I went and jumped off the deep end!

[TeeJayHoward]

What do you think of my "starter set"?

Rant time!

I bought a "shave ready" Gold Dollar #66 off Amazon a little while back. While I was at it, I grabbed a Big Daddy strop, too. It was fun. Ridiculously sharp, but fun. Passed the HHT straight out of the box. Sliced my face up three times on my first shave. It's dulled a bit since then, due I'm sure to my lousy stropping technique.

Next came the soap and brush. Another "fun" purchase. I admit I picked the Edwin Jagger Best Badger brush solely because I liked the way it looked. The MWF seemed to be popular on this forum, and the dish it came with looked snazzy, too! Sadly, I can't seem to get the hang of that, either. The lather dries up on my face and flakes off. I'm literally snowing every time I shave.

I picked up another Gold Dollar and some lapping paper to try and learn about sharpening, with the end goal of getting it back to that "razor sharpness". After 12 (yes, twelve) hours of trying to get a good edge on that blade, I gave up and took a Dremel to it out of frustration. I figured that my lapping paper might be the issue, so I bought some Naniwa stones. I also figured that I'd need the practice, so I bought 10 more GD66's. Last night I tried to sharpen the first of the ten. Sadly, I couldn't get it any sharper than my first attempt. To my untrained eye, the bevel looked great. By the time I hit the 12K, I could practically use my razor's edge as a mirror. There was no "burr" on either edge. It passed the thumb pad test and the thumbnail test at the 1K mark, but wouldn't shave a hair off my arm. I could sit there and saw at the hair with the damned razor and it still wouldn't come off, but it'd cut into my nail with no problems. I'd love to find some sort of "sharpening mentor" in my area, but honestly, wouldn't even know where to look!

I've shaved using the one "sharp" straight razor ever since I got it. By now, it's more a "scraper" than a "razor". Still sharp enough to cut through my skin if I'm not paying attention, but no longer sharp enough to nick me even when I am. I'd love to get that edge back! Right now, ATG is the only way to get hair off my face

 

[jpcwon]

Bevel, bevel bevel...You should be able to shave arm hair off of the 1k....if you can't, then do not move on!! I have tried to "make up" for a half-a**ed bevel further up the grit ladder, but it does not work...

'New' GD 66's, in my exp., require a good amount of steel removal at the bevel set stage, so keep at it & you'll eventually get it!! Looks like you got s nice setup, so have some fun with it & go to town on that bevel!!

 

[TeeJayHoward]

Bevel, bevel bevel...You should be able to shave arm hair off of the 1k....if you can't, then do not move on!! I have tried to "make up" for a half-a**ed bevel further up the grit ladder, but it does not work...

'New' GD 66's, in my exp., require a good amount of steel removal at the bevel set stage, so keep at it & you'll eventually get it!! Looks like you got s nice setup, so have some fun with it & go to town on that bevel!!

How much pressure should be required to shave arm hair after the 1K? Should you be able to set the spine on your arm, let the edge sit in the air, and swipe through hair? (Ala some sort of backwards HHT?) Or should it require about the same amount of pressure used when shaving normally?

How long does it normally take to turn a "new" GD66 into a "shave-ready" GD66? I can sit there for an hour on the 1K stone and not have it able to take hair off my arm. I was chalking it up to bad technique, but maybe it just takes more work?

Also, how much pressure am I supposed to be putting on the razor when sharpening? I've just been letting it lie on the stone, and pushing it forward - No downward pressure at all.

 

[jpcwon]

Oh, Don't be afraid to use firm pressure when setting the bevel (esp. on a naniwa SS 1k). If you watch Lynn Abrams videos on youtube, you'll see him shake the whole table when he does circle strokes during bevel setting...

Setting a bevel on a GD can take a while, but hopefully not as long if you use a bit of pressure....

When you think you have it set, then try shaving arm hair off like you were shaving normally...it should be cut with little to no resistance....Some people will tell you that you need to "treetop" arm hair off the 1k, but I find that shaving it off with no resistance is sufficient in most cases..

 

[BakerAndBadger]

OK, when cutting hair on your arm.... Unless your hairs are like sapling pines you're not gonna need a lot of pressure - the blade rests on your skin and you'll see and hear the hairs popping. Now when you start getting really sharp, and by that I mean shave ready, you be able to glide the blade down your arm, not touching the skin, and cut hairs - the sharper the razor, the more hairs you'll cut, but not from the base , they'll cut halfway along the hair.
took me a few months shaving with what I though was a shave ready razor (honed myself) to realise that I could get a lot sharper.

 

[totorlekiller]

I spent many (MANY) hours honing my first razor with no success.
Understanding the exit criteria for each stone was the key for me.
I set the bevel on 1k. It is set when I can cut hair by applying a bit of pressure on my arm (not much).
AND, when I see that the bevel is straight.
I got off of eBay a couple miniature microscopes in the x60 range. They cost $6 with shipping and are worth it.
With the scope, you can see that the edge is straight and what the bevel look like.

Then I move to finer stones 3k, 6k, 8k and 12K

I spent many hours trying to cut hairs on a norton 8k. IT DOES NOT DO IT. IT WON'T and IT IS OK. It will once your strop.
I got misled by youtube videos where the guy always say at the end that it would, but he is not going to show it because his wife is giving birth in the next bedroom, or aliens have invaded his backyard and are asking to speak with someone plenipotentiary.

Anyway, you move to the next level when the scratch mark from the previous one are gone. pretty much.
After 8K or 12K. I go to CrOX on a strop, which is about 50K. Then linen, then leather.

I can get some kind of HHT after crOX, a weak one after linen. After leather is when business starts.

It really does not take that long - once the bevel is set that is.

 

[kcb5150]

Major respect for going all in with such a major investment in stones a nice strop, etc. Depending on where you are relative to other straight forum guys who hone, maybe someone can show you the ropes?

 

[gonzo4str8rzrs]

I am getting ready to dive into lapping film honing this weekend. I hope I have some success. My expectations are on the low side. I am going to use an inexpensive razor first. Then I will try a Shumate that needs some work. I will not touch my nicely honed ones I had done by my friend Rick until I know some good stuff and have had some successes. Keep trying and asking many questions in the honing section in the forum and their is vast amounts of knowledge there.