Knife sharpening transition into straight razor sharpening

[Scruffy Pete]

I’ve been sharpening knives for about thirty years. My knives initially were German, Swiss, and French but now include may Japanese blades. I’ve switched from a two-sided oil stone to Naniwa water stones. My sharpening kit includes 220, 1000, 3000, 5000, 8000 grit water stones. A paddle strop, one side with Flexcut Gold (aluminum oxide/titanium oxide blend) the other side with no sharpening compound. I just purchase a hanging strop to use exclusively for my straight razor. I use a B & L 10x jewelers hoop for a close look of a blade's edge.

The SR that I recently bought was prepped to be shave ready by the online store I purchased from.

The first thing I noticed is when shaving you feel/hear the blades edge much more than do with a knife blade. I sharpen my knives 2 or 3 times a year depending on use. I don’t worry about every microchip; it doesn’t make enough of a difference. Why take off more steel than you need to? An SR seems much more sensitive. How often do you sharpen on your stones? If you feel the strop is not quite doing the job can you jump on with the 5000 grit stone instead of starting up with the 1000 grit? Just a lit polish, not a full new edge. Is it a waste of effort that won’t really help? I don’t have enough experience yet to know how sharp I want/need my blade to be.

So the question really is; how do you maintain a nice sharp SR edge and yet not waste any precious steel?

 

[Dave Sl8r]

You could even start back at 8000 or you may want to invest in a 12k.

 

[seattleshaver]

The number one thing that most people do who know all about sharpening knives is to take too much off and to use too much pressure. Don't think in terms of removing metal with a straight and you should be using almost no pressure.

Once you have a sharp blade just go to the 12k hone for a few passes and that's about all you will ever need to do other than stropping.

 

[Toro Blanco]

A straight razor edge is much more refined and delicate.
All you need to keep up you edge is that 8k and some razor grade paste(crox, cbn,diamond) on the other side of the paddle(do not use knife grade!). Then a clean hanging strop and you are there. Just make sure you lap your stone before you use it on a straight razor.

 

[Gamma]

IMO, steel isn't prescious, to me these are tools, not jewels. Wear is part of the game.
If I have a knife out in the kitchen I'll be using it daily and I'll sharpen in 1x a month, maybe 2x if the work is heavy. I have a bunch of cutlery but I tend to only favor one blade at a time, usually. Right now it's a white steel Ajidiri.

How far back in 'grit' you will need to go, with a razor, will depend on the condition of the edge, the wear resistance and hardness of the steel, and your skills and patience.

Even minor minor micropitting has a huge impact on how the edge feels and cuts. That said, every blade is different and every person's edge-wear coefficient is different also. The beginnings of edge wear are, sometimes, not noticable. A lot depends on the person and how tuned into their blade they are.

With razors, most of the time, we don't 'need' to go back to a 1k unless we want to 'zero' the edge for a new workup. That's if the bevel was set absolutely correctly to start off with. Most razors refreshes will start in the 5k-8k zone. Light touchups can be done on finer stones. I've been testing stuff for a few weeks and the razor in question is getting a workout, 1x a day. One day 2x. Only 3-4 full bevel re-sets though.

 

[Scruffy Pete]

Thanks everyone for your input. It seems I'm not too far off the mark. With regular maintenance, it appears I don't need to overhaul the edge too often. I think I'll put together another strop exclusively for my SR with one side chromium oxide and the other diamond paste. With more experience, I'll have a clearer idea of what is sharp enough when using a straight razor.

 

[FOTOPAT]

Thanks everyone for your input. It seems I'm not too far off the mark. With regular maintenance, it appears I don't need to overhaul the edge too often. I think I'll put together another strop exclusively for my SR with one side chromium oxide and the other diamond paste. With more experience, I'll have a clearer idea of what is sharp enough when using a straight razor.

I also had a history of knife sharpening before I purchased a used SR. There was quite a learning curve & I found I had to get additional benchstone hones (up to 10000 grit). before I could start using the razor.
I eventually ended up with a varied collection of about 20 SR's including a 7 day Kropp set, in different heights-5/8" - 6/8" & grinds, all purchased online & secondhand. I never used the Kropp set but all the others were used on a rotation basis, so that honing wasn't as necessary as if using only one razor.
Years back I'd acquired a strange purple whetstone which I never used successfully in knife sharpening &, having lost the stone's packaging, only remembered it was a fine grit. Enlightenment came when I spotted purple welsh slate whetstones, rated +/- 12000 grit, on eBay & realised what I'd got.
I now no longer use SR's, not trusting my unsteady hand. Instead, I'm using single edge wedge blades / safety razors. These are honed & stropped like a SR & give me good results.
If I may-my advice would be to gradually acquire additional SR's so as to spread the load, as it were. Without getting the loan of different razors it's unknown territory as to which blade you're most comfortable with. Fortunately there are many many secondhand SR's on eBay & you may also find some bargains in secondhand shops, pawnshops, charity shops , garage sales & the like. Vintage blades from Union (USA), Solingen Germany & Sweden in general are good quality as also are French razors.

