so I've only been using a striaght razor for a month and a half but I have noticed that my razor is nit shaving the best anymore so the question is should I have it honed or do it myself and is this normal to hone it every couple of months or is it just bad shaving technic on my part
how often do you hone
- Thread starter gunner1087
- Start date
No. It probably needs a touchup. Beginners often used too much of an angle almost like a scraping motion when shaving with a straight razor and We have all done it. The more practice you get the longer you read should last because you are eventually using almost no angle in just slicing the hair. Also it depends on each razor the steel the angle of the grind Etc. Do you know who honed it or what they used to finish? Honing takes a little practice It will probably be cheaper just to have someone hone it for you. A good way to do it is to have 2 razors. One professionally honed, and the other you can try yourself. That way, the other one that can be used as a benchmark for keenness.
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- #3
the razor was a new TI
I couldn't tell you exactly how long razor should last obviously because it varies. My never get there because I enjoy honing and I'm always doing it just for fun and for practice.
I have never owned one of those but I'm sure it could be brought back on a 12k with 15 or so laps. Someone will chime in with more experience. But in the end what I said about having to Razors is very helpful and it is what most of us did to start with. You could get a cheapo from whipped dog or somewhere else and have a nice sharp razor to go by. And when I say cheapo, I just mean price they are not bad razors at all in fact my Favorite came from whipped dog. It was a sight unseen and it shaves fantastic.
I never re-hone (so far), just pasted strop every 2-3 shaves. Using a straight for a few months now. I have a thick beard and shave every 3 days.
Honing after a few months is just fine, every shave or once a year is fine too. What to do is up to you, either send it out or get some supplies in.
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- #8
I have a heavy beard also and shave every other day it still shaves just not like I want it to I just ordered 3 other razors that will be here Thursday do hopefully I can have someone re-hone mine
This is a hard question to answer. I have recently been using a 12k hone to refresh my edges. But for about 2.5 years, I just stropped on linen and leather, no touch ups. A couple of these razors may have had about 75 shaves on them. When I finally sent a razor out to be rehoned, I was told the razor definitely needed to be rehoned. It's kind of like I was the frog in a slow boiling pot: I was unable to tell when my edge was cooked. So now I will touch up the edges on my 12k hone about every 10 shaves or so.
See what works for you. Try a pasted strop. Or try some lapping film. Or try a 12k or better hone. Or just send it out.
See what works for you. Try a pasted strop. Or try some lapping film. Or try a 12k or better hone. Or just send it out.
Very nice offer here, Frank. OP I would take him up on that.
Gunner. Frank will put a very nice edge on your razor. I've shaved off of several of his edges.
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- #14
thank you for the offer frank I sent a pm
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- #15
ok guys l read some stuff and watched some videos about stropping and I have to say I was doing it all wrong after several minutes of stropping the razor is back to shaving great or much better than it was I'm still thinking that a re-hone is gonna be needed soon
just curious, what were you doing and what did you change? it might helps someone else out.
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- #18
well that's going to be a lot so here goes so when I bought my razor and strop the guy at the store gave me a quick how too and I used his method first I was pulling the strop really tight I was also putting a lot of pressure on the blad also I was not using the cloth side and I had no compound on the cloth all of that added up to a dull blade but being new to this I didn't know any better and thought that the guy at the store had shown me what I needed to know yea right it's all good now I have a nice sharp razor and nothing is better than that
Taught leather is fine. That will not dull your blade.
Not using the cloth isn't a crime, but using it helps.
Not using paste/compound isn't a crime - most of us don't do that. Those that do, don't usually do it daily and they use a seperate strop for the abrasive compound.
Too much pressure on the blade - not good. Gotta go light there.
Not using the cloth isn't a crime, but using it helps.
Not using paste/compound isn't a crime - most of us don't do that. Those that do, don't usually do it daily and they use a seperate strop for the abrasive compound.
Too much pressure on the blade - not good. Gotta go light there.
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- #20
yea it's much better just got a lot to learn
