- Thread starter
- #21
So with knives I usually lay them flat on the stone the lift them 15-20 to hone the edge. With straight razor it looks like they lay them flat in the stone, doesn’t that scratch the blade?
Is Dovo "Classic" 5/8” any good?
- Thread starter ceriano
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- Thread starter
- #22
Is this considered round tip or square?
Looks like a round tip.
The hone does remove steel both from the edge and from the spine. The hollowness of the blade is intended to keep that part from contacting the hone. A finishing hone has an extremely fine grit and removes very little steel when properly used. An old, too often honed razor will show excessive hone wear on the spine.
A razor's edge is very delicate. Honing is a complicated and often controversial topic. A well made new razor should require very little, if any, finish honing. Proper stropping, using both pasted and clean strops, can maintain an excellent shaving edge for a very long time.
Interesting second review of the Thiers-Issard razor that you are considering. You might want to read up on French razors on The Superior Shave website. Some French razors may require advanced honing skills and equipment, even when brand new.
- Thread starter
- #25
I got one of the WS bokers. I love the 4/8” size but the blade is rather dull. I have to use pressure to cut which makes it uncomfortable. The tip is also very toothy.
Attachments
Hollow ground so it doesn't scratch the face.
If you are lucky enough to get a true wedge, then you sharpen it like chisel or scandi grind.
Ouch, I know things are exaggerated under magnification, but what terrible looking tip.
IMHO, that does not look shave-ready.
It's hard to tell if a razor is truly shave-ready even when it looks shave-ready.
But when it looks like it's not shave-ready under visual inspection, it is probably definitely not shave-ready.
edit: I also love 4/8. They are so agile.
If you are lucky enough to get a true wedge, then you sharpen it like chisel or scandi grind.
Ouch, I know things are exaggerated under magnification, but what terrible looking tip.
IMHO, that does not look shave-ready.
It's hard to tell if a razor is truly shave-ready even when it looks shave-ready.
But when it looks like it's not shave-ready under visual inspection, it is probably definitely not shave-ready.
edit: I also love 4/8. They are so agile.
- Thread starter
- #27
Can I hone it with 12000 or should I start with a higher grit? Do you think pasted strop would help?
- Thread starter
- #28
It’s definitely not shave ready. I tried it this morning, I have to use so much pressure I’m afraid I’m gonna cut myself. My shavette with derby blades put this to shame.
If you are honing just the one razor, the rule is to start with the highest grit and work your way down.
So do like 50-100 laps on your 12000, and see if it passes some test of your choosing.
If it don't work, drop back to 8000, then back to 12000.
Test.
If that don't work, drop back to 3000, then 8000, to 12000 (or whatever your progression is).
Talking in this specific case though, there's two ways to fix that toe.
You set a bevel (green) or you put a curve on the tip (red).
If it were me, I'd go for the green.
You do it once and you basically have a problem free razor for life.
You can do the red, and it'll do less "damage" now but you'll always be fighting that tip.
If you are setting a new standard bevel, I'd do the majority of the work with a tape.
- Thread starter
- #30
This is excellent info thanks a bunch! Is 12000 too fine for setting the bevel?
You never know right?
Try 50 strokes and observe with the loupe how much progress you've made.
If the progress is significant, then you can keep going, otherwise, you need to stop and find plan B.
Musings -
I can't tell you if it'll work or not because I don't know how hard that steel is, how hard/fast your stone is, and how much the bevel needs to be elevated. If the current bevel shown in the picture is about 1mm, then I'd say you need to lift it by about 0.2 mm. Things that speed up removing steel - tape (doesn't grind the spine), pressure (putting rotational pressure so that the pressure is shifted from spine to the edge), abrasion power.
e.g. I'll be able to lift 0.2 mm with my Clauss razor (mild steel) on 20k Suehiro (very aggressive stone) with tape and a bit of rotation in probably 10-20 minutes. I would not be able to do that with my Thiers-Issard (very hard steel) razor on 12k Naniwa superstone (medium abrasion) and little rotation (razors have tendency to dig into the superstone because of the resin binder).
tl;dr; The only way to tell if you can do something or not is to try and observe incremental changes.
Try 50 strokes and observe with the loupe how much progress you've made.
If the progress is significant, then you can keep going, otherwise, you need to stop and find plan B.
Musings -
I can't tell you if it'll work or not because I don't know how hard that steel is, how hard/fast your stone is, and how much the bevel needs to be elevated. If the current bevel shown in the picture is about 1mm, then I'd say you need to lift it by about 0.2 mm. Things that speed up removing steel - tape (doesn't grind the spine), pressure (putting rotational pressure so that the pressure is shifted from spine to the edge), abrasion power.
e.g. I'll be able to lift 0.2 mm with my Clauss razor (mild steel) on 20k Suehiro (very aggressive stone) with tape and a bit of rotation in probably 10-20 minutes. I would not be able to do that with my Thiers-Issard (very hard steel) razor on 12k Naniwa superstone (medium abrasion) and little rotation (razors have tendency to dig into the superstone because of the resin binder).
tl;dr; The only way to tell if you can do something or not is to try and observe incremental changes.
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