Well last night and tonight were big nights for me. Last night I honed my first straight, a Boker King Cutter I got off ebay. Used what I like to refer to as the Polish Special stones (as discussed in michiganlovers thread http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showthread.php?t=152289&highlight=bevel ). Used his suggestion for laps as a guideline and went to it.
Overall the experience was enjoyable and went pretty well for my first time. After each stone (5k, 8k and chinese 12k), shaved a bit of my arm to see how sharp it was and each time it seemed to do ok. I thought the stones were pretty good but with nothing else to compare too it's tough to tell. Found I had to refresh the water on the 5k a lot more often then the 8k even though they'd both been soaking for a few days as I was going to do it over the weekend and ended up not having time. By the end I was happy with the results, and after stropping it on linen and leather, looked forward to testing it out.
So tonight comes the shave. Same prep as usual after my shower, and after running the razor over my strop again, I was ready to take it to my face. Overall it was a decent shave but I did feel like the razor didn't cut as smoothly as I expected. Did one WTG and 2 XTG passes and I don't feel like I have the irritation I've had from my last couple shaves, and being new to this (half dozen shaves), I know my technique needs some work. Even with all that I still came away with a DFS.
That being said, I think I'm going to take it back to the hones and start from square one. One change will be the fact my DMT DuoSharp 325/1200 came in so I might run it over the 1200 and try and reset the bevel for a fresh start. Also, will probably increase my laps on the 5k and 8k but after the 50 laps I stopped at last time, I'll probably test it every 5 laps or so until I get my desired sharpness.
Well that's it. I have to admit shaving with something I honed was a great feeling and I look forward to continuing on with it and learning even more as time goes on.
As always, suggestions, hints and tips are always welcome. Thanks.
Overall the experience was enjoyable and went pretty well for my first time. After each stone (5k, 8k and chinese 12k), shaved a bit of my arm to see how sharp it was and each time it seemed to do ok. I thought the stones were pretty good but with nothing else to compare too it's tough to tell. Found I had to refresh the water on the 5k a lot more often then the 8k even though they'd both been soaking for a few days as I was going to do it over the weekend and ended up not having time. By the end I was happy with the results, and after stropping it on linen and leather, looked forward to testing it out.
So tonight comes the shave. Same prep as usual after my shower, and after running the razor over my strop again, I was ready to take it to my face. Overall it was a decent shave but I did feel like the razor didn't cut as smoothly as I expected. Did one WTG and 2 XTG passes and I don't feel like I have the irritation I've had from my last couple shaves, and being new to this (half dozen shaves), I know my technique needs some work. Even with all that I still came away with a DFS.
That being said, I think I'm going to take it back to the hones and start from square one. One change will be the fact my DMT DuoSharp 325/1200 came in so I might run it over the 1200 and try and reset the bevel for a fresh start. Also, will probably increase my laps on the 5k and 8k but after the 50 laps I stopped at last time, I'll probably test it every 5 laps or so until I get my desired sharpness.
Well that's it. I have to admit shaving with something I honed was a great feeling and I look forward to continuing on with it and learning even more as time goes on.
As always, suggestions, hints and tips are always welcome. Thanks.
its a great feeling to have a shave from a razor that you have honed from scratch yourself, i am like you and new to honing and quite enjoyed the experiance.
