New razor has a chip - suggested response?

Sad face here. As I looked over my new Ralf Aust after my second use and stropping, I noticed a very definite chip. Pic attached. Right in the area that would presumably get use in facial hollows although I haven't used it for shaving yet.

I wasn't going to do any honing with this razor for a long while as I was learning how to shave with it. But this is a pretty real nick. So ... what do you think? Ignore it while using the flat to shave or will it inevitably lead to skin catchage and blood flowage and demands immediate honing. I've got the hones and perhaps could work it so as to not involve the straight edge during repair.

Crowden

Sorry to hear about your razor. You will have to have the chip removed before trying it out I'm afraid.. If you don't it can lead to very uncomfortable shaves or even cuts depends on what type of chip it is.....

You just got it brand new, ya haven't even used it and the edge is chipped? How do u think that happend?

I wouldn't take a chance shaving with a razor with a chip in the edge as you are just asking for trouble as in razor burn, irritation at the least but depending on size of chip could end up with serious cuts and bleeding.

I just bought a nice looking Joseph Rodgers & Sons that has a small crack in the blade.........its going back to seller in the morning.

What a goof - didn't attach the pic. Here it is:

Sorry can't see any photo. So after your second attempt at shaving using the Ralph Aust razor for both attempts you have found a chip in the heal, correct? First question would be are you rinsing the razor under the tap while shaving? That can lead to a chip fairly easily with light contact to the tap.

I would go along with Joe and say you should get the razor honed to get the chip out as you really can't hone out the chip and leave the rest of the blade untouched. Chip removal involves removing steel evenly along the whole length of the blade until the chip is gone. On a brand new razor with no real honing experience I would not recommend trying it yourself. If your razor came with a free second honing from the vendor I would go that route.

Bob

OK the photo just popped up and the chip is at the toe. Nothing changes, don't use it send it out.

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Originally Posted by JoeLowett

Sorry to hear about your razor. You will have to have the chip removed before trying it out I'm afraid.. If you don't it can lead to very uncomfortable shaves or even cuts depends on what type of chip it is.....

You just got it brand new, ya haven't even used it and the edge is chipped? How do u think that happend?

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Got it brand new from SRP and am quite confident the fault is mine. I'd have noticed it if it had come chipped, I'm pretty sure. And I've shaved twice with it and stropped twice. So, somewhere along the way, I must have managed it.

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Originally Posted by BobH

Sorry can't see any photo. So after your second attempt at shaving using the Ralph Aust razor for both attempts you have found a chip in the heal, correct? First question would be are you rinsing the razor under the tap while shaving? That can lead to a chip fairly easily with light contact to the tap.

I would go along with Joe and say you should get the razor honed to get the chip out as you really can't hone out the chip and leave the rest of the blade untouched. Chip removal involves removing steel evenly along the whole length of the blade until the chip is gone. On a brand new razor with no real honing experience I would not recommend trying it yourself. If your razor came with a free second honing from the vendor I would go that route.

Bob

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Pic is up now. Chip is in the toe, not the heel, if I've got my body parts right.
Yep, it has a free second hone. But that means putting off my SE razoring for weeks ...

As you can (now) see from the pic, the chip is up on the curvature of the rounded tip. So I was thinking I could hone a new radius up there and leave the straight edge part alone. There'd likely be a small transition region for taking it slow and checking with a loupe makes me hopeful I could repair without having to pull back the entire leading edge of the blade.

A couple of thoughts here. I am presuming that you are new to straight razor shaving and honing. If that is in fact true your razor may be down for longer if you try to fix it yourself. That is a guess and may be way off base. Honing is a little tricky, some people pick it up easier than others. I'm not sure you want to learn on a brand new razor, although you do want one that is free of geometry issues. It is a personal choice. Do you have a second razor?

+1 to sending it in.

