Thread: How sharp is sharp?

Honing and stropping on pasted strops both produce a sharper edge. Honing improves the physical qualities of the bevel and edge. Stropping on pasted strops improves the edge but over time rounds the bevel, eventually to the point that re-honing is required. Stropping on a pasted strop requires less skill than honing and takes less time. Although it is a near-term solution to dullness, it is not a long-term solution.

I might have missed it in the thread, I did only look real quick...

But to put a number or a time on how long the edge will last for an individual is an unrealistic expectation, there are way to many variables in there...
Some people touch a Barber's hone before every shave, some have to re-touch yearly, some have made it 600 shaves..

You will normally find that as your Technique gets better then the edge lasts longer, but Technique plays second fiddle to your beard

Originally Posted by gssixgun

I might have missed it in the thread, I did only look real quick...

But to put a number or a time on how long the edge will last for an individual is an unrealistic expectation, there are way to many variables in there...
Some people touch a Barber's hone before every shave, some have to re-touch yearly, some have made it 600 shaves..

You will normally find that as your Technique gets better then the edge lasts longer, but Technique plays second fiddle to your beard

Not to belabour Glen's point, but doesn't the quality of the razor itself demand first chair in the orchestra of sharpness? Not all razors are equal in materials, design, or craftsmanship. Just my $0.02.

I'm obviously not Glen, but shaving technique (razor stropping, facial prep, and actually shaving) will effect a blade more than materials, design, or craftsmanship if we are talking about a descent quality run of the mill vintage razor.
Stropping
I've honed razors for others and asked them not to strop before the first shave, only after and then again before future shaves. Then I get contacted that the first full shave went very well, but the second shave didn't. I offer to check the edge and upon looking at the edge under magnification I see that the razor had been stropped improperly, I.E.: rolled edge.

Prep
Facial preparations are quite important as well as the quality of the shave soap. Everyone has shave preperations that work, so I will not go there...but you simply can't walk into the bathroom, lather, & shave and expect to get a stellar shave.

Technique
Improper shave angle can kill an edge as well. The lower the angle the better off you and your razor are. High angles literally scrape your face and whiskers off & give you more of an opportunity for weepers. The more parallel the cutting edge is to your face, the better off your skin is and the better the shave will be as you are cutting the whiskers at more of a 90 degree angle. It's quite often during a shave that I personally feel the spine touch my skin when performing a ATG pass.

Hope this helps,
Scott

Originally Posted by mapleleafalumnus

Not to belabour Glen's point, but doesn't the quality of the razor itself demand first chair in the orchestra of sharpness? Not all razors are equal in materials, design, or craftsmanship. Just my $0.02.

I never brought up the razor itself ... each razor of course will be different, but regardless, the technique and beard will still set the standard for that razor..


Scott's post below says it even better than I did essentially that, as you get better at this, the edge lasts longer

Originally Posted by shooter74743

I'm obviously not Glen, but shaving technique (razor stropping, facial prep, and actually shaving) will effect a blade more than materials, design, or craftsmanship if we are talking about a descent quality run of the mill vintage razor.
Stropping
I've honed razors for others and asked them not to strop before the first shave, only after and then again before future shaves. Then I get contacted that the first full shave went very well, but the second shave didn't. I offer to check the edge and upon looking at the edge under magnification I see that the razor had been stropped improperly, I.E.: rolled edge.

Prep
Facial preparations are quite important as well as the quality of the shave soap. Everyone has shave preperations that work, so I will not go there...but you simply can't walk into the bathroom, lather, & shave and expect to get a stellar shave.

Technique
Improper shave angle can kill an edge as well. The lower the angle the better off you and your razor are. High angles literally scrape your face and whiskers off & give you more of an opportunity for weepers. The more parallel the cutting edge is to your face, the better off your skin is and the better the shave will be as you are cutting the whiskers at more of a 90 degree angle. It's quite often during a shave that I personally feel the spine touch my skin when performing a ATG pass.

Hope this helps,
Scott

Originally Posted by ace

Honing and stropping on pasted strops both produce a sharper edge. Honing improves the physical qualities of the bevel and edge. Stropping on pasted strops improves the edge but over time rounds the bevel, eventually to the point that re-honing is required. Stropping on a pasted strop requires less skill than honing and takes less time. Although it is a near-term solution to dullness, it is not a long-term solution.

I think this is an excellent distinction between honing and stropping, and perfect description of why stropping doesn't work forever.


I think the poster's original question is the real question new users have when they post about HHTs or wonder if their blade was really shave-ready. My usual answer to this, which I'll write here for any other newish users reading this thread, is that a properly sharp razor should remove your hairs even though you're only aiming to remove the lather. That's the same answer for how much pressure to use--enough to scrape away the lather. If you need more pressure or a really high blade angle then it may be time to examine your technique or touch up your edge.

Of course, as our technique improves we develop unconscious workarounds to challenges we may not even have noticed, and still get acceptable shaves with subpar blades. Part of the joy of a fresh honing is the reminder of how well it can all fall together.

It sounds like the original poster learned a lot of good technique with his initially subpar blades. Kudos for that!