Thread: Confused Newbie Again

I've only been shaving with a straight razor for a little while. I bought an inexpensive Genco here from the class ifieds. It seems to work fine and strop fine. I just got a Temperite by Case off of fleabay. He said he would make it shave ready for me. When it came I stropped it on my Philly Strop, so it was leather only. I noticed a little dust while stropping, but thought nothing of it. I'll tell you about the shave in a second. I used it again last night, and realized that the razor is raising a very fine leather dust off of the strop. I've inspected the edge under magnification, and it looks smooth. When I shave with it, it feels like it wants to cut your face, but it doesn't. It gives me, I think, a closer shave then the Genco, but the blade doesn't feel as smooth on my face. It doesn't pull the hairs, it just feels almost toothie. As I said before, I did inspect the edge under about 20x mag. and it looked smooth. What Gives? I think I'll not use it again untill I get it honed by a pro. I have a few I need to send out. Thanks for any help.

I don't know about the leather dust but the feel of the razor on your face might have something to do with what the fellow honed it with. If it is sharp but harsh I would think that is the source of the discomfort.

I'm with Jimmy here. The guy got the razor sharp but he hasnt got the smooth factor quite right.

I'd send it out to a pro for honing if you're not comfortable (or set up!) to hone the razor yourself.

A couple of things jump to mind: one, the spine may have a sharp corner which is abrading the strop; two, the edge may have a micro burr on it which could make shaving on one cheek seem smoother (burr curved away from skin) than the shave on the other cheek (burr curved toward the skin). Does the strop appear to have been abraded by the stropping? Does it have a slightly more defined matte finish after your stropping and raising this dust?

Immoderator

After a stone honing, the blade may feel sharp, but rough during the shave. I always finish up a stone honing with 15-20 passes on a .50 chrom ox pasted strop. This always smoothed out the edge and the straight razor provides a great smooth shave.

My educated guess on this is that after some stone honings, the fin isn't lined up as good as it could be and/or there are some lose tiny metals pieces still hanging onto the fin from the honing. One or both of these issues can contribute to a puzzling unsmooth shave coming off a honing sesson.

The pasted strop seems to do a terrific job address both of these issues before the first shave.

I hope this helps,

Pabster

Originally Posted by Bruce

A couple of things jump to mind: one, the spine may have a sharp corner which is abrading the strop; two, the edge may have a micro burr on it which could make shaving on one cheek seem smoother (burr curved away from skin) than the shave on the other cheek (burr curved toward the skin). Does the strop appear to have been abraded by the stropping? Does it have a slightly more defined matte finish after your stropping and raising this dust?

Immoderator

It is abrading the strop a little. I notice the surface is a little lighter in color, but still very smooth. I thought of a sharp spine, but it doesn't feel sharp at all. I checked the edge and it doesn't seem like the edge is rolled, and it looks smooth under magnification. I will get it honed by a pro. Thank you all.

Strop it lightly across the heal of your hand to see if you can locate the rough spot.

Originally Posted by Guarnera

As I said before, I did inspect the edge under about 20x mag. and it looked smooth. What Gives?

What you can see is often determined by lighting &/or angle you are viewing the edge at. Sometimes it helps to hold the blade up to the light so it is silhouetted & slightly tilt it back & forward.

It sounds like both are sharp but one has been finished off alot smoother than the other, hence the difference.

I gave it 20 strokes per side on the back of my philly strop with the green chrome and that helped, but it still needs to go out for a honing. Thanks everyone.