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Keeping it sharp

Can I use the 3um and 1um film to keep the edge on my straight razor? if so how often should I do this ? I have a leather strop and paste strop on the way .. But I heard the film will give u a nice edge! Can I film it every 3 or 4 shaves or is that over kill.. Thk u bill
 
Can I use the 3um and 1um film to keep the edge on my straight razor? if so how often should I do this ? I have a leather strop and paste strop on the way .. But I heard the film will give u a nice edge! Can I film it every 3 or 4 shaves or is that over kill.. Thk u bill

Short answer - Yes but every 3 to 4 shaves is probably massive overkill :)

I hone on film. I started after about 50 shaves myself. It's easier to judge the edge after you have some experience straight shaving. Technique matters a lot.

I'd concentrate on the stropping initially, and not worry about taking it back to film right away. Otherwise you have a whole other bunch of stuff to learn and a whole other set of variables, and changing too much at once can lead to frustration ;)

With proper stropping edges last a very long time.. many many shaves.
 
Thank you very much phat!, so just strop before and after each shave for the first 50 shaves or so? Thks I am new at this!bill
 
assuming you don't roll the edge and dull it up, yes. be sure you are flipping the razor over on the spine, not the edge, as you change direction and stropping light and tight with the razor flat on the strop.

you may want to refresh the edge every 10 or 20 or so on a pasted strop or balsa if you have it.
 
3/1 film will keep you going. I believe seraphim goes from bevel setting to the 3 film.

You really should be getting in the neighborhood of 75-100 shaves between honing.

Stropping is important and is shaving technique.

At first you will need to hone more since you are not great at shaving or stropping.

A pasted strop will eventually round off the bevel and will need to be taken to a new bevel. How fast or how severe that happens I can't tell you, I don't use any of them.
 
A pasted strop will eventually round off the bevel and will need to be taken to a new bevel. How fast or how severe that happens I can't tell you, I don't use any of them.

I am new to honing and am not all that keen on the idea of pasted strops. I have a Norton 4/8K and a Shapton Pro 12K. Excluding pastes, what should I be considering from here to achieve sharp and smooth? I have wondered about a coticule or a jnat such as an Ozuku, or both??.

Cheers, George
 
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I am new to honing and am not all that keen on the idea of pasted strops. I have a Norton 4/8K and a Shapton Pro 12K. Excluding pastes, what should I be considering from here to achieve sharp and smooth? I have wondered about a coticule or a jnat such as an Ozuku, or both??.

Cheers, George

This is the ultimate ymmv statement, sharp and smooth means different things to different people.

Hone, strop and shave. Try out different edges from different folks and figure out what you like.

Enjoy
 
The biggest issue is correct stropping, if done properly you should be able to go several months before having to go to the film or stones, I started several months ago and took all my shavers from 5K to 16K and put my stones away and have not used anything but my TM strop and have been quite satisfied.
 
I was told that when using film for touch ups, do so after 50-100 shaves.

I am curious though, can someone get away with replacing a touch-up stone or film with a pasted (CrOx) strop?
 
I am new to honing and am not all that keen on the idea of pasted strops. I have a Norton 4/8K and a Shapton Pro 12K. Excluding pastes, what should I be considering from here to achieve sharp and smooth? I have wondered about a coticule or a jnat such as an Ozuku, or both??.

Cheers, George
Well I'm sort of new to honing, and I've wondered the same thing. The edges I get from my Coti could be a little sharper, but the shaves are very smooth.

Around Xmas, I sent Doc my W&B for new scales and I asked him to hone it up for me too. He honed it on a JNAT, I'm not sure what kind, but the shaves from that edge are sharp and smooth!
 
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