Thread: My 10 or so razors

Originally Posted by Eurofighter

Now that you mention it, I remember reading about shrinking scales here on the forum.
The razor was advertised as shave ready. It doesn't even shave my arm hair.
I do like the shoulderless design.

Unless the seller claims to have honed the razor themself (or had it done professionally) I usually take it to mean "razor is pretty sharp". Either way, I'm skeptical unless it is a member here I trust. I'm usually very conservative in describing razors I've honed myself. I had a razor that shaved well, but when a mentor evaluated my work he said the heel needed work.

Examples of descriptions I've seen
"Pristine" - razor had very noticeable amount of black rust
"Never been honed" - ton of hone wear on spine
"BNIB" - used razor with busted handle and wrong box
"No damage" - huge chip in edge

Yea, you got to look at the pictures, then roll the dice. Load the pic on to a photo editing program, enlarge the photos and look for defects. If the photos are crap, pass. You can tell from the picture, there is no edge on that razor.

Scales probably shrunk, The good news is, most of that will clean up, you may have some pitting and you will lose the gold wash, but it is a nice blade grind and probably will be a fine shaver

You might be able to make those scales work, by taking a thin file that will fin between the scales, line the inside of the scales with tape, electric or duct and file the wedge back with the edge of the file, be careful not to hit the pin.

The seller's own words:
"I start with sandpaper 1000 to catch the thread, I go to the different grit stones the last is a purple hill 8 000-10000 and I finish the leather until the razor is able to cut a hair without difficulty. I check my shavers before each shipment and make leather passes to ensure he is ready to shave. the purple stone is part of a trio c is the finest grain (trio Welsh)."

I should be more skeptical when evaluating ebay razors. I made a few mistakes, but that's how one learns I guess.
I like that gold wash and I will keep it despite the pitting.
Great idea with filing the wedge!

what do you think about this razor? I know I said I'll stop buying

Looks great. The shoulderless is nice to, it just needs a little work.

"I'll stop buying" Been there.

The seller's own words:

"I start with sandpaper 1000 to catch the thread, I go to the different grit stones the last is a purple hill 8 000-10000 and I finish the leather until the razor is able to cut a hair without difficulty. I check my shavers before each shipment and make leather passes to ensure he is ready to shave. the purple stone is part of a trio c is the finest grain (trio Welsh)."

"I should be more skeptical when evaluating eBay razors."


Right, but what I am saying is the photo does not match the description of how the razor was honed.

The first clue in the seller’s remarks, that he is setting the bevel on sandpaper, a King 1k is $20. Why would one use sandpaper?

Yes, a bevel can be set with 1k sandpaper, but for razors you are selling, why? Says volumes about the seller. And was finished on a Welsh Purple stone. That generally is not a finish stone. It is not 8-10 grit, it is a Natural stone of unknown grit. So at least 3 factors from the seller, that would make me question any purchase from the seller.

My thoughts exactly!
I should have asked about his honing methods before buying the razor!

Update:
I've been shaving with the SYUSUI "秋水" razor for the last few days.
I've set the bevel on the Nani 1k then continued on the 4K Hayabusa until the blade really grabbed the stone. I've tested the edge on my arm hairs and found out that the toe didn't really cut hairs. Back to the 1k, then 4k then 8K Fuji. I was hoping that will start grabbing the stone again, but it didn't. After honing for more than an hour I gave up. The shave is comfortable, but it drags a bit. I need to add a bit of pressure. I feel there is room for improvement. I am guessing that the bevel is not quite set yet. What do you think?
All in all, I can say that I have not mastered the 8k yet. I'll keep at it.
Spending wise, I've ordered a Belomo 10x loupe as I've lost hope in the cheap Chinese one.
I caved in and ordered the Gens razor that I've posted above. I is advertised as NOS. It should arrive in a few days.
My Scrupleworks horveen horsehide and flax linen strop was delivered. I really like the glossy surface!

Yea, bevel is not fully set. Look straight down on it, you do not need high magnification or high-quality glass to see if the bevels are meeting. Any reflection is where the bevels are not meeting. You have to fully set the bevel before moving up in grit. If the bevels are not meeting, there is no edge.

A couple things on the Syusui, it looks like there is a slight smile on the edge, so use a Rolling X to hone it. You will need the Rolling X to get the toe honed properly. Use tape on the spine and ink on the bevel to track your progress.

Additionally, it looks thin and being shoulder less will flex easily. If you use too much pressure you will lift the edge off the stone, (the back of the bevel becomes a fulcrum as the blade flexes). So here again ink is your friend, ink the bevel and do a stroke, adding pressure and looking at the bevel to make sure you are honing to the edge, you will figure out how much pressure is too much. Let the stone do the work and use ink to chart your progress.

Adding an additional layer of tape may also help you. You can also hone the heel, middle and toe separately, if you blend the bevel and edge together with a rolling X stroke. This is a handy technique for problem razors.

Watch the water too, if it isn’t smoothly going up over the bevel there’s still work to be done, should be consistent from heel to toe. Any valleys in the wave of water riding up the bevel is almost certainly a chip at the edge.