Thread: what do i do after 8000 stone

After 8K, you strop and you shave. Nothing more.
All the money in the world will not help you if you cannot get good shaves off an 8K.

Originally Posted by Blix

You can't expect getting it very sharp on your very first tries, especially when you have no benchmark to what a sharp straight is. I suggest you have it honed by someone with experience honing razors.

+1

That is why I asked, also most get the impression that the razor isn't sharp enough when starting out due to inexperience (wrong angle, pressure etc.)
If you got yours straight from Dovo I doubt it is truly shave ready so it will probably feel even worse. Send it out for honing so you get the feel of how it should be and have a benchmark for future razors.

Another thing to remember is that even a truly shave ready, very sharp straight will feel different than a laser sharpened razorblade.

Great thanks everyone for your replies!

I guess i just got a bit confused with all the information on pastes etc that's out there i wanted to keep the setup as simple as possible while still having a good standard of shave. It seems that once i get better all I'll need is my 8K stone and a strop which is what i was hoping for. One the reasons I got my straight was because i wanted to save money in the long run rather than having a dependence on disposables the recurring expense. So it's also good that i don't need to buy pastes. I'll take the suggestion to get the razor professionally honed to get a benchmark.

Cheers guys this seems like a great community and happy to be a part of it.

If you are in it just for a cheaper shave, then a coticule OR a norton 4000/8000 OR an equivalent is all you need to sharpen the razor.
The leather strop is needed before every shave.

Now, you MIGHT want to buy a pasted strop eventually, because a pasted strop can keep your razor shaveready much longer.
However, it is not a necessity, more of a convenience really.

Another that wants to hone at the same time they learn to shave. Sigh. There's a reason I'm called pinklather. I did the same. I wouldn't do it again.

Glen's excellent thread on honing.

Straight Razor Place - Beginners Tips: October 2011

The part of the thread we both ignored:


"First off I always recommend 6 months of Straight Razor shaving before you start doing anything other than learning to shave After 6 months you should have enough experience to know if you are going to continue using SR's, and at least stand a chance of knowing if your honing is getting there ..."

There's lots of guys that can help w/ the honing. PM me if you need a hand.

If you want the best edge on that razor you should have it honed by somebody who's good at it. Otherwise it'll take you some time (months), to figure out exactly what the problem with your edge is and how to fix it.
I recently looked at few dovo razors all out of the box, and all needed bevel work, which means at least 4000 grit hone, though 1000 grit is the way most of it would do it.

Strop and shave.

If you don't have a good edge after the 8 000 going up in grit is not the answer.

8000 -> 12K grit -> pasted strop -> leather strop

Isn't it nice to get such consistent answers from the group? <g>

The lesson is:

. . . You'll find some sequence that works _for you_.

The final hone will be 8K or finer, you may or may not use a "finishing hone" (barber hone or something >8K), and you may or may not use a pasted strop.

For a while, I ran 8K --> CrOxide strop --> linen strop --> leather strop, and got good shaves from the results.

My first barber hone was pretty useless (too coarse), but the second one is a nice transition between 8K and CrOxide paste.

Charles

PS -- pastes are cheap, compared to fine-grit hones. A little tub of paste will last for a long time. Diamond dust is pricier.

thanks guys i'm still waiting for my strop to arrive... Pinklather are you saying you cut yourself a lot because your blade wasn;t sharp enough? Yeah i didn;t read the part about shaving for the first 6 months before i attempt sharpening but i guess it;s something i would have to learn sometime... i guess now i have my stone i'm in it for the long haul