Thread: what do i do after 8000 stone

If you do have a really good edge after 8K, you don't have to go to 12K although I usually do anyway. If you go from 8K to stropping on plain leather, and do
100 or even more laps, you should see real improvement. That depends, of course, on the quality of your stropping.

100 laps! that sounds like i'd be there a while i thought i'd need 20-30 max...

100 laps is about my average. I like stropping, and if it improves the blade, that's a good thing.

I don't strop quickly at all, and I use a paddle strop, but 100 laps only takes me about 5-10
minutes, and it is time well spent. My honing can take a half hour to an hour. Why deny the
blade another 10 minutes if it improves the edge? Stropping is under-estimated in its
effectiveness.

Is this your first straight and shave?

Yes it is and i was expecting it to be much sharper than i got... when i went back to my disposable (which i didn't want to do) i got a closer shaving however i'm confident that once i bring the SR blade up to scratch it will be fine...

Originally Posted by aquapura1

Yes it is and i was expecting it to be much sharper than i got... when i went back to my disposable (which i didn't want to do) i got a closer shaving however i'm confident that once i bring the SR blade up to scratch it will be fine...

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.

I don't know where you are located, however probability is high that there is a member close by who can help you out.

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.