First razor honing.

[Wilkinsmooth]

A couple of weeks ago I Had decided to buy a razor to practice honing, as the razor I currently use is a TI 1937 Coiffeur which I didn’t really want to be the first razor I put on a stone.

Although my intention was to buy a brand new razor to start on, I ended up winning a decent looking Ed Wusthof that was listed as vintage. When it arrived, it turned out it was brand new and looked like it had never had an edge on it at all. There was no sign of a bevel and I could put a hair over the blade and had to pull with a bit of force for it to “cut”(break). The blade is narrower on the Wusthof and the steel is very light. Just going by the weight and feel, I liked my TI better.

So I put the Wusthof to the side for now and I’ve been looking at various stones, grits, makes, naturals etc. But before I had really looked into stones, I had bought a carborundum 101A razor hone as a touch up stone for my TI. Unfortunately the more I read about stones and carborundums it seemed that purchase was a slight mistake, as almost everything I read said the carborundums were quick but not great stones to shave off of.

I was getting a little impatient just to see how I got on honing and I decided to try the Wusthof razor on the carborundum stone. At least then, when I was reading about all this stuff, I could picture it and maybe get a better idea what I wanted and what would suit me.

I cleaned the stone, rubbed it on wet and dry paper, also taking a bit of the corner off down the r/h edge where the shoulder of the razor would be as I had seen in a tutorial.

I dropped a few drops of water on the stone and started by doing edge leading, heel first X strokes. I could feel a very slight difference on my thumb after around 30 laps but it felt like it was going to take a very long time.

I then done some circular motions on each side for 10 seconds each time on alternating sides. This brought it on quite a bit, so I went back to the heel first X strokes.

It came to a point where it felt sharp but never touched the hair in a HHT, the hair bounced off it. I have a cheap strop which I had pasted with CroX, so I stropped on that around 35-40 laps. This made quite a bit of difference and although it never passed the HHT, it was now grabbing the hair and cutting it sometimes. I wondered if this is as good as I’d get with what I had.

I went back to doing the X strokes on the stone and it felt like it had got sharper on my thumb, but the HHT was a little worse. I wondered if this was due to a burr, so I gave it around 10 spine leading X strokes.
I then stropped on the pasted leather and pasted the linen part of that cheap strop and stropped on that. Then to the Windrose cotton and finished on the Windrose leather. It felt exceptionally sharp and passed the HHT, so I left it at that. Although it felt sharp, I never held much hope that it would shave well, purely due to my lack of experience, the stone I used and lack of progression through stones.

I lathered up as usual and had my TI out ready to shave but gave the Wusthof a try, fully expecting it to be rough, pull etc. I was stunned at how well it shaved. It has a narrower blade than my TI and I think I like the narrower blade a bit better. I done 2 passes and touched up my jaw line. I never needed my TI at all and, although I like the TI as a nicer, heavier razor, the Wusthof felt easier to shave with.

I’ll rotate between the Wusthof and the TI for a while to see how the edge holds up. I winged it so there’s not much detail of stages or reference points, but it gives me a start and confidence that I won’t ruin a razor by showing it a stone.

 

[PintoPlain]

Congratulations on getting a result with your first attempt. Not something everyone manages.

What size is the Wusthof? My preference is generally 5/8, however I do have, use, and enjoy razors from 4/8 to 8/8. I also like my 13/16 Japanese razors.

I must admit to using films and diamond balsa as stones confuse me. It's something I may look at eventually though. If you're getting good shaves with you preferred honing medium, keep at it. Your edges should improve with practice and experience as you become more familiar with your set up.

 

[rbscebu]

Congratulations. Honing a SR is not rocket science (which itself is not very complex) but SR honing can be a very satisfying skill.

Keep at it. You will only improve.

 

[Biltong & Boerewors]

Well done, you have done well to get a good shave after a first attempt at honing. It took me several tries.

If I can recommend one stone as a finisher, it will be the Naniwa 12k. For beginners all roads lead to a 12k. It should be good enough to shave of, but it is also a good place to finish with stones when you want to go the pasted balsa way, or in your case at present, before you use the pasted strop.

