Thread: Blade Sharp Enough?

Originally Posted by IsaacRN

Usually all my blades do this to me. It doesnt matter who hones them...from Lynn..to Tim Zowada...To Joe Chandler.

Im wondering if as much of you have stated...If my blades truly arent sharp enough. I have thought they were because they do shave well with a few days of growth, but maybe they are only shapr enough for that?

Im just perplexed..

Did you have that problem with the blades honed by those gentlemen when you first got them ? I've got razors honed by them and they were all as slick as a whistle when it came to shaving my whiskers. OTOH, I have two areas on either side of my windpipe that I have to really stretch to flatten out and I have to approach them just right to get them no matter how sharp the razor is. You may have a very tough beard or the razors may not be as sharp as they were.

I really think i need to find a honemeister here in NYC. Anyone have any suggestions?

Hello Isaac. I have only one Livi but still had to go to the hones at least three times to get what I call shave ready for me. It was an ATS-34.

bj

i have seen in person how Lynn sharpens blades. i am sure if you have blade sharpened by him it is shave ready. You may using some oil?etc.

As a daily shaver, this post has really had me thinking, because to me it seems it is the best test of the sharpness of your blade if you can get a close and comfortable shave with 24 hours growth, and you're having issues with 3 days growth so something dramatic must be going wrong with your shaves. First, considering you've had this experience with professionally honed blades, are your blades passing sharpness tests after you strop? This seems to be the one thing that could've affected the sharpness between honing and shaving. Try some different strops, make sure stropping technique is right?

I would think the next thing to try is to use more passes, but to do this with a lighter touch since you are describing razor burn in your problem areas.

With three days growth, for me, the major length of every hair is gone after a single careful downwards pass, except the curved area of my chin, which requires a few more downwards passes. This occurs even if I use a blade that isn't optimally sharp. I'll feel the lack of super-sharpness on the against the grain passes, especially on my upper lip and on my neck, but I won't feel it as much with the grain. If you're not clearing the longest part of the hairs on your first downwards pass in most places, I can only think of 3 possible reasons: blade super dull (unlikely), technique (with all due respect, maybe even though you've been doing this for a while you've developed some bad habits?), or super-duper tough beard. I know from reading other threads that user Disburden seems to have a tough beard, perhaps he can give you good advice for ways to deal with this comfortably.

Can anyone think of a different explanation than the above three?

Personally, I don't find much difference between daily shaves (which I do normally Monday-Friday) and the shaves I get after skipping a few days.

I usually test razor with a one or two day growth and if they leave hair behind on first pass,I go back to the chromium oxide paddle strop.If that dont work it goes back to my double sided Tonsorial Gem hone (my favorite hone along with my Escher)and then chromium Oxide strop.Not being a real hoemeister I tend to worry about being shave ready.If it dont shave Big Al It dont shave you.So far so good.Ive been lucky.

Originally Posted by UtopianShaver

As a daily shaver, this post has really had me thinking, because to me it seems it is the best test of the sharpness of your blade if you can get a close and comfortable shave with 24 hours growth, and you're having issues with 3 days growth so something dramatic must be going wrong with your shaves. First, considering you've had this experience with professionally honed blades, are your blades passing sharpness tests after you strop? This seems to be the one thing that could've affected the sharpness between honing and shaving. Try some different strops, make sure stropping technique is right?

I would think the next thing to try is to use more passes, but to do this with a lighter touch since you are describing razor burn in your problem areas.

With three days growth, for me, the major length of every hair is gone after a single careful downwards pass, except the curved area of my chin, which requires a few more downwards passes. This occurs even if I use a blade that isn't optimally sharp. I'll feel the lack of super-sharpness on the against the grain passes, especially on my upper lip and on my neck, but I won't feel it as much with the grain. If you're not clearing the longest part of the hairs on your first downwards pass in most places, I can only think of 3 possible reasons: blade super dull (unlikely), technique (with all due respect, maybe even though you've been doing this for a while you've developed some bad habits?), or super-duper tough beard. I know from reading other threads that user Disburden seems to have a tough beard, perhaps he can give you good advice for ways to deal with this comfortably.

Can anyone think of a different explanation than the above three?

Just wanted to reply that the problems were with daily shaves. Three days growth really isnt giving me much of a problem. Its 42hrs or less that gives me a problems

Originally Posted by IsaacRN

Just wanted to reply that the problems were with daily shaves. Three days growth really isnt giving me much of a problem. Its 42hrs or less that gives me a problems

On a tangent. I just received 4 of my razors back from a former member. All of them had been previously honed by somebody else. They feel different now. Meaning, there's a balance to be struck between sharp and smooth. Looks like the Europeans do things differently, but whatever they do, it works better for me. Just for the record, I used to have the same problem as you. But not any more.

Originally Posted by Pyment

This is going to sound odd. If you are an oily skin kind of guy (I am) most shampoo or soap doesn't always "cut it". I have to shave every day. Every few days I use Woolite.

Don't laugh.

Woolite (Diluted) really improves the wet-ability of hair (Kind of what it is made for). It's hard on your skin so you can't do it more often. I also have done this with a dilute solution of Dawn. Dawn is a great grease detergent and does the same thing. I am not sure it does it as well, but it's easier on the skin.

You can degrease oily skin with a little sodium bicarbonate ( baking soda).
About a teaspoon rubbed on the face with water will degrease and exfoliate without drying your skin like a detergent.

As for the OP, do your razors tug slightly on a 4 day growth ? That to me would be a sign of a less than perfect edge tho it may well shave you fairly close.
So many factors could be in play you may need to eliminate one by one.
That you say your skin is "peppered" after a 1 day shave sounds like a blade smoothness or shaving pressure issue rather than sharpness but lottsa variables.