Thread: Tonight I had an awful shave

Blade centers fine and is pretty tight. it was carelessness on my part. Bakelite isn't exactly super sturdy, and it flexed in my hand. My bad.

Originally Posted by U2Bono269

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?

That sounds like the sensible approach, a barber's hone and a pasted strop. I once had the opportunity to stop there. If you do ding up the blade by dropping it or crashing into the scales, you'll probably have to send it out to someone who's got the 1k through 8k hones.

Good luck and best wishes, and may HAD remain beyond the horizon for you.

well, as long as I'm a private school teacher in a single-income family, hones will always be beyond my horizon.

Originally Posted by U2Bono269

well, as long as I'm a private school teacher in a single-income family, hones will always be beyond my horizon.

For $35 you could always get a King 1K/6K. Coupled with your barbers hone and pasted strop you can realistically take a razor from dull to shave ready. I know because I did this for a few months while I saved up for a 8K and a finisher to round out the honing regemin.

Yeah, that could work out for a while. Maybe we'll see what Christmas brings me, eh?

Originally Posted by U2Bono269

well, as long as I'm a private school teacher in a single-income family, hones will always be beyond my horizon.

Start looking in antique stores, I've found a few Coticules and Eschers/Thuringians for ridiculous prices (cheap) and there is also the C12K at Woodcraft hobby for $20

I've had awful luck in antiques stores. There aren't many around. I did find my current razor in one, but anything I do stumble upon is in awful shape. But if I did manage to find a hone in an antique shop, how do I know it's a good one for a razor?

Also, I just finished my latest round of blade refreshing. 5X on the barber hone, 15X on the pasted strop, 100X on linen strop, 150X on leather. Because I'm anal, I'll probably strop it again before I shave tomorrow.

In addition to the other posters' suggestions (which all are good and valid), take a day or two off from SR shaving. If you have to shave, go ahead and use something else. Then go back to SR shaving with a fresh frame of mind. Even when I am on my game with SR shaving, I always take at least one day off from shaving.
SR shaving is a life long learning process.

I don't think I need to. I straight up nailed the last two shaves .