Thread: Bevel or bad stropping....

Hello, guys!

I'm shaving begginer. I have Ern straight razor 5/8. After few stroping and shaving, I notice that one side of razor shave a face a little worse than other side of razor, second side is good. I think, I was round off the edge with my unprofessional stropping (In last shaving I cut strop a little).

Can somebody tell me, is maybe bevel damaged or just round of edge, and, did I must sharp razor again on stones.

Yesterday I order Naniwa SuperStones 1000/3000 k, and also Naniwa SuperStones 3000/8000 k, and, finally, next month comes Naniwa 10000 k for polishing.

Just want to know, how much circles I must do for setting bevel on 1000/3000, and how much circles I must do on 3000/8000 for sharpening?

Thank you for answers!

Potentialy stroping could be an issue, there are alot of things going on and it's hard to tell with out seeing what you doing.

Well, I'm on job now, I will put some pics when I come home.

Here we are!
Razor is oiled with Ballistol oil, against micro corosion. Before when I get razor, she is sharpened with 4/8 Norton Waterstone, and finishing with Naniwa 10k. After that she finished on Paddle strop with diamant pastes 1 micron and 1/2 micron, and finished is on Balza crom-oxid.
So, is she must go on stones, or not? And, which grit and how many times laping? I still don't get where the catch....

Thank you!

P.S. After all procedure, razor is also put on the strop! (I forgot put this on upper post)

It is impossible, IMO, to tell the keenness or the lack of it from photos. I would try doing 10 x strokes on the 8k first then strop and shave test. You can always go to the lower grits if that doesn't work. If the 8 doesn't get it I would go to the 5 and back to the 8. If you already had the 10k I would suggest starting there but that is a month away.

Does the razor pop arm or leg hair mid length or does it just brush it to the side and move over the hairs? Stropping is the #1 issue, imo, for beginners to think they got their razors dull. I made the same mistake for the first 3 months I straight shaved.

If the razor is popping arm hairs then the bevel should be okay, that's a good bevel test for new guys. If that test passes then you may just need to touch it up with higher grit stones, now to find out where to start on higher grit stones is going to be a challenge for you.

Did the razor come from a seller well known on SRP? Also I have gotten razors from well known members before and considered the edges not good enough for my beard type and actually have had to add keenness to the razor. Everyone has different needs when it comes to edges, it's an experience thing.

I'm not completely sure what you mean when you say that one side shaves better than the other side. If you mean the front half of the blade shaves better than the back half (or vice-versa) then your problem would likely be that you haven't got the half that's not shaving correctly properly honed to full bevel - or there are bad spots (microchips, rounding) that haven't been taken care of.

If you mean, on the other hand, that it shaves better when you hold it one way and then flip it over and it doesn't shave as well, that would have to be your technique because a blade is always just as keen on both sides. Not to assume you didn't already know that, but just for the sake of being doubly sure and ironing out any ambiguity.

Well, I try cut arm and leg hair, test is passes very well, but, don't passes HHT at all. Maybe is my technique bad (wrong angle or other else).

Originally Posted by darklife

Well, I try cut arm and leg hair, test is passes very well, but, don't passes HHT at all. Maybe is my technique bad (wrong angle or other else).

Regardless of what it will do with the HHT it may shave well. IME if it will pop arm or leg hair without touching the skin it is usually close enough to shave. As I mentioned before, just try a touch up on the 8 or the 10 k before you go to lower grits. That may be all you need.

Originally Posted by JimmyHAD

Regardless of what it will do with the HHT it may shave well. IME if it will pop arm or leg hair without touching the skin it is usually close enough to shave. As I mentioned before, just try a touch up on the 8 or the 10 k before you go to lower grits. That may be all you need.

Thank you so much for answer, Jimmy! Will do.