Maintenance touchup

I have read a number of times that with a barber's hone one can maintain an edge indefinitely. This might be a little hyperbole as if in fact this was common there sure are a lot of guys messing around with a slew of unnecessary stones.

What I was wondering was what are you standard maintenance routines to keep an good edge on your razor. I have fallen into a practice of running the razor across a barber's hone 5 times after three shaves, taking it to a CrO paddle for about five to ten strokes and then to the strop.

Do you have a pretty standard routine?

I've only used my barber's hone once since receiving it but this is how I've got my schedule set.

Every Saturday I do 15 laps on a pasted balsa, followed by 100 laps on leather and I'm good for the week of 6 shaves. I plan to do 8 laps on the barber's hone, then 15 on balsa, followed by 100 on leather at the end of each month. I will play it by ear if I need to increase the hone use to 2 times a month.

There are tons of ways to go here. Any and all that work to your satisfaction are fine.

I tend to strop way too much. 80-100 linen, 50-100 on high draw leather, 100 on heavy shell. I rarely need a touch up, but I recently tried 2 sheets of newspaper on top of a c12k on a fussy Wacker. 70 light strokes. Then normal linen/leather routine. No stones needed - except to back the newspaper. Newspaper is far from a new approach. I'd just not heard of backing it w/ a hard surface until Murray's controversial vids. What I found was that the 'stickiness' that developes during normal stropping is fully present for the first stroke on linen/leather. Guys have tried abrasives on the paper, etc. Like the barber's hone, it won't recover an edge that's gone too far, but has been an interesting and useful experiment. 'Good for guys on a budget that have some hard flat surface to back paper with - glass, marble tile, etc. If the edge is too far gone, there's no avoiding stones.

Another fun one was using high grit diamond on top of a Spyderco UF. I got the idea from Robert William's old site. He was right. take a set bevel, .5m diamond on the UF, and you're lopping hairs in 10 careful strokes.

One thing to keep in mind is to have some fun at it. Worst case - you send your razor to be honed. It's not that costly, and many members will do it for free - just to further their experience honing.

Enjoy!

I'm fairly minimalist when it comes to hones, so it's pretty simple for me. My razors will usually see 3 chrome ox touchups (10-12 laps) before going to a stone. I really like the edges I get from my Naniwa 12k, so its my preferred touch up stone. 10-15 laps brings the edge back more than nicely. Sometimes I follow up with a few laps of chrome, other times I don't. It depends on what I feel the razor needs.

Occasionally, if I let the edge slip a bit too far, I'll bust out the Norton and either give it a few licks on the 8k side or do a small pyramid, then test shave. If it shaves acceptably I'll give it the Nani 12k treatment as described above.

I only have a couple razors that still have what I call a "pure coticule edge", so for those razors I use my coticule only. It's a hard specimen and takes quite a few laps before I see any improvement (water only), so I usually check the edge after 50 laps. I'll likely end up doing additional laps before the edge is where I like it.

Unfortunately, I only have to go to the stones a few times a year so I don't get to use them that often....

I don't hone until the edge needs it and that can vary wildly from razor to razor. Usually as soon as the comfort level starts to deteriorate that's the sign to me. Usually I'll use either the Escher or Coticule and no more than 40 strokes, often times less is all I need and from time to time maybe 60. Maybe some CrO on a strop for that final polish and just a few strokes on that. Of course there are the rare "difficult razors" which require their own routine to bring back up to snuff but those are truly rare.

My touch ups usually consist of 10 laps on a barber hone and 10 laps on .5 CrOx, then normal stropping
-dan-

So do you HAVE to have either a 12k or a Barbers hone to touch up? All I have is red and green CrOx on balsa.... (My 6/8 from SRD is starting to pull a little so I think it needs a touch up....will I be ok with just the CROX)?

Thanks

Quote:

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Originally Posted by mcgyver74

So do you HAVE to have either a 12k or a Barbers hone to touch up? All I have is red and green CrOx on balsa.... (My 6/8 from SRD is starting to pull a little so I think it needs a touch up....will I be ok with just the CROX)?

