Thread: what do you do to get a new razor "shave ready?"

Originally Posted by RezDog

Hmmm. Where to start. I am a little stuck on your screen name. They are not knives so the process is different and the same. The part that is the same is that you need to develop a perfect apex and then polish it and refine it. The how the blade sits on the hone is completely different. I would almost never use a 220 with a razor. Skip straight past the 220. Tape the spine so you can keep it from damage until you get you technique figured out and then decide tape or no tape. Lapping hones is pretty important with straight razors. A loupe is your best friend. There are a few threads on what you are looking at when honing. The establishment of a perfect apex for the entire length of the cutting edge is the cornerstone of shave ready. You should be able to get a mediocre shave from a 1K honing with a properly developed bevel. Then it is the process of refining it. I really got a lot from gssixgun's videos. One on one is best when learning.

I would add only one thing to what Rezdog said and that is to watch Lynn Abrams on honing start to finish. It's very informative.

Some razors would only need a stropping but I'd rather shave on my edge, not someone else's. So I always reset the bevel on a new razor. You don't know if tape has been used, if the previous hone was lapped etc etc.

Dull the edge, go to the 1k, bring it back etc. That's the only way to be sure the bevel is set.

I went ahead and just stropped my new Dovo on a leather(smooth/skin side) paddle with no abrasive/polish. It shaved pretty well. I guess the problem is, and probably the problem for a lot of newer straight razor shavers, is knowing the feel of how a perfectly honed razor cuts. This new one cuts better than the other straights I restored. I imagine that's partially because there was a lot more meat behind the edge on the old ones.

When setting the bevel on a new razor, do you use tape on a stone when you go to the 1000 grit stone? Is it reasonable to set a bevel with a 4000 grit stone? I watched a few of gssixgun's youtube videos as suggested on page one of this thread and he used a 5000 grit stone to reestablish a bevel(that he had purposefully dulled on the side of the stone).

If it's not a good idea to set a bevel with a 4000-5000 grit stone and you think it's better to just use a 1000 grit, do you use tape to protect the spine? I know it's kind of a controversial subject around here but I imagine there's a way to set the bevel without ruining the polish on the spine.