razor tip dulling fast

well it has been 14 days (13 shaves) since my new razor arrived, i love it. I have however noticed the blade has become much duller toward the tip of the razor than the middle and heel. i more or less felt this for the last few shaves but decided it was time to get a hanging hair test going over portions of the blade, and come to find out the middle of the razor still passes but no matter how much i strop i can not get the end of my new razor to pass this test anymore.

Is this normal? it makes sense to me as i do maneuver around my facial hair and it is much easier to do precision shaving with the end of the razor i can see while shaving with it. is there a way to put the sharp back into the edge short of diamond paste or a finishing stone? i ask because i have neither and i don't think my TM vegan strop would care for diamond paste too much.

thanks for the advice,
Chfair

It's OK to start out with just a razor and strop to decide whether or not you like straight shaving. But once you have determined that it's for you, you need to get a touch-up hone as soon as possible. I recommend you look into getting a coticule or a high-grit (10K-12K) finishing hone. Even the sharpest razor will start to dull a little after 14 or 15 shaves. Pastes can keep it going a little longer but you're eventually going to have to buy your own hone or send it out again.

what is a hanging hair test and how does it work?

you should be able to get more than 20 shaves without pastes, check your stropping technique - are you getting the toe as much as the rest? are you accidentally turning on the edge a little at the endof the stroke?

Nizzyrate said:

what is a hanging hair test and how does it work?

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its where you just lay a hair on top of the razor and it cuts.

its more of a parlour trick than a test though, really

chfair said:

well it has been 14 days (13 shaves) since my new razor arrived, i love it. I have however noticed the blade has become much duller toward the tip of the razor than the middle and heel. i more or less felt this for the last few shaves but decided it was time to get a hanging hair test going over portions of the blade, and come to find out the middle of the razor still passes but no matter how much i strop i can not get the end of my new razor to pass this test anymore.

Is this normal? it makes sense to me as i do maneuver around my facial hair and it is much easier to do precision shaving with the end of the razor i can see while shaving with it. is there a way to put the sharp back into the edge short of diamond paste or a finishing stone? i ask because i have neither and i don't think my TM vegan strop would care for diamond paste too much.

thanks for the advice,
Chfair

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Are you using the cotton side? If so, are you using it plain, or do you have some kind of (extremely slow cutting) abrasive on it.

After mparker762 recommended a light abrasive, I tried it and found it kept my razors sharp a lot longer than my strop could if I used the two as a team. Daily passes for me are a few on linen and then some more on the strop of my choice.

There are a ton of these abrasives available, like the white chalk from harbor freight, or the Dovo white, or maybe even some Linde A, or....

For non daily maintenance, which is where you are now, you're right, you will need something more abrasive, or a touch up hone. If you're just going for pastes right now, you could always go to the hardware or craft store and pick up some balsa wood for next to nothing and paste on that.

Chimensch said:

It's OK to start out with just a razor and strop to decide whether or not you like straight shaving. But once you have determined that it's for you, you need to get a touch-up hone as soon as possible. I recommend you look into getting a coticule or a high-grit (10K-12K) finishing hone. Even the sharpest razor will start to dull a little after 14 or 15 shaves. Pastes can keep it going a little longer but you're eventually going to have to buy your own hone or send it out again.

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I agree that eventually he's going to need a touch up stone, but he should be able to get at least a month out of a blade before that is required...

thanks for the advice so far, some more information. i do not have a linen with my strop, bought a tony miller strop and the only one he was selling at the time was a vegan strop that is actually the width of my razor. that being the case i do not think i am turning the blade when i strop because the rest of the blade is holding up well. i think i would go with a finishing hone over pastes, like the straight razor idea for longevity and i think a stone fits the bill a bit better. may keep my eye open for a vintage strop with good canvas.

chfair said:

thanks for the advice so far, some more information. i do not have a linen with my strop, bought a tony miller strop and the only one he was selling at the time was a vegan strop that is actually the width of my razor. that being the case i do not think i am turning the blade when i strop because the rest of the blade is holding up well. i think i would go with a finishing hone over pastes, like the straight razor idea for longevity and i think a stone fits the bill a bit better. may keep my eye open for a vintage strop with good canvas.

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You can also always contact Tony to buy the canvas and such needed to add to your current strop with a nice convenient swivel too .

mdunn said:

you should be able to get more than 20 shaves without pastes, check your stropping technique - are you getting the toe as much as the rest? are you accidentally turning on the edge a little at the endof the stroke?

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+1. Good stropping, good lather and good shaving technique should get you 20+ shaves out of a razor.

So, according to my calculations, if a razor lasts ~20 shaves without touch ups, I would need 18 (18.25) to do a full year and probably 1 extra to make sure that I have one while they are being honed...

That is, if I shave every day...

Luc said:

So, according to my calculations, if a razor lasts ~20 shaves without touch ups, I would need 18 (18.25) to do a full year and probably 1 extra to make sure that I have one while they are being honed...

That is, if I shave every day...

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except it should last much longer than 20.

i use linen before each shave, and i could get at least 40 before I thought about a touch up