Thanks

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You won't know until you try, but I'll bet you aren't to the point where you need a hone yet.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by mcgyver74

So do you HAVE to have either a 12k or a Barbers hone to touch up? All I have is red and green CrOx on balsa.... (My 6/8 from SRD is starting to pull a little so I think it needs a touch up....will I be ok with just the CROX)?

Thanks

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So far all I have needed is 30 laps on the green followed by 30 on the red. If I get any pulling on the WTG shave on the cheeks two days in a row I know it is time to break out the balsa. My razor wants that about every 2-3 months (shaving daily). If (when) I get to the point that that doesn't do it I will break out the C12 and find out how many laps are needed with it.

This is a great question IMO, and thanks for the responses. It seems the epitome of YMMV--so many options and combinations, and so many that work well. I've avoided pastes and rely on my linen/leather 3" strop, then the Naniwa 12k for slightly deeper maintenance. The 4k/8k is really just for new acquisitions or bevels. I'm still learning and am looking forward to a little stone exploring...

frspecht,

For me, the usual routine is to give the edge a refresh once a week on a hard leather paddle strop dusted with 0.5 micron CrOx powder.

Once a month, the edge is taken to a Naniwa 12 k.

I tend to err on the 'little and often' side :)

Have fun !

Best regards

Russ

So IF one uses a barber hone or Naniwa 12k Is the stroke a honing stroke (Blade first) or a stropping stroke (spine first)?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by mcgyver74

So IF one uses a barber hone or Naniwa 12k Is the stroke a honing stroke (Blade first) or a stropping stroke (spine first)?

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Valid question - the rule is if it is a stone the stroke is edge leading; any other kind of "hone" (bench, balsa etc) and strop use spine leading strokes.

This is truly crazy making.

What did the people making the straight razors do say, two hundred years ago?

There was no trade with China or Japan that I know of.

Not in a major way, maybe there was a small cadre of secret honers trading stones along the old silk route, like George Gurdjieff saw in his "Meetings with Remarkable Honers,"
but for the average barber of Saville, or Augsburg or Minsk, what method worked to hone a razor to simple day to day marketable use?

Is there a text somewhere referencing this?

I'm just a beginner, but damn, there's got to be a common man method that was widely known and used, not CRO2 or diamond paste or pricey coticules or Naniwa stones.

Anyone?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by normbal

This is truly crazy making.

What did the people making the straight razors do say, two hundred years ago?

There was no trade with China or Japan that I know of.

Not in a major way, maybe there was a small cadre of secret honers trading stones along the old silk route, like George Gurdjieff saw in his "Meetings with Remarkable Honers,"
but for the average barber of Saville, or Augsburg or Minsk, what method worked to hone a razor to simple day to day marketable use?

Is there a text somewhere referencing this?

I'm just a beginner, but damn, there's got to be a common man method that was widely known and used, not CRO2 or diamond paste or pricey coticules or Naniwa stones.

Anyone?

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Ha! Yep, the common man method around these parts is the barber hone. They work great. You can also use fine Arkansas stone. For the record though, I don't think prices of coticules were then what they are now. Besides, if you're a sleuth, they can be had on ebay or in grimy antique stores for reasonable prices. Such prices are due to the seller not being a member here!

normbal,

In 'La Pogonotomia' by Perret, ca 1770

La pogonotomie, ou L'art d'apprendre ... - Jean-Jacques Perret - Google Boeken

Translation is available on Arthur Boon's site 'Razor Central' :

RazorCentral - Alles über Rasiermesser

Mention is made (IIRC) in 'La Pogonotomia' of coticules, Belgian blues and slate hones. Also mentioned was the use of rouge and/or black iron oxide in grease to smooth the blade.

In later texts at the end of the 19th century, coticules, Thuringian hones and the new ceramic hones are mentioned.

It seems that only the synthetic waterstones of the late 20th century are the 'newcomers' in the honing landscape :)

Have fun !

Best regards

Russ

I was told as long as the blade isnt butter knife dull..yes a barbers hone will do fine.

I would only hone if you find degradation in the edge. Every razor is different and the only reason I would ever hone on a set schedule is for simplicity sake.

I have a Boker Edelweiss that I purchased approximately one year ago. It was honed once and has not seen a stone since. I have other razors that have been touched up once and only once in the past year. I also have a few that need touch ups every 10 shaves. Too many variables for me to be on a set schedule.