 

[Wilkinsmooth]

Congratulations on getting a result with your first attempt. Not something everyone manages.

What size is the Wusthof? My preference is generally 5/8, however I do have, use, and enjoy razors from 4/8 to 8/8. I also like my 13/16 Japanese razors.

I must admit to using films and diamond balsa as stones confuse me. It's something I may look at eventually though. If you're getting good shaves with you preferred honing medium, keep at it. Your edges should improve with practice and experience as you become more familiar with your set up.

The Wusthof is 4/8 and the TI is 6/8. I had been looking at getting a progression of stones but I think I’ll get a 12k first and see how that brings these edges on for now.

 

[Tomo]

Congratulations. Getting that first HHT to pass is like magic. Its a great sense of achievement when you shave with your own edges.

It sounds like your getting a feel for it. Whatever stones you decide to use it’s important to keep them flat. An Aroma diamond plate will assist you with that.

 

[Biltong & Boerewors]

Nice razors!

I have 4 TI's and I really want to like them, but when it comes to shaving, I will choose a Solingen above a TI every time.

The current stone progression I use is all Naniwa Superstones 3k,8k,12k, but when you have a razor you can comfortably shave with, the 12k is the most important to finish and maintain it.

 

[Wilkinsmooth]

Well done, you have done well to get a good shave after a first attempt at honing. It took me several tries.

If I can recommend one stone as a finisher, it will be the Naniwa 12k. For beginners all roads lead to a 12k. It should be good enough to shave of, but it is also a good place to finish with stones when you want to go the pasted balsa way, or in your case at present, before you use the pasted strop.

I have all the materials in my basket for the balsa strops, just waiting to purchase but I’ve delayed it for now to see where fuel and energy prices go.

 

[rbscebu]

I have all the materials in my basket for the balsa strops, just waiting to purchase but I’ve delayed it for now to see where fuel and energy prices go.

I'll tell you where they are going now, up.

I think that you will be pleasantly surprised with the results you will get from a Naniwa 12k.

Once the 12k is mastered, you can move onto the diamond pasted balsa strop progression and see if you prefer finishing off those. Don't forget the short X strokes on the 0.1μm balsa. That really increases the comfort level off balsa.

 

[cotedupy]

Nice job!

As well as showing that you were thinking about and analysing it very well, I think this also shows the power of pastes, and your stropping skillz .

I for instance can put a razor on a stone ok, but I sometimes feck up stropping (probably through lack of patience). Which is annoying!

 

[Wilkinsmooth]

After the success of honing and using the Wusthof razor I decided to try touching up my TI razor. As it was my first razor I had nothing to compare to and, of course, my technique was the technique of somebody who had never held a SR before.

The TI seemed to shave ok wtg and xtg, no pulling or anything, but when I shaved atg it stuck on the stubble. I assumed at the time that I just hadn’t reduced the stubble enough with my previous passes due to inexperience. But after tonight, I suspect my poor shaving and stropping technique in the first days of ownership had slightly dulled the edge.

I done around 25-30 X stroke passes on the stone, then used the pasted leather and linen and finished on clean cotton and leather.

I done a 3 pass shave to see how it performed atg and it was absolutely brilliant. It has given me the best shave I’ve ever had on the r/h side of my neck/underside of my chin where the hair grows out towards my ear.

 

[Titleist]

After the success of honing and using the Wusthof razor I decided to try touching up my TI razor. As it was my first razor I had nothing to compare to and, of course, my technique was the technique of somebody who had never held a SR before.

The TI seemed to shave ok wtg and xtg, no pulling or anything, but when I shaved atg it stuck on the stubble. I assumed at the time that I just hadn’t reduced the stubble enough with my previous passes due to inexperience. But after tonight, I suspect my poor shaving and stropping technique in the first days of ownership had slightly dulled the edge.

I done around 25-30 X stroke passes on the stone, then used the pasted leather and linen and finished on clean cotton and leather.

I done a 3 pass shave to see how it performed atg and it was absolutely brilliant. It has given me the best shave I’ve ever had on the r/h side of my neck/underside of my chin where the hair grows out towards my ear.

Congratulations on your success!