A Saturday Tale

[ralph029]

So today was my first real shave with a new SR. Last week I picked up a Ralf Aust 5/8 Spanish Tip. I really like this razor but last weekend when I tried to graduate from my Feather AC SR Japanese it felt like I was wielding a sword and I was not comfortable. So I went and picked up a Dovo Barbarossa as an intermediate step. So hear is what I learned:

I stropped the razor to start, 10 laps on linen and 20 laps on leather. This seemed very natural to me and was able to get the same resistance and sound quickly. I went slow and steady. Pretty good start I was thinking. I must be a natural at this. Hell, I only nicked myself once in all the uses with the Feather.

The angle is very different from the Feather as evident by the trail of bloody weepers down my left cheek. They stopped bleeding by the end of the shave. The rest of the shave I started each stroke flat against my face and slowly increasing the angle to the catch point (is that a thing?).

Some may remember that years ago I bought a Hart Steel to try this whole SR thing and abandoned it quickly because the razor never felt safe and natural in my hand. The Dovo felt good but slightly cumbersome. I think with time and use, SR's will feel just fine.

Shave ready my ***!!!!! The shave was a horrible 10 minutes of trichotillomania (I'm being dramatic for effect and I apologize is someone reading this is afflicted with this disorder) and not shaving. I'll be damned if I wasn't going to finish today. I did finish but had to go back through on another pass with the Feather. All in all, the shave was pretty good except my left cheek. I actually had fun right up until the Fine Snakebite Aftershave hit cheek.

This weekend I get to practice honing on that Hart Steel. All I can say is that I hope all my years of knife sharpening shortens the learning curve with SR's.

 

[DrStrange]

A few years ago
I bought a Hart Steel and paid extra for it to be shave ready.

That was the only edge on any blade that ever gave me weepers shaving arm hair.

 

[ralph029]

A few years ago
I bought a Hart Steel and paid extra for it to be shave ready.

That was the only edge on any blade that ever gave me weepers shaving arm hair.

I figure it will make a good practice honing blade.

 

[CpnStumpy]

It's really really strongly encouraged you use a professional honemeister for your first straight, sounds like you've already been through the ringer with the bad-edge trap of first timers, save yourself any further trouble and get to the good part - message doc and mail your straight for a honing, or Griffith or gemstar or any other honemeister on here..

Trying to use a straight that's got a bad edge just sucks, and it pains me every time I see people new not getting the imperatively good edge, and then giving up before enjoying the practice. It pains me because we see it constantly - getting a bad edge that's claimed good is so darned common and easy unfortunately

 

[ralph029]

It's really really strongly encouraged you use a professional honemeister for your first straight, sounds like you've already been through the ringer with the bad-edge trap of first timers, save yourself any further trouble and get to the good part - message doc and mail your straight for a honing, or Griffith or gemstar or any other honemeister on here..

Trying to use a straight that's got a bad edge just sucks, and it pains me every time I see people new not getting the imperatively good edge, and then giving up before enjoying the practice. It pains me because we see it constantly - getting a bad edge that's claimed good is so darned common and easy unfortunately

Thanks for chiming in. Your advice is sound and I'll follow it. While they're out, I can keep practicing my honing on the Hart and shave with my Feather AC. My left cheek is still a bit PO'ed at me so it looks like I'll be back to the DE tomorrow. Knowing myself, I would have fought and struggled unnecessarily. I'll track down one of these folks and see if they are willing to help.

 

[rbscebu]

.... The rest of the shave I started each stroke flat against my face and slowly increasing the angle to the catch point (is that a thing?).
....

Almost right. Once you reach the "catch point" you have gone a little too far. Just flatten the blade's shave angle back a tad and you will be about right. You will soon be doing this automatically just by feel.

With a properly honed edge and the correct shave angle, you should almost not feel your whiskers being cut by the blade and all the lather should be removed. Remember, just shave the lather off. Don't worry about cutting whiskers, they will come off with the lather.

 

[Kyle89]

I've used Ralf's edge and it was adequate. He hones em. Did you buy it new?

 

[ralph029]

Almost right. Once you reach the "catch point" you have gone a little too far. Just flatten the blade's shave angle back a tad and you will be about right. You will soon be doing this automatically just by feel.

With a properly honed edge and the correct shave angle, you should almost not feel your whiskers being cut by the blade and all the lather should be removed. Remember, just shave the lather off. Don't worry about cutting whiskers, they will come off with the lather.

That's great advice that now that you mention it, seems pretty intuitive.

 

[ralph029]

I've used Ralf's edge and it was adequate. He hones em. Did you buy it new?

I did. It's not a bad edge (I think). It's a little grabby and I figure, if I'm sending the Dovo in, I might as well send it in too. I'm sure it's my technique at the moment. It sure is a different feel than the AC, huh?

 

[rbscebu]

My Ralf Aust came shave-ready but not quite up to the standard I was use to. I gave it a few laps on 1μm film and then put it through a full diamond pasted balsa strop progression. All was then good.

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[ralph029]

My Ralf Aust came shave-ready but not quite up to the standard I was use to. I gave it a few laps on 1μm film and then put it through a full diamond pasted balsa strop progression. All was then good.

View attachment 1566632
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That's easy for you to say with all your experience (I'm going to add the smiley so you know I'm kidding wink wink). I'm going to give the Aust a try again today. I'm still going to send it out though. I can't see a good reason not to if I'm already sending one out. And more practice today on honing the Hart.

