Rate my rig

[Alex84]

Hi everyone!

For the past couple of months, I've embraced straight razor shaving and will never go back to the Gillette 5 blade nightmare !

Right now, I'm working with a Mr. C. Razor with disposable injector Feather blades with excellent results. However, due to cost issues with buying blade after blade, I want to start honing my own steel. In order to do this, I decided to set myself up with a basic straight shaving set. I've done alot of research here at B&B and also at Straight Razor Place, and this is what I have ordered. Everything should arrive either today or this weekend. I'll post pics once everything is here.

• Presharpened Dovo 5/8 Stainless Steel razor, round point, ordered from Classic Shaving.com
• Thiers-Issard leather paddle strop, double-sided , ordered from Classic Shaving.com
• Chromium Oxide liquid by Hand American, ordered from Martell at www.japaneseknifesharpening.com
• Chinese 12,000 grit honing stone, ordered from Classic Shaving.com

I intend to put the CrO on one side of the TI paddle strop, and will use that to finish the edge after using the Chinese 12K stone.

I have a couple of questions:

1) Do the Chinese 12K stones really need to be lapped before the first use, or will they be suitably flat for my (simple) purposes of refreshing an edge? I don't want to become obsessive about the stone's flattness, but I don't want to neglect it either. Is there a middle ground, where I can get good sharpening results without having to lap the stone often? Any advice on this confusing topic would be much appreciated!

2) Is there anything else you think I will need down the road, or is my current rig sufficient?

Thanks in advance for the advice!

[jlander]

Sounds like a good set up to me. The only stones I have ever seen that did not need to be lapped flat were Shapton Glasstones and DMT's. You want your hone to be flat. If it isn't it will not put a uniform edge on the blade. Before anyone jumps on me, I've known people who could put on a good edge with a river rock, but that requires more talent than most of us have.

So If it were me, I would add a coarse DMT and use it to flatten the 12K and then sharpen the lawn mower blade.

[Bluethumb]

320 grit water proof sand paper on a flat surface (glass) will get your 12k flat fast, remember to round the edges when you are done, good luck!

[Sticky]

I second the DMT D8C (325 mesh). It works great on household knives and other tools too. It's a good long term investment.

[kahunamoose]

Yes, you are probably going to need to do some lapping on that Chinese 12,000. They are notorious for coming out of the box in less than perfect shape. Also, rounding or beveling the edges is good to keep the stone from chipping, and from biting into your blades of you pull off in some strange way. 325 mesh DMT is a great lapping stone and good for lots of things, but it is money to spend. This is what I use but it was something that I had “sitting around” before I got into razors I’d just do your lapping on sand paper from 300 to 1000 grit. Place the whole mess on a tile or some other flat surface and grind away. You will not be lapping much once you achieve a flat stone, those Chinese 12000 mesh stones are very hard. Yours may be fine, definitely wait to see how it looks before you spend any more money.

The two sided paddle strop is fine. Do NOT put anything on one side, you need a plain strop for use before and maybe during every shave. The CrOx on the other side is a fabulous way to go. Just put on a tiny amount, spread it with your fingers, if you have to be wiping it off you used too much. It will spread out as you strop. Your pasted strop is going to double as a very high mesh stone, estimated at 30,000 using the CrOx you have bought. To tell you the truth, you could have done just as well without the 12,000 stone. The stone takes skill to use (you will get it with practice), the strop is a no brainer that you will have huge success with from the first try.

Everything you have so far is for final finishing and polishing. If you need or want to do any serious honing of say, blades you got off Ebay, you will need hones of lower mesh, say a Norton 4000/8000.

I like stainless if it is good quality, and Dovo is. Good blade choice.

[Alex84]

Awesome, thanks for all the advice everyone!!

[Limey]

I used a sheet of 400 grit wet/dry paper on a granite counter to lap my Norton with fine results before I purchased a Course DMT. Its a much cheaper start up...

[geoffreyt]

Absolutely lap that 12K stone first. You will find a 200 grit wet/dry sandpaper will do it fast. If you start with a 600 or 1000 grit paper you will wonder if you can ever get it flat. Do it on a small sheet of glass. Your wet sand paper will stick to it pretty well and not move around. Use light pencil marks on your stone from one side and end to end to help you see when the stone is flat. This is a cheap and fast way to true up the stone.