Preface:
I started straight shaving a little over a year ago with a Whipped Dog sight unseen and poor mans strop. I caught the bug and soon had 3 eBay razors and 5 rescued from flee markets and thrift stores. I wanted to start restoring these blades and hone them so I went with the film and granit. I got a few edges that felt nothing like the original WD straight and could not get bevels set on the others.
A little time went past and I picked up a Norton 220/1k and was able to get a couple other razors bevels set (so I thought.). And then switched to film for polishing and finishing. I got a little closer to the edge on the WD but by this time the edge had diminished on that razor so I had no point of reference except memory and my face.
So with a busy year ahead and little time to work on them (I have a 2 yo and a 4yo girls) I went back to my smooth 37c and feathers.
i got a bright Idea on one of my trips and had seen a few posts by folks in the St. Paul region and thought I would see if I could set up a mentoring session with someone in the area. I was fortunate to spend 7 hours with Randydance and a little time with Rodb. I learned much and especially that I needed to add more stones to my setup. I enjoyed the feel of the Norton 4/8 that Randy let me use and a better 1k stone.
Well I watched and waited on forums while saving to buy the Norton and maybe a Chosera 1k when it happened that a fella was selling a 4/8 and king 1k. I jumped and received them yesterday which brings me to the story.
Hone session:
wife fey had night off and I cashed in some me time. Took stones outside and lapped them on WD 320 and then 600 on granite tile. They were close from the previous owner but needed some work. I got them flat and moved to my bar in the basement. Tuned into the World Series on the radio, poured a hearty glass of Old Forester and selected the razors I was going to work on.
I chose my favorite Waterville, Keen Cutter Blue, and my newest score Erik Anton Berg. I gave them a quick polish with 1um film and then Maas. I then taped all the spines and went to work on the King. What a difference from the Norton. I liked the feel and sound better and it was much faster than the Norton. Mind you I liked the Chosera much better but cannot afford one right now.
Anyway, in no time I had bevels set on all three. They were cutting hairs off my arm above the skin all the way across the edge. Went to the 4k and freshened the surface with WD 600 on granite. Not sure how many laps I did on each but I went by sound a feel. And moved up to the 8k working off the feel and sound once again. I know I did about 30 to 40 laps on each.
I could now just remove hairs on my arm with just a touch, and I mean just a touch. Much like the razors Randy and Rod honed for me in our session. I doubt my edges will be as smooth as theirs because of experience and I do not have an Escher finisher. But, I am proud of my edges and now have three with 8k edges and pasted CrOx leather strop that Randy was kind enough to give me.
i want to feel these edges on some shaves and see what I can do with the 8k. That is until my vintage coticule combo gets here tomorrow. I have a Shumate and a couple others that are going to get that treatment and added to the rotation.
It was enlightening to finally apply all the information learned from Randy and Rod.
I did learn one other thing. Torey almost wedge razors are hard as hell. I took this thing down to the 220 Norton and still have a ways to go. But I am thinking that I need to do some work on the spine to straighten out the hone wear. I am not sure how to go about that and do not thing I am tooled up for that yet.
All in time.
I want to thank everyone for posting their experiences so that others could learn. I will post some pictures soon I hope.
Chris
I started straight shaving a little over a year ago with a Whipped Dog sight unseen and poor mans strop. I caught the bug and soon had 3 eBay razors and 5 rescued from flee markets and thrift stores. I wanted to start restoring these blades and hone them so I went with the film and granit. I got a few edges that felt nothing like the original WD straight and could not get bevels set on the others.
A little time went past and I picked up a Norton 220/1k and was able to get a couple other razors bevels set (so I thought.). And then switched to film for polishing and finishing. I got a little closer to the edge on the WD but by this time the edge had diminished on that razor so I had no point of reference except memory and my face.
So with a busy year ahead and little time to work on them (I have a 2 yo and a 4yo girls) I went back to my smooth 37c and feathers.
i got a bright Idea on one of my trips and had seen a few posts by folks in the St. Paul region and thought I would see if I could set up a mentoring session with someone in the area. I was fortunate to spend 7 hours with Randydance and a little time with Rodb. I learned much and especially that I needed to add more stones to my setup. I enjoyed the feel of the Norton 4/8 that Randy let me use and a better 1k stone.
Well I watched and waited on forums while saving to buy the Norton and maybe a Chosera 1k when it happened that a fella was selling a 4/8 and king 1k. I jumped and received them yesterday which brings me to the story.
Hone session:
wife fey had night off and I cashed in some me time. Took stones outside and lapped them on WD 320 and then 600 on granite tile. They were close from the previous owner but needed some work. I got them flat and moved to my bar in the basement. Tuned into the World Series on the radio, poured a hearty glass of Old Forester and selected the razors I was going to work on.
I chose my favorite Waterville, Keen Cutter Blue, and my newest score Erik Anton Berg. I gave them a quick polish with 1um film and then Maas. I then taped all the spines and went to work on the King. What a difference from the Norton. I liked the feel and sound better and it was much faster than the Norton. Mind you I liked the Chosera much better but cannot afford one right now.
Anyway, in no time I had bevels set on all three. They were cutting hairs off my arm above the skin all the way across the edge. Went to the 4k and freshened the surface with WD 600 on granite. Not sure how many laps I did on each but I went by sound a feel. And moved up to the 8k working off the feel and sound once again. I know I did about 30 to 40 laps on each.
I could now just remove hairs on my arm with just a touch, and I mean just a touch. Much like the razors Randy and Rod honed for me in our session. I doubt my edges will be as smooth as theirs because of experience and I do not have an Escher finisher. But, I am proud of my edges and now have three with 8k edges and pasted CrOx leather strop that Randy was kind enough to give me.
i want to feel these edges on some shaves and see what I can do with the 8k. That is until my vintage coticule combo gets here tomorrow. I have a Shumate and a couple others that are going to get that treatment and added to the rotation.
It was enlightening to finally apply all the information learned from Randy and Rod.
I did learn one other thing. Torey almost wedge razors are hard as hell. I took this thing down to the 220 Norton and still have a ways to go. But I am thinking that I need to do some work on the spine to straighten out the hone wear. I am not sure how to go about that and do not thing I am tooled up for that yet.
All in time.
I want to thank everyone for posting their experiences so that others could learn. I will post some pictures soon I hope.
Chris
