Thread: In The Deep End

I can't get the Pike Black Beauty hone I picked up on ebay to cut a thing, so I took everybody's advice and got a Norton combination water stone. I also practically stole a Dubl Duck Special #1 and an old very used, but very sharp Wade and Butcher. The Wade and Butcher had already had the spike tip removed making it something of a round tip so I thought I had best start with it on the Norton and am glad I did. I spent hours yesterday trying to get it to split a hair, but it just wouldn't quite take. I did get to feel several hundred passes along that stone though. The blade had been heated and that was clearly why it shaved so badly, pulling all the time and giving a few small nicks.

Today after feeling confident enough to put the Duble Duck on the hone it split a hair on the third pass. I took this as encouraging and lathered up. Much better with this undamaged blade. No nicks and a pretty close shave. A little Thayer's Witch Hazel made a decent splash too (like I'd know. I have nothing to compare it to having never used aftershaves before). I think the blade could be sharper though so I'll get back on the hone in a day or so to see if I can improve it. If David ever resurfaces with that blade he's going to send me I'll know what it SHOULD feel like.

All in all a triumph and the learning curve is advanced this far ONLY because of the generous advice of the members here. Thank-you all very much for helping me get a decent straight shave going on. CHEERS!

X

Try a couple 1-3 passes on the Norton and see if that doesn't make it a little closer and smoother. Lynn

I knew I would have trouble getting into a shave in the morning and was really in a fuzz after a long day at work, so I came home to check the board here and read some of the postings on the "Zen" thread and thought to myself, "That's what I need right now, shave number two".

I did the passes you recommended Lynn. Three reps, first medium light pressure, second light pressure, third very light-no pressure (weight of the blade) followed by 50 laps on the 6"pasted leather, then cleaning and 30 laps on the clean strop. It cut the hanging hair a little more readily and the leg hairs (what arm hairs!) 1 cm above the skin brilliantly.

The shave took over an hour, but I enjoyed every minute of it. Definitely a closer shave today than Saturday, but I bet it can get a little closer still. A couple of times I felt the blade jumping off the wiskers a bit on the back pass, but a few times with the right stretch, blade angle and speed it was a sublime experience and an incredibly close result on those passes. I went by about four times all in all, trying to get the lay of the blade against the direction of growth and there's going to be some geography lessons there, but I'm confident it will only improve.

I'll go at the hone and strops like I did tonight once more in a couple of days ('cuz this shave's gonna last, that's for sure) and see if it improves again. My suspicion now is that the blade will take a better edge, but the operator might not have the skill to get it there ... yet.

I think the honing I did actually dulled the razor. Is that possible? I was very gentle on the hone and careful like nobody's business on the strops to make sure nothing went wrong, but I still couldn't get the hanging hair to pop. The blade still shaves decently, but I can tell the difference from the other day.

Can using too little pressure on the hone refuse the fins from forming or should I be thinking of going lighter still?

A bit of friendly advice- Send it to one of the honemeisters and have them make it shave ready. You'll save yourself much pain and heartache.

Believe me, I'm no expert, but there are so many factors to this type of shaving. Starting out with a certified shave ready razor will at least give you the reassurance that your instrument is optimum. Any other problems can be attributed to technique. At least you have eliminated a whole set of potential problems that way. Nothing sucks worse than a dull razor.

I bought my first razor from Lynn. Worked on my stropping and shaving technique. When I got consistent with that, I bought my second razor from David. Then I alternated between the two to see what I liked best. Then I bought my third razor from Ebay. This way I had some solid foundation. I figure in a few years I'll have the whole thing down.

Dr. Phong.

I'm an "All The Way" kind of guy. Although I appreciate what you're saying about having a master honed instrument and WILL get one, I'm too obsessive to wait for the next step. While I'm getting the shaving technique down I'm working out on a few ebay specials to get that advancing as well. The edge I've managed to get on the Dubl Duck isn't too bad. It shaves pretty good, it just wont split a hair for me ... yet.

I took the blade to pasted leather for fifty trips yesterday before shaving and it served to improve the blade back to about where it was for my second shave. I was getting quite insistent on some of those tough spots to reach and had to live with a few stinging nicks through the day.

Although I don't need to shave every day, I was honing away at a few other ebay cheapies which I think are stepping closer and closer to shavability each time and decided to go back to the Norton hone on my one good shaver. EXTREMELY delicately for three 1/3 reps, followed by fifty strokes on the pasted strop. It now shaves excellently along the length of the blade and pops a hanging hair easily everywhere except close to the heel. Slowly and gently is certainly the key to the finest edge obtainable. I'm lucky I'm working with great steel at this early stage or I might not be able to see the subtle progress.

Way to go Xman! It takes a fair amount of perserverence but eventually the honing magic happens.

For shave number 9 I used a Henckel #50 that I paid a little too much for on ebay, but it looked NOS so I'm not complaining too much. It did indeed arrive in almost new condition and pretty sharp. The blade has a bit of a spring to it, looks a little more polished and makes quite a racket on the hone so I think it's SS. It stropped up to an incredibly sharp edge and gave it up by the end of my shave, but the strop brought it all right back. It felt a little different on my face too, stiffer.

Shave 10 started with another cheap ebay razor, this time an Ern Sword & Crown that wasn't quite honed up so I went back to the DD and had a delicious finish. Closest shave yet.

Here's the thing:
As I was going against the grain on my chin I thought to myself, "X, If you could just get it to cut along and ever-so-very-slightly diagonally, you'd have an easier time with this last pass. Naw, THAT'S nuts". And then I got to reading the 1961 Barber Manual in the files again and notice that they actually recommend this!

Before I shave my chin off, can you gents relate your personal experience with this 'diagonal' motion and perhaps help with some recommendations?

X

One of the guys with more skill in shaving than I should answer this post.
A diagonal stroke? :shock: Where's the closest ER ! :shock: