First shot at honing.

I have a 4/8ths full hollow, that was nearly shave ready, but I couldn't get it there with the stones I have(don't ask)

So while shopping for supplies for my W&B resto, I picked up a 3 pack of lapping film.

15micron, 3 micron, and .3 micron.

Just finished, spent the most time on the 15, boy does that stuff cut fast! I had 2 micro chips towards the toe, and it took them out no problem.

After the 15, it wouldn't cut arm hair, but a minute or two with the 3, it started popping them off no problem.

After the .3,

Arm hair just peeled off.

I had an errant whisker that met it's end as well, with a little bit of pulling(no prep, dry whisker)

I spent a few more minutes on the .3, dried the blade, and will be giving it a go tomorrow with proper prep.

No strop as of yet, but I did strop a bit on my arm, and may do some with newspaper before tomorrows shave.

Nice!

That's a nice looking razor taht deserves to go into active rotation!


If you have a smooth leather belt, you can use that as a very effective strop (you obviously have to avoid the wrinkled part that gets folded over from your rear bely loop...) loop it around a towel bar, and strop away!

Alrighty!
Just shaved with it. Felt rather rough, with a little pulling.
No cuts, nicks, weepers, irritation (redness, but like you get from scratching an itch)

Used Col. Conk almond, and bay rum AS.

Went WTG, and a little XTG and one cheek ATG Would have ended a bloody mess if I continued, so I finished up with the slant. So much smoother with the slant.

So now I have a fine BBS shave, that was half done with the most feared shaving implement, and the other half, with the second most feared shaving implement.

I have to get a strop now, and probably revisit the 3um and .3um films.

Definitely fun times though, and this will most certainly get a fire lit under my *** to get the W&B finished.

If it is pulling at all, then it isn't quite there. You really, really want the edge to be extremely sharp before moving beyond the 4-6K range. If it isn't cutting hair at that point, it won't shave well. All subsequent honing refines the edge.

BTW - I find that the best edges neither pull nor feel sharp.

Yes, your 15 micron film is a bit agressive, but you want to set your bevel at that level so that it cuts arm hair before moving on the the 3 micron and then 0.3 to polish it further. Trying to set the bevel at 3um (like an 8k stone) will take you forever, and you will be frustrated. Have at it with the 15 micron, don't be shy! It's not a national treasure you're working on, it's a hunk of hardened steel!

Alrighty, I'll start over.

Still BBS though

A strop will also help smooth things out.

Fnord5 said:

Alrighty, I'll start over.

Still BBS though

Click to expand...

Hey, if you like the edge, why bother? Straight razor edges are a very personal thing. I don't like pulling. My approach, then, is this: If a razor won't nip through coarser hair after a session on a 2K-3K hone, it needs more work. My arm hair is pretty fine, so I don't expect it to get cut until later. So it is entirely possible that you are really close (15 micron is what, 5K? If it will cut any thicker hair off of this, you are likely good to move to the next grit).

If it doesn't bother you and you would like to smooth the edge, use newspaper to strop it (the more ink the better). Also, not all abrasives cut the same way. I have no idea what composes your lapping film but, since you say it cuts fast I would imagine that the particles are acutely angled. If so, the edge will likely smooth out after a few shaves.

No, not a fan of the edge. I would like to not feel it at all to be honest.

It was good enough for a shave though.

I have to wait a bit before getting a strop, or I will find a leather crafter locally to get a big strip and make my own.

Going to hit the newspaper trick tomorrow, and I'll save some cigar ash too.

OK, I haven't had time to revisit the lapping films, but I just pulled out my dress belt, has a burnished outside, and a softer inside.

After 15-20 pases on the soft inside, the straight was popping hairs at a distance on my arm.

Seriously, taking just the tips off my arm hair, at half an inch away from even touching skin.

I know what my SOTD for tomorrow is gonna be!

I'm rather confused: my straight is able to cut the hairs off my arm, but it's still pulling like no other when I go to shave my face with the thing. I've tried honing it with one of the fine stones from a Spyderco Tri-angle sharpmaker, (far from ideal, I know). I'm guessing that I will need a better hone, or is the ability to cut the hairs off my arm an indication I just need to change my technique?

AlexMHH said:

I'm rather confused: my straight is able to cut the hairs off my arm, but it's still pulling like no other when I go to shave my face with the thing. I've tried honing it with one of the fine stones from a Spyderco Tri-angle sharpmaker, (far from ideal, I know). I'm guessing that I will need a better hone, or is the ability to cut the hairs off my arm an indication I just need to change my technique?

Click to expand...

popping armhairs means that its not blunt rather than it is sharp. I dont know what stones the spyderco thing has, but it definately sounds like that straight needs a bit of a touch up.

Pasted strops are cheap as chips and help to keep a blade fighting fit if you dont feel like forking out the $$ for a bunch of stones right away.