Thread: Feels like wasted time

So I have spent a lot of time learning how to hone a razor. Well today it all came together and I had a razor poping hairs off of my arm without touching my skin. So I figured lets take it to the next step and do a shave test. I stropped it and prepared my face. The shave was going very well I did two passes on either side of my face it felt very close and smooth. Then I went to rinse the blade and took my eyes off of the blade for a second and I hear a sound of metal on metal SCRAPING. Yep I hit the blade on the water tap. So after some colorful adjectives left my mouth I cleaned up my face and took a look at the blade and I saw what you see below. To top it off I don't think I needed to do those second passes or at least use the same amount of pressure I had used in the past because it had shaved very close. So I guess its back to the stones and hopefully it will not take the same amount of time as the first time.

Moral of this story If you rinse your blade don't take your eyes off of it. I think I will switch to wiping the blade on a towel.

Ouuuchhhhhh ...I can almost feel what you went through that exact moment.

I think it's fixable...lesson learned.

Done that once. Once was enough. I learned. Yeah, I feel your pain.

Oh man... you hate to see that happen. Oh well, just another chance to get more time on the hones. A lesson learned for sure though

Cheers

Dave

I had my first straight shave today and whenever I rinsed I was SOOO cautious about rinsing my blade. Even before my blade arrived in the mail today I was having bad thoughts, imagining myself hitting the tap with my razor.

Sorry to see this happened. Take a break then hit the hones!

Actually, the moral of the story is to keep your blade out of the sink entirely. I know lots of people have different methods of clearing lather off the spine but mine is the safest, in my opinion. I wipe the blade off between my thumb and forefinger and then rinse my fingers. I've never had to do any repair on my fingers from accidentally hitting them against the sink.

While I feel your pain, realize that you got off lucky. Apparently it was a straight shot that simply compressed the very edge. It didn't bend it and better yet, it didn't crack it.

Now to fix it, I'd recommend back honing first until you no longer feel any resistance as you slide your finger from spine to edge. That is, on the hone you will do the same concept as what stropping is presumed to do--straightening the edge. After that, then you need to simply reset the bevel until the damaged area is gone. This should be a relatively easy fix. Like I said, you got off lucky.

oh come on, just pop open the seal of the next package and keep on shaving

and btw honing ducks doesn't count as honing - that can be done with the left foot while scoring goals against brazil with the right foot - ask maximus about that

Originally Posted by gugi

oh come on, just pop open the seal of the next package and keep on shaving

It used to be that new guys were frequently advised against expensive blades for this very reason.

Still, it happens. A while back I dropped a Bergischer Lowe. Had a reasonably cushioned landing luckily & just needed a trip back over the hones. My heart was in my throat on its way down though!

It is always good to have a backup razor handy for many reasons, I have done the same thing too, luckily it was the spine and side of the razor that made contact. I keep cotton wash cloths handy now when shaving.

I rinse my razors with the edge pointing downwards. Using big blades and small amounts of good lather also help. I only need to rinse three times for each pass.