Thread: Felt + Diamond spray = Ruined my edge!

Hi,
I just want to clarify some things...

1) I've always got good result with my philly. So I would say my stropping technique is not the problem.
2) I didn't apply to much diamond spray on my felt, only a fine layer, no bubble at all. I don't think this is the problem.
3) I put less pressure as I can when I strop, I always try to put no more than the weight of the blade on the strop.
4) Yesterday night I did exactly the same steps I usually did after honing -> hone and Strop. The difference now is that instead of using the philly (which is now pasted) I use the bridle. I can't get the edge as sharper than what I got with the philly.

Conclusion:
Based on that, I can exclude Diamond spray and my stropping technique being a factor. My stropping technique is the same since at least one year now.

So now, is my new Bridle need to be more broken??

One more thing about the HHT, for me this test DOES work. When the hair pop easily, then I can tell you that my shave will be very smooth. When the hair doesn't pop, I know I'll get hard shave. It may not works for everybody, but I don't really understand how the HHT with always the same hair cannot be a sign of how sharp the razor is.

Thanks everybody to support me! :-)

I've never had the filly but isn't that a 2" wide strop ? The bridle is 3" and maybe it is a matter of getting used to the new width ? I know that on a thin strop you have to do an x stroke while there is a tendency to go straight up and down (no x) when switching to a wider strop. Just thinking out loud here .......

Hi,

Yes, the philly is 2" wide and I used to do X strokes. I do X strokes with the bridle too even if it is 3" wide.

With the philly I got almost no draw, so for me, the bridle makes a huge difference. Tonight I will try again to give more stroke on the webbed and leather and see if I can achieve the expected result.
Thanks.

I don't have the bridle yet but I do use the Premium 1 and I hear they are similar as far as draw. That webbed fabric is great stuff IME and I've been getting real good results with it. I do 50 and 50 webbed and leather every shave. Forum member mparker762 did a lot of experimenting with getting a relatively dull razor sharp on a strop and found that it could be done with enough strokes. He was getting it with linen followed by leather but I think that the webbed stuff is even better. He did do a whole lot of strokes of course. Here is a thread where he talks about it. See post #4.

I will experiment that tonight.

I will keep you posted about my results.

Thanks again.

WOWZA!!

Lots of good comments here.

It is never the fault of the operator! The equipment is always at fault if that is what we are looking for.

.5 Diamond spray on felt is one of the best finishing media that I have come across and I use it daily. I normally will finish honing or refresh a razor with 10 light strokes on it.

This being said...........If a razor has already been honed to where it is shaving really nice or newly honed, you can take one over the edge, so to speak with an additional 10 or 15 strokes on the .5 diamond. When this happens, you can usually just go back to the 12K or your finishing stone and do 10 strokes to bring the edge back and then do 10 strokes on the .5 diamond on felt, strop 40-60 times on leather and test shave. You can also add 5 strokes on the 8K to start if you think it may need it.

Hope this helps,

Lynn

Originally Posted by Lynn

WOWZA!!

Lots of good comments here.

It is never the fault of the operator! The equipment is always at fault if that is what we are looking for.

.5 Diamond spray on felt is one of the best finishing media that I have come across and I use it daily. I normally will finish honing or refresh a razor with 10 light strokes on it.

This being said...........If a razor has already been honed to where it is shaving really nice or newly honed, you can take one over the edge, so to speak with an additional 10 or 15 strokes on the .5 diamond. When this happens, you can usually just go back to the 12K or your finishing stone and do 10 strokes to bring the edge back and then do 10 strokes on the .5 diamond on felt, strop 40-60 times on leather and test shave. You can also add 5 strokes on the 8K to start if you think it may need it.

Hope this helps,

Lynn

Lynn:

You can create a wire edge off paste?

Makes sense... I just never thought about it... That may be the problem the whole time...

Originally Posted by Lynn

WOWZA!!

Lots of good comments here.

It is never the fault of the operator! The equipment is always at fault if that is what we are looking for.

.5 Diamond spray on felt is one of the best finishing media that I have come across and I use it daily. I normally will finish honing or refresh a razor with 10 light strokes on it.

This being said...........If a razor has already been honed to where it is shaving really nice or newly honed, you can take one over the edge, so to speak with an additional 10 or 15 strokes on the .5 diamond. When this happens, you can usually just go back to the 12K or your finishing stone and do 10 strokes to bring the edge back and then do 10 strokes on the .5 diamond on felt, strop 40-60 times on leather and test shave. You can also add 5 strokes on the 8K to start if you think it may need it.

Hope this helps,

Lynn

AHA! Lynn just confirmed what I have always maintained: "It's a good craftsman who knows when to blame the tools."

Remember, there are some guys who use these really coarse diamond pastes and claim they can do actual restoration on them. I've never tried it but I would imagine you could do some damage with improper use of those.

But getting back to the original question here, you need to look at each factor and eliminate things one by one. Its not a matter of break-in of a new strop and it's not a matter of the .5 diamond with the number of strokes used. May be how the spray was used, maybe operator error?

At any rate if the razor isn't shaving good depending on how far off it is I would just take it to the appropriate hone for a few passes.

Ok, so from all your comments it's probably because I have suddenly lost all my abilities on honing and stropping my razor when I got the bridle ;-)

Seriously, I will take all your advice into consideration and try to get my razor like it was before. I will let you know about my findings when I will have "Fixed" my issue.

When it will be resolved, maybe my expererience with this will be helpful for others.

Thanks.