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Need a better hone setup

I have had horrible results trying to maintain the edge of my professionally honed razor. I have sent out my razor for another honing, the honer (forum member) said I had a lot of microchipping under magnification. I need some advice on how to maintain my edge when I get this razor back.

Current equipement:
Norton 4k/8k combination lapped by Norton flattening stone
Dovo 2" X 16" leather and canvas strop
Dovo stainless micartta

I've tried many pyramids on the 4/8k and never a got a good shaving edge. I have read a lot on of the forums and believe I followed proper techniques. I think I could be better with stropping though. Seems like when I do it, it's not doing anything and its so light. When I see videos of people doing it, it makes an audible noise.

I have never conditioned the leather on the strop but it's still very soft, almost like suede. I have tried taking all nicks out with high grit sandpaper. I don't use the canvas side as it feels very harsh, should I be?

Sorry for the huge story, my point is. What should I do from now on to maintain a shavable edge?

I'm really hurting with money, do I need a pasted strop or a finer stone?
 
you should not be going to the 4k side of a Norton for touch ups at all, and for maintaining I prefer a pasted paddle strop although you could get one of several stones that will do the job, I have found the Norton even the 8k side to be a fast cutter,

generally though if you are getting it professionally honed you shouldn't have to touch it up for at least several weeks minimum possibly several months, how is your stropping how many laps do you do? a 16" long strop is kind a short so you may want to do a few extra laps
 
What should I do from now on to maintain a shavable edge?

Use the cloth side every day, for 25+ laps (I do about 40). Yes it feels rough, but the razor only hits the tops of the bumps anyway, and though the edge gets knocked about a bit you will be following up with stropping on the leather side which will fix that. The cloth is mildly abrasive and will go a long way to keeping the edge sharp. If the razor edge starts feeling a little dullish then give it double the normal laps on cloth the next morning. Basically use the linen as your first touch-up hone, and only if extensive stropping on linen fails to restore the edge should you reach for your finest stone. I used to get about 10-14 days between touch-up honings, but since I started paying more attention to the linen it's now more like 3-4 months. As always, make sure to keep the strop pulled tight.

Some types of linen are more effective than others and there's somewhat of a consensus around here that the modern linen isn't as good as the vintage linen. If your linen isn't quite doing the job then something like the Dovo white strop paste can help a lot. This is a chalk-based (I think) paste that improves the polishing ability of the linen and canvas strops. Vintage strops were pasted with a similar compound, btw - I've bought a few NOS strops still sealed in their packaging that had a heavy crusting of this chalky material. I've also had good luck with the crayon-style white polishing compound (for a high-gloss polish on stainless steel) from the hardware store that is designed for use with the bench buffers, though it's harder to apply than the Dovo cream because the sticks are so hard. I suspect that one of the reasons vintage linen strops have a better reputation than the modern strops is because they still have residual white polish on them whereas modern linen strops tend to be untreated.

There was a microscopic study done in the '20's I think that used a 3000x microscope to examine the edges after honing, after shaving, and after stropping - around here on the forum there is a link to the study which was recently republished on the web. Anyway, this study found that the major cause of dulling was actually microscopic corrosion, and that what the strop did was (1) knock off the soft rusted steel at the edge to expose the sharp steel beneath, and (2) polish this sharp but rough edge once it was exposed. The roughness of the linen helps with the first task, and a mild polish like chalk helps with the second. Finally the leather realigns the edge after the rough treatment it received from the rough fabric.
 
tsenfw

I have no experience with the Norton 4K/8K, but I find with my 8K ceramic that a light touch is imperative, especially on the last few strokes, when I want to maximize the polishing action of the hone. I also use a simple paddle strop treated with .5 green paste to finish and find it effective in giving razors a shaving edge.

Best Regards

Graham
 
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