. Above that, it may ruin (or have ruined) your edge.

i may be getting this mixed up then. i basicly set the blade on my thumbnail and pulled it along with only its own weight as pressure. before the CrOx it felt like a steak knife, after about 30 laps of CrOx that was gone. as i said i used no pressure at all and could feel every bump. i'm not saying what i did was right, i just thought it was.

also the bevel was visibly much more polished after the 30 laps which is what i am guessing is what i was trying for. i finished with 30 on the linen and 30 on the leather and it easily popped a hanging hair. the real test will be the shave tomorrow.

still any suggestions or clarifications are appreciated as i am still slowly learning. thanks

Originally Posted by chee16

before the CrOx it felt like a steak knife, after about 30 laps of CrOx that was gone.

I doubt that chromium oxide will repair the bevel. A coarser grit should probably first be used to set a smooth, even bevel before using abrasive paste. Paste-stropping a razor with many micro chips or serrations I think will only hide them from the thumbnail test. I'm curious to see how the next few shaves go!

what a terrible shave i had this morning. i tried every which way, i tried a lighter touch, less angle (although i have never really gone by the 30 degree thing), i tried it with the razor flat on my face and slowly increased the angle until it felt OK. it simply didn't cut smoothly at all, my face hurts even on the parts that got a decent shave and aren't red, and again i used as little pressure as possible. as i said before i have had some pretty good shaves with other razors, which i would assume are not nearly as sharp as this one, even my Dovo Best Quality that i tried to touch up on the Black Arkansas and CrOx is better. maybe i am doomed to used dull razor for now, which i don't mind if i can get a good shave with them, but still seems strange. i'm not giving up. i just got my hopes up a little too soon. i will keep at it and see where i can get.

Chee, I would be curious for you to check the razor again now since you have shaved and see if it feels like a steak knife again.

I think someone will have to hone that roughness out on a razor hone before using paste

As a side note, I wonder how it is that your razor was honed by a pro but yet felt rough across your thumbnail?

To reiterate what Ray said, don't drag a sharp razor across your thumbnail, it will dull a fine, shaving edge. The thumbnail test is used to determine if chipping exists on the edge. Once the edge tests smooth and you're on to finer hones, use the thumbpad test.

I use a thumbnail test for my knives, chisels, and plane irons. It works fine for them as none of those tools are shavers of face.

good honing, good shaving,

hmm maybe he has some microchipping on his edge?

I just sent out my stainless dovo out to Russel for honing. Everything I tried on that thing with my norton 4/8k wouldn't get it shave ready for me. It felt very abrasive on the face, pretty much the same as you describe. Even though I thought it was sharp, it wouldn't shave just like your scenario.

Russel took a look at the edge and mentioned lots of microchipping under magnification. He's still working on it actually, to try and put a smoother edge on it.

Originally Posted by chee16

i may be getting this mixed up then. i basicly set the blade on my thumbnail and pulled it along with only its own weight as pressure. before the CrOx it felt like a steak knife, after about 30 laps of CrOx that was gone. as i said i used no pressure at all and could feel every bump. i'm not saying what i did was right, i just thought it was.

also the bevel was visibly much more polished after the 30 laps which is what i am guessing is what i was trying for. i finished with 30 on the linen and 30 on the leather and it easily popped a hanging hair. the real test will be the shave tomorrow.

still any suggestions or clarifications are appreciated as i am still slowly learning. thanks

Could be that all these things you describe, and your painful shaves, are due to a wire edge that broke off. I agree, it would require more than stropping on paste to fix, if that were the problem.

Originally Posted by Bruce

I use a thumbnail test for my knives, chisels, and plane irons. It works fine for them as none of those tools are shavers of face.

good honing, good shaving,

Same here, Bruce. I use the TNT only on vintage razors that I'm assessing for the first time to see if there are any noticeable nicks or chips prior to busting out the stereo microscope. Aside from that, the TNT has no place in my honing regiment. TPT, oh yes. As does the HHT.

Chris L

first, someone please quickly describe how to do the TPT, so i don't slice my thumb off experimenting, ha!

second, my first shave was with absolutely no stropping as it said the razor was shave ready. i thought about stropping but didn't want to just in case. the second was after around 30 laps on the CrOx, linen then leather. then again on the third. so if it was a wire edge that broke off, somehow it broke off int eh mail as the razor has only gotten better after the things i have done. i'm not saying this is impossible as i don't know enough to rule it out but my guess is it is unlikely.

third, the only magnifying device i have access to is a cheap 2x/4.5x magnifying glass and even with that i can see the edge is jagged and looks chipped in many different places. the bevel looks smooth from my stropping but the edge is far from it, unlike my Boker, which may not be absolutely perfectly straight but the edge is very smooth.

any suggestions please would be great as all so far have really helped.