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Originally Posted by RezDog

A couple of thoughts here. I am presuming that you are new to straight razor shaving and honing. If that is in fact true your razor may be down for longer if you try to fix it yourself. That is a guess and may be way off base. Honing is a little tricky, some people pick it up easier than others. I'm not sure you want to learn on a brand new razor, although you do want one that is free of geometry issues. It is a personal choice. Do you have a second razor?

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Yes, new to straights. Not new to honing; done a fair bit on knives and have made a couple of knives in the past. Honing a straight razor seems, from the vids, to be a reasonably straightforward affair since the blade is contacting at the spine and edge.

I do have a second razor. An eBay McDonald not shave-ready. My plan HAD been to get used to shaving with the Ralf Aust and use it as a model for what a well honed blade looks like as I was practicing with the McDonald ...

Non angled pic

Hmmm. It is after all your razor. I hear from knife guys from time to time the changing to straight is not as easy as they thought. I do my own honing and transitioned into straights without it being epic. You can try and still send it out if you need to. I don't think you can take that chip out without resetting the whole bevel though, however I am not the authority and could be wrong. Good luck.

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Originally Posted by Headcrowny

Non angled pic

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You know, looking at this closeup, it seems to me that the blade perhaps was made with a touch too much of a squared off aspect - note how there's a lot of bevel showing where the chip is and very little along the edge. Perhaps it was that extension which caused it to be extra thin and therefore prone to breakage. But what it also seems to say to me is that if the blade were honed there it would actually be remaking the curvature into what it "should" have been; more of a nicely circular edge merging into the flat edge. What do you think?

+1 on I can still send it out. That's where I'm leaning right now. It wouldn't be reasonable to ask SRP to fix it as part of the second honing free, I don't think. This wouldn't be a regular honing; it would be a repair. And if I'm going to pay for a repair, might as well try to fix it myself first. At worst it would just mean a slightly more involved repair and at best I don't have to bother anyone with it at all.

In the end it is your blade and your call. Under that circumstances sending it out is the safest way, doing it yourself is risky and if that fails you can always send it it out. Simple as that.

Bob

+3 send it out. Having practiced on some low rent blades I'm glad I didn't start of something nice. Things can happen fast.

Didn't you say you bought a DMT 325 with your set up ???

Put the tip of the razor down on the DMT at about a 45° angle, edge down toward the DMT, draw back and lift at the tang at the same time using no downward pressure just the weight of the blade,, this is easier to show in 2 seconds then type :(

It might take 2-3 draws to smooth that off there, strop the razor slowly and make sure it is leaving no marks on the strop and yer ready to shave...

If I get time on the camera later I will snap some pics, or a quick Vid, don't attempt this unless it makes perfect sense from my lame description hehehe

This is the exact same fix as Muting a Spike point razor..

Aaaaand. It's done. Took the McDonald in hand and went from 1000 to 12000. Looks great (haven't tried it for shaving though). And, since the stones were wet anyway ... honed the chip away in the way that seemed sensible and then did a final 12000 hone on the entire edge, just ta show 'em! (Monty Python quote).

Looks good to me. We'll see how it works out in a few hours!

Thanks for the replies, guys.

I did indeed. And read your reply after I'd finished the job, unfortunately. Had fun though!
I thought about using the DMT but figured I'd go with what made sense to me, especially after the honing of the McDonald seemed to go so well.

I'll tell you, though, the suction that lapping those stones on the DMT causes is huge! Unexpectedly so.

Congratulations, your instinct to do it was spot on. Let us know how they shave.

Bob

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Originally Posted by BobH

Congratulations, your instinct to do it was spot on. Let us know how they shave.

Bob

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Just did the shave. Worked well. The tip where the chip was was actually very smooth and easy to shave with. WTG and some XTG on the cheeks. First time doing the whole face. Bit stubblier overall than the same number of passes with my DE. Certainly slower. But more fun!

