Blade won't hold edge for entire shave duration

[Firrox]

So I've finally gotten down how to sharpen my blade: When it gets really dull I have a Chinese 12k to start out, then a green diamond paste for stropping, then finally a leather side. I can get the whole thing extremely sharp and it easily passes the hair-drop test.

My first couple of swipes with the blade (on my neck) are miraculous and wonderful, but once I get to my face, the sharpness is completely gone and it's rough and terrible. What could I be doing wrong?

 

[Shangas]

Your problem could come from one of two places:

1. It's not sharp enough.

2. You're not sharp enough.

1. Just because it passes the HHT doesn't mean it's sharp. It means it can give you a haircut. But you're not trying to get a short back and sides, you're trying to shave. The best way to test if a razor is honed and stropped enough is to just shave with it.

2. If you're sure it's sharp and is stropped correctly, then it's probably time to look at your technique. Your angles and the pressure that you apply, your approach, whether you're shaving with, across or against the grain, whether you're stretching your skin, etc. These are all important factors in getting a good shave. I've never known for a straight-razor to lose it sharpness after just one shave. So one of those two has to be the culprit.

Either that, or you have a really lousy razor, which I doubt is the case.

 

[Luc]

Is this your first straight? If so, I would recommend sending it out to be honed.

Also, if you can get a second straight already shave ready, it will give you an idea. If your bevel is set correctly and you are re-sharpening that often, the edge might be too weak. It might need a bevel reset. I would have a honemeister having a look.

 

[twoods]

Love your little karate/dancing man Luc! Lol!

 

[Greybeard]

A Chinese 12k won't sharpen a really dull blade. It's a finishing hone after the blade has been sharpened on lower grit hones or for touch ups on a blade that's starting to pull.
The same thing with Chromium Oxide (the green paste you're using). It's for polishing and refining the edge and for minor touch ups, not for real sharpening. Also if you go nuts on the CrOx you can round the bevel and any edge you have created is not going to last.
It sounds like you have created just a temporary sharp edge with the 12k and CrOx that goes away as soon as you start to shave. You probably need a re-honing and maybe a bevel reset. Luc's suggestion to get your razor re-honed professionally is a good one. You could then keep it going for quite a while with your strop, CrOx and 12k.
It depends on your beard and technique, but after about 6 shaves (or when it starts pulling) go to the CrOx. When the CrOx doesn't work as well, go to the 12k and then CrOx. When that doesn't help, send it out to be re-honed or get 4k and 8k (approximately) stones, or a coticule and learn to hone.

 

[Hawkeye5]

It is possible to over hone. What may have happened is that you have honed the razor so there is a 'fin' edge. After brief use the 'fin' folds over and, presto, sharp goes to dull.

 

[Seraphim]

If your angles are too steep, you will quickly deteriorate your edge, as you will be scraping instead of shaving. Keep the razor almost flat against your face don't try for a "30 degree angle", as that will most likely lead to an angle that is too steep. Keep it really flat, no more than a spine width off your face.

 

[bonusmarple]

Could be a wire edge and/or angle and pressure. Keep the blade as close to the skin as possible and still cut hair, that is the game. If that doesn't fix the issue then send the razor out to be honed.

 

[rajagra]

That's a classic description of a wire edge problem. But people have done tests that show it is actually very difficult to create a wire edge. It would be especially difficult with just a Chinese 12K.

Is there any chance the blade may have been damaged by heat (by use of power tools)?

Or (sorry to ask this) was it a very cheap razor? Some are just not very good and won't hold a sharp edge for long.

 

[Firrox]

It was around $100, a starter, but still decent steel

Yeah, I had some knife-sharpener guy go over it with power tools -_- Didn't want to know if that was the case or not. I guess I probably need it re-honed or something.

I'm in Colorado, is there a local place here or do I need it shipped out?

 

[superbleu]

Sounds like it wasn't shave ready to begin with. I don't know of anyone that has made a razor shave ready using power tools.

Probably just as fast and cheap to send it out to someone to hone.

Pick someone from the list here

http://wiki.badgerandblade.com/index.php/Honemeister#What.27s_a_honemeister.3F

 

[O. Glenn]

It was around $100, a starter, but still decent steel

Yeah, I had some knife-sharpener guy go over it with power tools -_- Didn't want to know if that was the case or not. I guess I probably need it re-honed or something.

You definitely want send it to someone experienced with honing a straight razor. Hopefully, the guy with the power tools didn't overheat the blade to the point where it lost temper. Was this a brand new razor?

 

[Legion]

You definitely want send it to someone experienced with honing a straight razor. Hopefully, the guy with the power tools didn't overheat the blade to the point where it lost temper. Was this a brand new razor?

This is my worry. If the blade has lost it's temper (and it is really easy to do with such a thin edge) then it has been annealed to a point where your beard just blunts it straight away. Now that you have mentioned power tools I think this is more likely than the wire edge hypothesis.

 

[johnmrson]

My guess is that the bevel isn't set on it. You're putting a micro edge on the blade with the 12k but after a couple of strokes, it's gone and you're back to an incorrect bevel.

Get it properly honed.

 

[Slash McCoy]

This can happen with over-use of a pasted strop, too. A dozen strokes on the 1k followed by a few dozen each on a 4k and 8k or finer will have it right as rain, I bet.

I would like to know the make of the razor. Could be we are talking about one of the notorious pakistani blades.

Oh no... I just read the other posts. Never use power tools to hone a razor! Yes, even if it is actually a good razor, it now needs proper honing, for sure. I really don't see how power tools could set a proper bevel in the first place, unless one were to use the flat side of an impossibly fine, new, and perfectly true wheel. The heat on a fine edge like a razor will be concentrated at the very edge and ruin the temper. Worst case scenario is it may need to be heat treated again, but I would hope that just a good honing would fix i

 

[Firrox]

Works now! It was definitely just the angle I was putting it at. When I put it just a small angle away from the skin, it works perfectly and keeps its edge.

I wonder if there's a difference between wedge-blades and the thin-ground that I have... Either way, yay!