Thread: Tonight I had an awful shave

You didn't say you had a Swaty...

If you have a barber hone there's really no need for a paddle strop. Usually they require 5-10 laps to bring an edge back. In this case it sounds like it is the razor, not you - possibly a rolled edge. Try your hone (to start you may want to do a couple back hone laps, as in spine-leading) in increments of 5 and see if there's any improvement. If not the damage to the edge may be beyond the capabilities of a barbers hone, in which case you will have to send it out.

Yeah, I had a horrible shave a couple weeks ago. Exactly as you described. It was me though, cause I used my Dovo which is brand new and only shaved with once prior (And it was a really good shave.) I just said to hell with it after finishing half a pass and went to the DE.

That night just wasn't my night for a Straight shave.

Well I want to make a paddle strop because I have leather, wood and sandpaper lying around, and I figure for the $7 it cost me for chromium oxide it's worth a try. Plus I like variety. In my current state I have a $10 per month budget for my hobbies, and considering that I don't need any guitar strings at the moment, a little jar of green paste seemed like a good purchase.

I thought about the rolled edge thing. I was stropping about a week ago and I remember a particularly bum stroke. Usually when that happens I immediately start over on the linen, which I did, but I was wondering if maybe it was a really bad stropping error.

slightly off topic...why are Swaty hones talked about so much? What's the big deal?

Originally Posted by Jacketch

My last shave was dissapointing. It ended much too soon.

Kind of a double edged sword, on one hand you've become proficient enough to be able to shave in a timely manner and on the other you wish you could keep going cause it's so damn fun.

I'm enjoying these early days of shaving cause it's quite the lengthy process. My ritual generally lasts around 45 min, not all shaving time of course, but I truly enjoy the peace and serenity I gain from the me time. Really helps me unwind and reflect on things.

Swatys are good barber hones, that's it. Some barber hones are better than others, and Swatys are better than many. Barber hones, though they have very fine grits, also have a very high grit to binder ratio so they cut faster than you might expect of such a fine stone. They're good for quick touchup of a dulling edge, but not for repair of a damaged one.

I understand the urge to build your balsa strop. That material sitting around is so much unrealized potential.

If you find your honing didn't help, PM me and I'll hone it up for you. I'll unpin, clean up, and repin it for you too. Hinge gunk is a real peeve of mine. Just cover the postage.

Best wishes for better shaves!

Originally Posted by roughkype

Swatys are good barber hones, that's it. Some barber hones are better than others, and Swatys are better than many. Barber hones, though they have very fine grits, also have a very high grit to binder ratio so they cut faster than you might expect of such a fine stone. They're good for quick touchup of a dulling edge, but not for repair of a damaged one.

I understand the urge to build your balsa strop. That material sitting around is so much unrealized potential.

If you find your honing didn't help, PM me and I'll hone it up for you. I'll unpin, clean up, and repin it for you too. Hinge gunk is a real peeve of mine. Just cover the postage.

Best wishes for better shaves!

That's a very generous offer, and I thank you. I hope I don't have to take you up on it though .

I do want to learn to pin/unpin myself one day. I have a birthday right after Christmas, and considering that my parents are ridiculously pre-emptive shoppers, they've already called me to ask what I wanted. I hinted at a Boker Edelweiss from SRD...love those bone scales! So I'm hoping that if they are so generous, I will be able to unpin my Wolfertz, clean and polish it for real, repin it, and have it honed. When I got the razor I cleaned it as best I could without unpinning, and I realize that while I made the razor usable, I could have done so much better.

I think there are so many variables when you are still on the early learning curve it is difficult (razor grind, hone type, progression, etc.).

I think your razor just needed a touch up . Hopefully you will get a nice shave , next time you shave with it . BTW you can get most of the gunk out of the pivot pin area by putting Flitz metal polish on a piece of string , and carefully working it back and forth between the scales , and the tang .

Ok, so here's the result of my touchup:

MUCH, MUCH BETTER...but not optimal, I believe.

I ended up with one of the better shaves I've ever had. However, it didn't feel like it was as sharp as it was when I first got it honed, and I made up for it with improved technique. I kind of impressed myself with my new stretching techniques...very helpful.

So my plan is to take it back to the barber hone for another 5 laps, followed by 10 on the pasted strop to smooth it out, 100 on linen, 100 on leather, and I think that should take it back to the sharpness I need. I think it's a good idea also because I might have nicked the edge on my scales when I was folding the razor to put it away...they're bakelite scales and it was, at worst, a glancing nick, but you never know. Under a small magnifying glass the edge looked fine, but I'll do it to be safe.

The takeaway here is that I need to be more proactive in maintaining my edge. I think having a pasted strop should help out with that, with the barber hone for when it gets too dull for the paste. How's all that sound?

Might want to tighten the pivot a tad also.If the blade will center.