just another newb

[roscotanna]

Good evening gents,
I'm new to honing and slightly less new to straights but definitely still a newb. I bought a straight razor last December and asked the dealer to hone it for me but I never felt it was quite right. I shaved with it for two or three months no more than twice a week, before I noticed that it just wasn't shaving well enough anymore. Being a student times are a little tough and I couldnt/can't afford to keep sending it away to the pros for honing so I put it away and and took up double edges for ease of use and low maintainence.
However, seeing that shiny Sheffield looking at me unused was tugging at my leg and seemed like an injustice. I bought a dragons tongue and a yellow lake to touch this bad boy up. Lapped on 360 grit wet and dry I contacted the dealer who told me he used tape to hone it the first time. This meant I didn't have to find out the hard way, I got excited, taped the spine, pulled out the slate, watched some videos, honed away, stroped, started to shave and... oh, the edge still sucks!
This really got me disheartened, but I couldn't be that easily defeated- back to the slate! I did lots more laps tested it again.. still sucks.. another disappointment.
I also have an aloxite barber hone so had a few laps to see if it was just that the slate is super slow, but there was still no improvement .

Do I need to go way back in the grit levels?
Can I go from a 1k to a heavily slurried DT?

I hope someone has good news for me haha.
Thanks in advance to all you guys in the know

 

[SliceOfLife]

Are you hairy?

Swipe the blade is a slow-steady motion down your arm/leg. A single pass. If it doesn't cleanly shave the strip it goes over on the first pass (or if it struggles), then you need to fix it on the 1k. If it does, then you can move past the 1k. You CAN go 1k to DT. It will take a LOT of work and I personally find that slurried slates are HORRIBLE choices to do low-mid grit work on. They seem to leave a horrendously inconsistent edge in my experience. Some guys love them, but in absolute honesty, I can't find any reason for this love. I've done a lot of mid-grit work with a number of slates used wet and slurried, and under the scope they are some of the worst edges I've ever seen. Really the only exception I've found is thuringians, but they aren't much for mid-grit work. Almost every other slate I've used has proven to be vastly better used with oil (Yellow Lakes) or else (modern Mueller stone, Dragons Tongue) just a mediocre stone in general. I'd highly recommend you grab a synthetic or even some films and a piece of granite to use after the 1k.

 

[ACorazza]

Even though you are both using tape, tape can vary in thickness. Even though this variance is microscopic, I believe it can change the angle so you might not be hitting the edge completely. I remember reading that you can go from a 1K to a heavily slurried DT but it still might take some time. Maybe someone who has experience with a DT will chime in since I only know what I've read.

 

[roscotanna]

I swiped it down my arm, it got most of the hairs, missed one or two and felt a bit stop-starty. I did this dry- no lather- is that correct?
I hoped you wouldn't say that haha! More things to buy! Is Norton the cheapest way to go? I know whatever I buy will most likely last a lifetime but at the moment I just cant spend a fortune on stones.

Thanks for the advice, its really helpful! I've been using the slate with gt85 rather than water as I read on an old thread here it gave a nicer edge.

 

[roscotanna]

The tape thing did occur to me AC but I wondered if I was just being paranoid because the difference would be so small.something else for me to consider, thankyou

 

[ACorazza]

I have never experienced it myself as I usually start from scratch if I'm unsure, but another member here told me he always hones using the same brand of tape so that he can rule out another variable. He has much more experience than me.

 

[SliceOfLife]

I swiped it down my arm, it got most of the hairs, missed one or two and felt a bit stop-starty. I did this dry- no lather- is that correct?
I hoped you wouldn't say that haha! More things to buy! Is Norton the cheapest way to go? I know whatever I buy will most likely last a lifetime but at the moment I just cant spend a fortune on stones.

Thanks for the advice, its really helpful! I've been using the slate with gt85 rather than water as I read on an old thread here it gave a nicer edge.

Yeah, I'd just skirt it over dry. You shouldn't be pushing into the skin enough that it needs any lather. If the hairs are stopping the blade, then you need more work on the 1k. Nortons are reasonably priced but not the cheapest option. That'd be films, though they won't last a lifetime. I personally like the DMT 8000 (EE). If I wasn't using it, I'd probably go with a sigma power as my first choice, a shapton pro as my second, and a chosera as my third. All cost a fair bit more than a norton, but are a substantial step up in quality. The naniwa SS have a following too, but I wasn't too fond of mine. Better than a Norton for sure, but not in the class of the others I listed.


To price it out: Norton 4/8k is 69$ shipped, DMT8EE is $60 shipped, a pair of sigma power 2k/6k (if memory serves 2k is just a hair coarser than a 4k norton (7.5micron avg size vs 6micron avg size, and tighter tolerances) and 6k a good bit finer than 8k norton (2micron vs 3micron, again tighter tolerances)) would run you around $100+ shipping but be 2x the stone the nortons are (1" thick each vs ~12mm thick sides on a combo), You'd spend less time on the 2k (vs the 4k) and more on the 6k (vs the 8K) probably take a bit longer in use but leave you with a noticeably better edge. You could build a similar combo with most quality japanese synths. For instance you could do a Shap pro 3k and 5k set which would run around $120 if memory serves (but only be ~15mm thick stones).


In sum, I'm happy with my DMT... does everything a Norton combo does, easier and faster, without requiring any maintenance... If I didn't like the DMT, I would get the Sigma powers.

 

[roscotanna]

i think i might have to hold off until i finish at uni and i can buy myself a quality set of hones rather than cheap ones ill regret and might make the learning curve even steeper. its a shame as id love to be able to do it right now, but it just doesn't seem possible or sensible at the minute.... ill get there one day, its only three years