 

[HazMat Shaver]

A standard starting point when it comes to the angle is one spines width. Look at the thickness of the spine of the razor. That is about how much gap you want between you face and the spine when shaving. And don't set the razor on your face without beginning a stroke. Holding it in one place can cause a nasty cut.

Get them pro honed and keep it up. After a few months you will be doing much better.

 

[rbscebu]

@ralph029 I think you are going to love shaving with traditional SRs. You have the right approach and commitment.

I'm not sure what you are honing on. I started with lapping films. That quickly got me very good shave-ready edges. Than added diamond pasted balsa strops which upped the edge even more.

As my number of SRs grew, I started setting my bevels on cheap Chinese synthetic whetstones, 1k and 3k, to save going through so much film. I remained that way until just a few months ago when I got my first natural whetstone, an Adaee #12000 Cnat. Then came a 5k Cnat, a vintage coticule/BBW and my latest is a Japanese 10k synthetic. Now I have about a third of my SRs finished on whetstones and the rest on pasted balsa.

My next (and final ) whetstone will probably be a Arkansas hard black (ultra-fine).

Using lapping films has given me a very good grounding in the proper use of SR honing with whetstones, without the variables of surface flatness and grit inconsistencies. I highly recommend lapping films to first learn to hone on.

BTW, the hardest part of SR honing, with previous knife honing experience, is forcing yourself to forget what you have previously thought.

 

[rbscebu]

A standard starting point when it comes to the angle is one spines width. Look at the thickness of the spine of the razor. That is about how much gap you want between you face and the spine when shaving. And don't set the razor on your face without beginning a stroke. Holding it in one place can cause a nasty cut.

Get them pro honed and keep it up. After a few months you will be doing much better.

That is about right. I have found though that the keener the edge, the flatter the shave angle should be. With many of my edges now, I am getting down to ½ a spine thickness or less as the best shave angle.

 

[ralph029]

@ralph029 I think you are going to love shaving with traditional SRs. You have the right approach and commitment.

Thank you. And thank you for all your help during this process.

I'm not sure what you are honing on. I started with lapping films. That quickly got me very good shave-ready edges. Than added diamond pasted balsa strops which upped the edge even more.

I have a set of a set, 1K, 3K, 5K, and 12K Naniwa S2 Super Stones. These stones have treated me well with knives. Well, not these stones, but the S2 series, has treated me well for sharpening knives. I also have used kangaroo bench strops with paste for my knives. I keep my stones clean and flat. That was one transferable skill

My next (and final ) whetstone will probably be a Arkansas hard black (ultra-fine).

Final? Sure it will be

Using lapping films has given me a very good grounding in the proper use of SR honing with whetstones, without the variables of surface flatness and grit inconsistencies. I highly recommend lapping films to first learn to hone on.

I have a large thick piece of glass that I glue down wet/dry paper to and hone chisels and plane soles. I never even looked into lapping films since I have and experience with stones. Let's just call it naive arrogance

BTW, the hardest part of SR honing, with previous knife honing experience, is forcing yourself to forget what you have previously thought.

Yesterday when things weren't going well with honing, I kept thinking, "what's the harm if I just raise a small burr"? I didn't do but the trap is there and set. Must be careful to step on that trap!

 

[ralph029]

A standard starting point when it comes to the angle is one spines width. Look at the thickness of the spine of the razor. That is about how much gap you want between you face and the spine when shaving. And don't set the razor on your face without beginning a stroke. Holding it in one place can cause a nasty cut.

Get them pro honed and keep it up. After a few months you will be doing much better.

Thanks for the advice. That could be what caused the cheek issues. I must have intuitively stopped doing that with the rest of the shave because I didn't cut myself again.
As for the spine thickness, that will have to be a learned feel since my eye are pretty bad and I have a hard time seeing that level of detail even with my glasses on. I'll try to pay attention to that today and see if I can see it.
Thanks for the encouragement.

 

[ralph029]

I started with lapping films.

What micron films do you suggest? Will the glass plate I have work as a base or do I need something else under the film? I'm trying to dig for answers on B&B now as well.
Well, I found this, HONING WITH LAPPING FILMS - https://www.badgerandblade.com/forum/wiki/HONING_WITH_LAPPING_FILMS If you have any suggestions other than follow the instructions, I'd love to hear them.

 

[ralph029]

I probably should have just deleted my last post and wrote this:
I just finished reading HONING WITH LAPPING FILMS - https://www.badgerandblade.com/forum/wiki/HONING_WITH_LAPPING_FILMS and I have one question. Why the insistence on holding the substrate and not working on a bench?

 

[ralph029]

Acrylic and non-PSA backed lapping film ordered

I can follow instructions and I will based on the Wiki mentioned above. At some point though, someone is going to have to talk to me about using lapping compounds and balsa. How many damn rabbit holes are there? I sure have found a lot of them since joining B&B.

 

[Herrenberg]

I did. It's not a bad edge (I think). It's a little grabby and I figure, if I'm sending the Dovo in, I might as well send it in too. I'm sure it's my technique at the moment. It sure is a different feel than the AC, huh?

"A little grabby" is bad. A proper shaving edge should never grab hair.

Recent reports on Aust suggest that not every razor comes with a proper shaving edge, a thing that apparently used to be more consistent. So you've made the right move here.

I encourage you to keep the shave angle low, a thing that it took me a long time to get consistent about. Higher shave angles produce little dings in the razor edge, too small to see without magnification. The more of these you have, the less comfortable the shave on your skin. The actual shaving still works for a long while, until you get a ding big enough to catch a hair. You can really lengthen the lifetime of the edge by keeping your angle low.