consult -- Thiers Issard 5/8 Special Coiffeur

[Hunter Bock]

Got it new, a year or so ago. Felt like it need a touch-up, so I honed 6K - 8K - 12K around a hundred laps each, then extensive stropping. The result is a B-/C+ shave, still.

Am I missing something or have I just hit the limits of the razor. My technique is competent and my stones (water & Shapton glass) are flat and maintained. Thanks all.

 

[Steve56]

Make sure that the bevel is fully set along the entire length of the edge
100 won’t be needed
lighten up on the pressure

 

[Matt O]

Have you tried it on any nice natural finishers after the 12k?

Vr

Matt

 

[stone and strop]

Was it honed with tape before?

 

[Hunter Bock]

Was it honed with tape before?

nope -- unless Thiers Issard uses tape.

 

[Hunter Bock]

Have you tried it on any nice natural finishers after the 12k?

Vr

Matt

yes: 0.3 micron (white) lapping film.

 

[jherm77]

yes: 0.3 micron (white) lapping film.

He meant naturals such as jnats (nakayama, ozuku, etc.).

 

[LJS]

Go back a step or two on your stones. Probably don’t have a great bevel to refine on the higher grits stones. If you look straight down on the edge you can generally see some of this maybe with a little magnification.

 

[gary haywood]

What I found with ti razors is the bevels are uneven and by that I mean wide to thin and they don’t come quite shave ready. When honed they are descent shavers . I have had 7 day set and many other models and all of them had wavy bevels some worse than others.

if it was me I would tape the spine fir a start . There is no reason you could not bring the bevel back on your 6 k .
I would also use the marker test to make sure your bevel is making full contact with the stone . Once the edge can easily shave arm hair or slice a tomato skin you should move the the 8 k . Once you can shave if the 8 k go to your 12 k

 

[stone and strop]

There is no reason you could not bring the bevel back on your 6 k .
I would also use the marker test to make sure your bevel is making full contact with the stone .

This is next.
There is an underlying reason and you need to figure out what it is.
If all was well then your first approach would have worked.

 

[Hunter Bock]

Success -- bevel setting did the trick. Rather than laps on a mid-range stone I went with about 45 on an Arkansas Black (first time using one). Then progressive honing and finishing up on lapping film. Then stropping: red and no paste finish. All with a focus on light touch.

The lesson appears to be that you can't assume a new European straight (Thiers Issard here) will never require a reset. My Thiers Issard shaved OK for a while then didn't. To be a bit partisan I would note that none of my German razors have needed this.

Thanks everyone.

 

[Hunter Bock]

What I found with ti razors is the bevels are uneven and by that I mean wide to thin and they don’t come quite shave ready. When honed they are descent shavers . I have had 7 day set and many other models and all of them had wavy bevels some worse than others.

if it was me I would tape the spine fir a start . There is no reason you could not bring the bevel back on your 6 k .
I would also use the marker test to make sure your bevel is making full contact with the stone . Once the edge can easily shave arm hair or slice a tomato skin you should move the the 8 k . Once you can shave if the 8 k go to your 12 k

As noted I finally arrived. Any particular reason for the taping? Some say that once a staight is tape honed it always has to be. Thanks Gary.

 

[gary haywood]

Basically to save any Hone ware