Chan Eil Whiskers
Fumbling about.
Ever have a paradigm shift?
Yesterday I shaved with a razor purchased off eBay and honed by the vendor. All I did was strop the razor and shave, but that shave was superior. After very little work (mostly one pass) I had a great shave.
Today I shaved with a NOS Herder I purchased on eBay and honed myself on my Double Convex Ark. The shave was great. The razor passed all my little tests for sharpness, etc. However the shave was not as close or smooth as yesterday's shave. Not by a long shot.
Yesterday's shave report. Today's shave report.
My razor yesterday was a vintage Japanese honed by the vendor. He reports having honed and finished the razor's edge this way - 1k, 2k, uchi, 5k, jnat prefinisher, jnat finish, .25 micron diamond, .125 micron cbn, then clean linen and leather strop.
Maybe it wasn't his honing...
It's not that I'm down on my other razors or my stones or my honing, but I'd really like to be consistently using edges in the league with what I used yesterday. I should also mention that I have razors, razors I've honed, which are sharper than today's Herder, but that doesn't negate how much shaper I think the Japanese razor was. Plus, the Japanese razor was very comfortable and smart so it lost nothing by being sharper.
I do not believe any straight razor I've honed or used measures up to the Japanese razor used yesterday, in sharpness and in the shave it gave me.
I also don't want to have to resort to diamonds and CBN unless I just have to, nor do I plan to go down the jnat rabbit hole unless I just have to. Do I have to do either or both?
Thanks for any help you can give me here.
Happy shaves,
Jim
Yesterday I shaved with a razor purchased off eBay and honed by the vendor. All I did was strop the razor and shave, but that shave was superior. After very little work (mostly one pass) I had a great shave.
Today I shaved with a NOS Herder I purchased on eBay and honed myself on my Double Convex Ark. The shave was great. The razor passed all my little tests for sharpness, etc. However the shave was not as close or smooth as yesterday's shave. Not by a long shot.
Yesterday's shave report. Today's shave report.
My razor yesterday was a vintage Japanese honed by the vendor. He reports having honed and finished the razor's edge this way - 1k, 2k, uchi, 5k, jnat prefinisher, jnat finish, .25 micron diamond, .125 micron cbn, then clean linen and leather strop.
Maybe it wasn't his honing...
- Maybe it was a great day for my technique.
- Maybe Japanese steel and grinds are vastly superior.
It's not that I'm down on my other razors or my stones or my honing, but I'd really like to be consistently using edges in the league with what I used yesterday. I should also mention that I have razors, razors I've honed, which are sharper than today's Herder, but that doesn't negate how much shaper I think the Japanese razor was. Plus, the Japanese razor was very comfortable and smart so it lost nothing by being sharper.
I do not believe any straight razor I've honed or used measures up to the Japanese razor used yesterday, in sharpness and in the shave it gave me.
I also don't want to have to resort to diamonds and CBN unless I just have to, nor do I plan to go down the jnat rabbit hole unless I just have to. Do I have to do either or both?
Thanks for any help you can give me here.
Happy shaves,
Jim