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Honing requirements after using an SR

If an SR is honed properly by a honemeister and is then used for a couple of months, does it need the same level of honing or just some type of maintenance hone to bring it back to shave ready?
 
That depends on your habits. I myself take it for about 10 or 20 laps on my 12K every 3 months or so.


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Once the bevel is properly set, you should theoretically never have to go back to that, or even use the mid-range grits, unless you physically damage the edge, e.g., drop the razor or clank it against the facet.

Typically all that is needed is a "few" laps on the finishing hone every few months, though some do so weekly or even daily just for the fun of it.
 

Legion

Staff member
I give my razors a quick touch up with a finishing hone after about seven or eight shaves. I'm a believer is doing a little bit, often. I don't let the razor get to a point it will no longer shave, because then you might need to go down to a lower grit. I also don't often use pastes, as a strop with give will round the bevel, and eventually to will need to start from scratch with the hones.
 
I finally got around to start a honing log around two years ago. I have not used a mid-range stone in those two years, only on knives.

It depends on the blade but I touch up on average every two to three months. I shave every other day and have a thick dense beard and mustache.

I have very good examples of Coti's, Ark's, Thuri's, and Jnats but find myself reaching for the Jnats the most, then Thuri's. Coti's I like for prefinish mainly because they cut hard steel very well.

I also find myself reaching for Japanese and Sweedish steel straight razors the most.
 

rbscebu

Girls call me Makaluod
I have a couple of SR's that have been used getting close to 100 shaves each. These two SR's, like all my others, have been maintained exclusively on 0.1μm diamond pasted balsa strops after each shave since their initial bevel set and honing progression.

Per year, using diamond pasted balsa strops for maintenance after each shave is more time consuming than intermittently refreshing an edge on whetstone(s). I probably spent a total of 2 to 3 hours a year stropping my edges on pasted balsa. I dare say that intermittently refreshing on whetstones would likely take less than an hour each year.

I don't mind the extra few minutes each day on edge maintenance. It gives me a consistent fresh precise edge for each and every shave.
 
When a razor is honed properly the bevel is set, made flat, in the correct angle and made to meet at a straight edge. Then the bevels, are polished with finer grits to remove all the scratches to refine the edge.

So, it depends on what the razor edge needs when honed and how the owner cared for it. Most razors bevels and edges are damaged by the strop, contaminated with dust or poor technique. In which case the bevels must be bevel set fully.

A pro honer has no idea how the razor was used, so, a 1or 2k full bevel set is the safest, quickest way to ensure a good, solid steel edge. Yes, one can maintain an edge by doing light touch up laps every week or two, or theoretically just proper stropping, provided he has mastered stropping and has a clean strop, dust is constantly in the air.

A touch up on a high grit hone is more aggressive than a strop, and lacking proper technique, can easily damage an edge in a single stroke. So technique is even more important.
 
I do a touch up
I have a couple of SR's that have been used getting close to 100 shaves each. These two SR's, like all my others, have been maintained exclusively on 0.1μm diamond pasted balsa strops after each shave since their initial bevel set and honing progression.

Per year, using diamond pasted balsa strops for maintenance after each shave is more time consuming than intermittently refreshing an edge on whetstone(s). I probably spent a total of 2 to 3 hours a year stropping my edges on pasted balsa. I dare say that intermittently refreshing on whetstones would likely take less than an hour each year.

I don't mind the extra few minutes each day on edge maintenance. It gives me a consistent fresh precise edge for each and every shave.
I’ve also been under the assumption the a razor can be maintained indefinitely on a finisher with frequent touch ups. Some experienced honers claim that periodic lower grit maintenance is best practice to combat uneven wear over the length of the blade.

I’d be interested to know if you have noticed any changes to the shape of the edge in high wear areas. Perhaps 100 shaves is too early to tell.
 
You should probably be able to keep your blade in a good condition only using a finisher, or some other substrate loaded with CBN, Diamon etc. It all depends on how you like your edge and how you use it. How frequently you need to do it is difficult to answer. Do not let it get dull.
I can only speak for my self. I am not able to wear my blade evenly along the edge. The middle part and the toe gets more use.
To be able to get an edge that is as even as possible, and maybe get to some better steel i usually lightly "joint" the edge and drop down to a 6-8 k, then finish on a natural. This ensures me that i get an even apex along the hole blade.
You will probably get hundred different answers with this type of question. If you got a super sharp synthetic edge it might not last as long as say a JNAT edge. Different beard types, technique etc. all factor in.
If you chase that fresh off the stone crisp edge it usually does not last that long for me. What applies to my, may not apply to you.
 

rbscebu

Girls call me Makaluod
I do a touch up

I’ve also been under the assumption the a razor can be maintained indefinitely on a finisher with frequent touch ups. Some experienced honers claim that periodic lower grit maintenance is best practice to combat uneven wear over the length of the blade.

I’d be interested to know if you have noticed any changes to the shape of the edge in high wear areas. Perhaps 100 shaves is too early to tell.
I have not noticed any changes to the shape of the edge in any of my SR blades. There may be a change but it would be ever so slight and gradually slow to occured that I probably would not be able to observe it. The two SR's that I referred to were my initial SR's and their edges still look like the day I first shaved with them.

Using just 0.1μm diamond pasted hanging balsa strop maintenance, I think that it would probably take many hundreds, if not thousands, of shaves before a change in the edge would be noticeable. Even then, you would probably need an initial photograph with which to compare the difference.

With my SR rotation now, each blade only gets used about 12 to 15 times a year.
 
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A simple strop sock takes care of any dust concerns. I had a couple of custom made ones for my strops. So that is not a issue for me. Outer layer is anti static, inner layer is extremely fine German cotton.

My stones are very carefully selected and properly stored.

As long as I'm getting good undercut no need for mid or coarse honing. I have not had the need to do so thus far. At least these past two years I have been keeping my honing log.
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I do a touch up

I’ve also been under the assumption the a razor can be maintained indefinitely on a finisher with frequent touch ups. Some experienced honers claim that periodic lower grit maintenance is best practice to combat uneven wear over the length of the blade.

I’d be interested to know if you have noticed any changes to the shape of the edge in high wear areas. Perhaps 100 shaves is too early to tell.
I haven't been doing the balsa method long enough to notice any change in the high wear areas. However, I have definitely noticed that on edges that maybe weren't honed consistently throughout the length of the blade (i.e. some of my early efforts where my honing technique wasn't as good), the less-good parts of the blade fall off pretty quickly and don't respond to the maintenance stropping on balsa. So, for example, the toe might be plenty keen still, but the heel is just ok or worse. I've taken these back to the films for a quick touchup and they seem to be holding on just fine, now. Again, I think this was just a case of poor technique catching up with me after several shaves.
 
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