Yea, time and patience will get you there for sure. I still think if you are good with a DE and you get to the point where your SR shaves are as good you are really getting there. Much more goes into a good SR shave and getting all that coordinated is not the easiest.

Bob

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Originally Posted by BobH

Yea, time and patience will get you there for sure. I still think if you are good with a DE and you get to the point where your SR shaves are as good you are really getting there. Much more goes into a good SR shave and getting all that coordinated is not the easiest.

Bob

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I don't know how good I am with DE but I can get it BBS with three passes and just minor stinging from the alum. With two passes no stinging at all. My goal WAS three passes with no stinging but now I'm on to new goals.

I was too unsure to try any ATG under the chin. Just looked at the blade and at my face and said ... ah, what the heck. Let's wait on it.

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Originally Posted by Headcrowny

I don't know how good I am with DE but I can get it BBS with three passes and just minor stinging from the alum. With two passes no stinging at all. My goal WAS three passes with no stinging but now I'm on to new goals.

I was too unsure to try any ATG under the chin. Just looked at the blade and at my face and said ... ah, what the heck. Let's wait on it.

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If the first part refers to DE shaving then that is pretty good I'd say and it will take a fair while to match that or improve on that with a straight.

ATG under the chin can be tricky because as you come up to the jawline there is a slight change to follow around the jawline a bit. It took awhile before I was comfortable to try ATG so try it when you feel ready, what is the rush.

Bob

Yup. First paragraph DE, 2nd paragraph SE. No rush, although I like being non-bristly. And that's only going to come about with ATG. Watching geofatboy on YouTube makes it look soooo easy.

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Originally Posted by Headcrowny

Yup. First paragraph DE, 2nd paragraph SE. No rush, although I like being non-bristly. And that's only going to come about with ATG. Watching geofatboy on YouTube makes it look soooo easy.

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If you stick with it, I think you will find that it's just as easy as any of us with expieriance make it look... It's just a matter of getting past the growing pains.

Shaving with a SR becomes muscle memory- every aspect from the angle to the stroke to the direction to shave becomes instant- nearly no thought required. Once you know what your doing the biggest worry you have is what soap or cream your going to use with which aftershave, which razor your going to use, what brush and what music you want to listen to.
That's what makes this suck a great 'sport'.


Great job on that edge BTW, for someone to pull out a rock before their first shave and be successful with it is a feat in itself!

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Originally Posted by JoeLowett

If you stick with it, I think you will find that it's just as easy as any of us with expieriance make it look... It's just a matter of getting past the growing pains.

Shaving with a SR becomes muscle memory- every aspect from the angle to the stroke to the direction to shave becomes instant- nearly no thought required. Once you know what your doing the biggest worry you have is what soap or cream your going to use with which aftershave, which razor your going to use, what brush and what music you want to listen to.
That's what makes this suck a great 'sport'.


Great job on that edge BTW, for someone to pull out a rock before their first shave and be successful with it is a feat in itself!

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I can totally see what you mean vis a vis muscle memory. And considering how well I can see the blade at all times, that's a good thing! The DE experience helps, actually; I've got a decent feel for blade angle from it. And thanks for the attaboy on the repair. I just took it slow and steady.

However, having honed the eBay blade and then compared to the SRD Aust blade, I've concluded thumbs down on my honing job. So it's back to the naniwa tomorrow. Second time for sure!

I had to track this down after reading your other post tonight.
WOW!

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Originally Posted by ColonelG

I had to track this down after reading your other post tonight.
WOW!

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Just got lucky!

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Originally Posted by Headcrowny

... honed the chip away in the way that seemed sensible and then did a final 12000 hone on the entire edge, just ta show 'em! (Monty Python quote).

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Glad it didn't sink into the swamp. ;)

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Originally Posted by Headcrowny

I'll tell you, though, the suction that lapping those stones on the DMT causes is huge! Unexpectedly so.

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An Atoma 400 will solve that but I think most get around the problem by lapping underwater... with snorkels & flippers.