Thread: Shaving technique

Just shaved with my newly honed razor.
It is not yet HHT ready across all of the edge, but I decided to have a shave with it.
With the grain it went suberb, against the grain not yet.

But I experimanted a bit, and I discovered that the best shave is with the blade almost flat against my skin, and with the blade starting heel first, and then sort of make a scything movement, like a propellor.

Doing that, the hairs just fell of without any resistance.

I guess that technique is at least as important as having a sharp knife.

Yes, but you still need to work on it. Try re-lapping the hone, it's amazing how the results can improve after that.

Originally Posted by FiReSTaRT

Yes, but you still need to work on it. Try re-lapping the hone, it's amazing how the results can improve after that.

I bought the 1000 grit sandpaper for wet sanding a couple of days ago.
I'll lap my stone this weekend.

Is lapping something that has to happen often?
For that matter, how do I know I've lapped enough?

Get a pencil and mark a grid on the stone, then lap it till the pencil marks are gone.

Soak the stone for 10 mins or so before lapping, and make sure the sandpaper is also wet.

How often you need to do this just kind of depends. Fortunately it doesn't take long. Just lap whenever you think you might need it -- if you use the pencil marks then if it's already flat the pencil marks will come off on the first figure 8 pass and you're done.

MP offered some great advice and I'll just re-iterate that you're supposed to use a figure 8 motion for lapping.

Originally Posted by FiReSTaRT

MP offered some great advice and I'll just re-iterate that you're supposed to use a figure 8 motion for lapping.

Two thing could hep ensure you are lapping evenly:
Every 10 or 20 laps, reverse directions on the figure 8.
Also turn the stone 180º evry 20 or 40 laps.
I figure even the most unneven action would be mitigated that way and a total clutz could pe confident that it turned out even ... unless he was a TOTAL clutz and dropped it.
Has anyone done this?

X

Originally Posted by xman

Two thing could hep ensure you are lapping evenly:
Every 10 or 20 laps, reverse directions on the figure 8.
Also turn the stone 180º evry 20 or 40 laps.
I figure even the most unneven action would be mitigated that way and a total clutz could pe confident that it turned out even ... unless he was a TOTAL clutz and dropped it.
Has anyone done this?

X

No never dropped one but one day a couple years ago after honing I had all my honing stones lined up drying off on the table and my wife who was in an especially ornary mood decided to throw one of the stones across the room (not at me). luckily she picked the nogura stone and not the coticule.

I would only add that I use a shapton plate to do my lapping and usually just do an X motion on the plate and then turn the hone around a couple times but I guess a figure 8 is really an X when it comes down to it.

Then what did you to the wife? I think I would have lapped her !

Originally Posted by mparker762

Get a pencil and mark a grid on the stone, then lap it till the pencil marks are gone.

Soak the stone for 10 mins or so before lapping, and make sure the sandpaper is also wet.

How often you need to do this just kind of depends. Fortunately it doesn't take long. Just lap whenever you think you might need it -- if you use the pencil marks then if it's already flat the pencil marks will come off on the first figure 8 pass and you're done.

I just lapped my stone, both the yellow and the blue side.
The blue was as flat as could be, but I had to lap the yellow side 3 times, using the technique you described. Only then would the pencil marks disappear simultaneously after one or two laps.

I used a flat ceramic tile as back.
Next week I'll buy a thick piece of glass for future use.

I'll do a couple of honing passes on the yellow next week to see if I can make the edge equally sharp along the edge.

Boy, straight shaving involves a lot more than using a mock 3...
But I have to admit that my previous shave was possibly the best in the previous 10 years.

That's the spirit.

Plus now you're aquiring a whole new set of skills. Think of what you'll be able to do to your simple pocketknife now!!!