Bevel is king but how often do you set it?

[lightfoot]

Resetting the bevel is always enlightening.
I always seem to learn something new when I start over again.

Uncertainty throughout the process becomes less of an issue.
One can be more confident the rest of the way through.

The true potential of your final work becomes clear.
Then you can finally see what your finishing stones have to offer when the 1st step is on-point.

 

[Frank Shaves]

Resetting the bevel is always enlightening.
I always seem to learn something new when I start over again.

I hear you! I feel like I get to know a razor when I restore it, but I really get to know the razor when I set its bevel. And every bevel is different!

 

[hogwild]

I'm the guy who has a dovo that has been on a 3 line Swaty since around 1970. I do use other stones on other razors but I'm not a boutique shaver. Can I tell the difference between that razor and my others? Hell yeah. I have many boutique stones to sharpen other razors for friends out here in the boonies. Been sharpening straights for 60 years and it's all in the hands.

 

[SliceOfLife]

I remember the old advice was that if you pasted stropped you'd eventually need to reset bevel due to the convexing... but I believe people have since tested and proven that's wrong. Don't ask me. I've not tested it.

That aside... If you have a razor shaving sharp and you don't damage the edge; you never have to go to anything but a finisher.

I hone before most shaves to change/test edges because Im a finishing stone collector...

I occasionally use an 8k to test the speed of the hone... but unless I have a new (to me) razor I'm honing for the first time or if a razor is damaged somehow... I never really go below that anymore. And frankly... other than for speed testing purposes; the 8k is unneeded. Once a razor is finished; you literally only need your finisher and a strop.

I've got razors that have been refinished, stropped and used to shave in the triple digits number of times (for each mentioned step)... They have no need for a bevel reset.

That said... As mentioned... I rarely put more than a handful of shaves on an edge between touching my finishing stones... and MOST often; it's after every shave. So the wear that Gamma talks about... that requires more than a finisher to fix... just doesn't get a chance to build up on my blades.

I don't KNOW for a fact; but I've heard that Barbers would typically touch up their razors on a hone several times a day; maybe even between each customer... so essentially that's what I do... not because it's necessary; but because; as mentioned... there's always a different finish I want to try.

 

[firebox]

I remember the old advice was that if you pasted stropped you'd eventually need to reset bevel due to the convexing... but I believe people have since tested and proven that's wrong. Don't ask me. I've not tested it.

That aside... If you have a razor shaving sharp and you don't damage the edge; you never have to go to anything but a finisher.

I hone before most shaves to change/test edges because Im a finishing stone collector...

I occasionally use an 8k to test the speed of the hone... but unless I have a new (to me) razor I'm honing for the first time or if a razor is damaged somehow... I never really go below that anymore. And frankly... other than for speed testing purposes; the 8k is unneeded. Once a razor is finished; you literally only need your finisher and a strop.

I've got razors that have been refinished, stropped and used to shave in the triple digits number of times (for each mentioned step)... They have no need for a bevel reset.

That said... As mentioned... I rarely put more than a handful of shaves on an edge between touching my finishing stones... and MOST often; it's after every shave. So the wear that Gamma talks about... that requires more than a finisher to fix... just doesn't get a chance to build up on my blades.

I don't KNOW for a fact; but I've heard that Barbers would typically touch up their razors on a hone several times a day; maybe even between each customer... so essentially that's what I do... not because it's necessary; but because; as mentioned... there's always a different finish I want to try.

If you need to set a bevel, use a 1K stone. Chips and other issues may require a more agressive stone. If you can set a bevel with something finer than 1k, you will a need a lot more passes than you would with a 1K. Concerned about hone wear on the spin?, use one layer of tape. You can waste a lot of time using too fine a stone for setting a bevel. Using the right stones in prgoression make for better and more timely work. IMHO. So far as touching up edges, I have about twenty blades in the drawer, when one seems to start to pull, I'll go to the 8K then the coticule or JNAt I use for final honing.

 

[Stapelfeld]

I remember the old advice was that if you pasted stropped you'd eventually need to reset bevel due to the convexing... but I believe people have since tested and proven that's wrong. Don't ask me. I've not tested it.

That aside... If you have a razor shaving sharp and you don't damage the edge; you never have to go to anything but a finisher.

I hone before most shaves to change/test edges because Im a finishing stone collector...

I occasionally use an 8k to test the speed of the hone... but unless I have a new (to me) razor I'm honing for the first time or if a razor is damaged somehow... I never really go below that anymore. And frankly... other than for speed testing purposes; the 8k is unneeded. Once a razor is finished; you literally only need your finisher and a strop.

I've got razors that have been refinished, stropped and used to shave in the triple digits number of times (for each mentioned step)... They have no need for a bevel reset.

That said... As mentioned... I rarely put more than a handful of shaves on an edge between touching my finishing stones... and MOST often; it's after every shave. So the wear that Gamma talks about... that requires more than a finisher to fix... just doesn't get a chance to build up on my blades.

I don't KNOW for a fact; but I've heard that Barbers would typically touch up their razors on a hone several times a day; maybe even between each customer... so essentially that's what I do... not because it's necessary; but because; as mentioned... there's always a different finish I want to try.

I really like this line of doing things