An interesting honing experience

[Eastcoast30]

I received a small Seiko razor as a gift. I was told it was the smallest straight razor ever made. A photo is attached below. But I could not get an edge on it. Many Seikos were manufactured by Hishisei and boast "special" steels. This one has no manufacturer's mark and does not boast any special steel. So likely it was made as a novelty and just has an inexpensive carbon steel blade. Having said that, it is an attractive razor and just the perfect size for detailing small areas around the mustache or that small "soul patch" just below the lower lip. And despite the steel, it seems to be very well made.

I took it through a Shapton glass progression and then into a progression my Oozuku jnat. Hours spent and no luck! And this method has always produced an HHT 4/5 result with the bulb held in. And testing with the bulb in shows a very sharp edge, consistent with what Alfredo produces. I was ready to give up, when I remembered my pasted balsa strops. And that was the ticket. In no time at all, I had an HHT 4/5 result. Now I will likely take that down a hair with a very fine slurry on the jnat. But the Method, as advocated by @Slash McCoy, saved the day.

 

[Herrenberg]

A driving need to understand this sort of behavior was what led me to get a microscope.

I'd lay odds that what you would have seen through it is what I have seen so often -- a very narrow area, right at the edge, where the finishing scratches stop short of the edge. Maybe only on one side; that's all it takes to mess up a shaving edge.

The bit of flex in the pasted balsa would, under this hypothesis, allow you to actually reach that narrow band with abrasives.

 

[Eastcoast30]

I have always wanted a decent microscope with computer capability. This may be just enough reason for me to get one. If someone can recommend one that works with a Mac, I'm all ears.

 

[Alum of Potash]

Prior to using the balsa strops, did you apply the HHT after stropping on plain leather? If straight off the stones without stropping, perhaps plain stropping would have yielded the desired result independent of the pasted balsa.

That said, I've recently sworn off the HHT as it led me to hone a razor too much in that I couldn't get it to pass. Giving up, and leaving things as they were after two attempts, the resultant shave was excellent. (Could have been that the steel type reacted differently in my case as it was softer than what I normally use.)

 

[Eastcoast30]

Yes, I always strop on excellent cordovan leather. This strop has fantastic electric draw. HHT is only an indicator. I just shaved with that mini razor and got two tiny weepers. Last weeper I had was over a year ago. Noe I will tame that method edge with my jnat. I am going to post my shaving results now on "what straight did you use today?"

 

[Jakebullet]

I received a small Seiko razor as a gift. I was told it was the smallest straight razor ever made. A photo is attached below. But I could not get an edge on it. Many Seikos were manufactured by Hishisei and boast "special" steels. This one has no manufacturer's mark and does not boast any special steel. So likely it was made as a novelty and just has an inexpensive carbon steel blade. Having said that, it is an attractive razor and just the perfect size for detailing small areas around the mustache or that small "soul patch" just below the lower lip. And despite the steel, it seems to be very well made.

I took it through a Shapton glass progression and then into a progression my Oozuku jnat. Hours spent and no luck! And this method has always produced an HHT 4/5 result with the bulb held in. And testing with the bulb in shows a very sharp edge, consistent with what Alfredo produces. I was ready to give up, when I remembered my pasted balsa strops. And that was the ticket. In no time at all, I had an HHT 4/5 result. Now I will likely take that down a hair with a very fine slurry on the jnat. But the Method, as advocated by @Slash McCoy, saved the day.

View attachment 1432168

The method as prescribed by @slashmccoy is a real game changer isn’t it? I built the strops as an experiment and produced the best edges I ever made. Who knew such sharpness was possible?
I went back to honing on stones, I can’t help it, I love it but that balsa edge is quite a way past what I can achieve with any of my stones.

 

[Eastcoast30]

I just posted my shaving experience with this razor and the pasted strops. It was uber sharp, but gave me two tiny weepers. I'm just getting ready to take it back a bit with my jnat. I think sometimes too sharp is just that; too sharp.

 

[Herrenberg]

If you were to shave with a Method edge all the time, you would adjust and not get the weepers. It's mixing them with more forgiving edges that throws you off the game. At least, that's what happened to me.

 

[Jakebullet]

If you were to shave with a Method edge all the time, you would adjust and not get the weepers. It's mixing them with more forgiving edges that throws you off the game. At least, that's what happened to me.

Yeah that mirrors my experience. I find it’s one or the other as the method edge does mean technical adjustments to the shave.
What a crazy demonic edge that balsa makes.

 

[Possum092]

I just posted my shaving experience with this razor and the pasted strops. It was uber sharp, but gave me two tiny weepers. I'm just getting ready to take it back a bit with my jnat. I think sometimes too sharp is just that; too sharp.

This is exactly why I finish on ceramic. Ceramic and JNATs microscopically smooth the edge, less grabby and more forgiving imho.

 

[Eastcoast30]

It took me a while to figure out this blade. As you can see, it is quite small. I believe it was made as a novelty and not with the typical steel found on the larger Seiko razors (not to be confused with the Seiko watch company). After achieving an extremely sharp edge with the pasted balsa and after getting two weepers, I applied ten very light laps on an Oozuku with only light slurry. And that was the end of that edge. No HHT and no shaving capability whatsoever.

That tells me the razor was made with what we call "poor" steel. That would mean a low carbon steel, not tempered and quecnhed, and therefore coarse grained. When applied to a stone, the edge on such a poor steel will fold upon itself and refuse to sharpen. That explains why the balsa works. Dragging in a stropping motion on the soft balsa (as opposed to pushing) will likely prevent the edge from folding. The final test would be to see how many shaves I can get without honing again. I don't think this steel will hold an edge for very long. The "Method" of course, calls for stropping on 0.1 micron after each shave. But likely i will end my testing here

 

[H Brad Boonshaft]

Don’t know about the quality or heat treatment of the steel, but it appears very well made, probably a corn razor.

The heel could use correction.

If you put the photo in an editor and enlarge, you can see the tapered grind of the spine over the heel, and grind marks over the stabilizer and on the tang. This would keep the heel half of the razor off the stone, (Note rough bevel at the heel, where the bevel is not making full contact).

There is almost no bevel at the toe, a pasted strop could put enough of an edge on it to shave but would likely be harsh.

Correcting the heel, moving the corner forward about a ¼ inch would resolve a lot of issues and make the razor much easier to hone.

Nice razor.

 

[Eastcoast30]

I'm not sure I agree. Feel free to correct me. That first photo really has no detail. The photo below shows the bevel to reach that point on the heel where the edge ends and the razor begins to curve away. I would not expect the bevel to reach any further. Possibly that corner could be smoothed a bit. The bevel at the toe is the same, And that uniform bevel extends across the entire blade. But as soon as I put it to the jnat (after the Method), it stopped shaving all along the length of the blade.