 

[Scruffy Pete]

I also had a history of knife sharpening before I purchased a used SR. There was quite a learning curve & I found I had to get additional benchstone hones (up to 10000 grit). before I could start using the razor.
I eventually ended up with a varied collection of about 20 SR's including a 7 day Kropp set, in different heights-5/8" - 6/8" & grinds, all purchased online & secondhand. I never used the Kropp set but all the others were used on a rotation basis, so that honing wasn't as necessary as if using only one razor.
Years back I'd acquired a strange purple whetstone which I never used successfully in knife sharpening &, having lost the stone's packaging, only remembered it was a fine grit. Enlightenment came when I spotted purple welsh slate whetstones, rated +/- 12000 grit, on eBay & realised what I'd got.
I now no longer use SR's, not trusting my unsteady hand. Instead, I'm using single edge wedge blades / safety razors. These are honed & stropped like a SR & give me good results.
If I may-my advice would be to gradually acquire additional SR's so as to spread the load, as it were. Without getting the loan of different razors it's unknown territory as to which blade you're most comfortable with. Fortunately there are many many secondhand SR's on eBay & you may also find some bargains in secondhand shops, pawnshops, charity shops , garage sales & the like. Vintage blades from Union (USA), Solingen Germany & Sweden in general are good quality as also are French razors.

I appreciate your input, acquiring a rotation of SR to spread out the workload is definitely the direction I'm headed. Downhill with a breeze at my back. I prefer the work of a craftsman than that of a machine. Quality and beauty have a priority over simple functional value for me, thus the expense temper my desire to rush any collection. Vintage has charm but looks to require more of an experienced eye to weed out the treasures from the junk, so I'll take my time there too. The more time I have, the more I read and learn from the experiences of other SR enthusiasts. Thanks again.

 

[illbell]

I too sharpen my own kitchen knives on stones. The cool part about doing it with razors is you don't need to hold an angle like you do with knives. Just make sure the spine and edge are touching the stone and the angle is set for you.

Just getting back into SR myself, I picked up a Shapton 12k for it. Needed an excuse to buy another whetstone really

 

[Alum of Potash]

I've been using one razor since December 2018, and it has yet to see a visit to a stone since I acquired it. When the edge starts falling off, I either take it to the cloth component for refresher, or a brief visit to a black-pasted loom or paddle strop does the trick.

As for the stones the OP described in the first post, they seem fine for an SR restorative procedure when the time comes. For upkeep of the razor, received shave ready as described, a visit to the pasted strop I mentioned, or the acquisition of an ~12k synth or a Welsh purple slate or a Thuri, or a number of other finishers, could also keep things going for a long, long time. For the pasted strop, this is the Solingen black crayon, usually sold with the red crayon as a set, the red being a little more aggressive, but worthwhile too, it being feasible to, say, move from an 8k synth to the red paste followed by the black paste in a more thorough honing progression, making the need for finer finishing hone or stone moot.

 

[illbell]

I've been using one razor since December 2018, and it has yet to see a visit to a stone since I acquired it. When the edge starts falling off, I either take it to the cloth component for refresher, or a brief visit to a black-pasted loom or paddle strop does the trick.

As for the stones the OP described in the first post, they seem fine for an SR restorative procedure when the time comes. For upkeep of the razor, received shave ready as described, a visit to the pasted strop I mentioned, or the acquisition of an ~12k synth or a Welsh purple slate or a Thuri, or a number of other finishers, could also keep things going for a long, long time. For the pasted strop, this is the Solingen black crayon, usually sold with the red crayon as a set, the red being a little more aggressive, but worthwhile too, it being feasible to, say, move from an 8k synth to the red paste followed by the black paste in a more thorough honing progression, making the need for finer finishing hone or stone moot.

What would you apply the paste to? Just curious as I'm new to keeping up straights.

Sent from my Pixel 3 XL using Tapatalk

 

[illbell]

Disregard, I answered my own question

 

[Alum of Potash]

Disregard, I answered my own question

So what was the answer? ;-)

 

[illbell]

So what was the answer? ;-)

Paddle strop.

Sent from my Pixel 3 XL using Tapatalk

 

[illbell]

So what was the answer? ;-)

Me again Any idea the grit range of the black crayon? I'm thinking of going this route vs the chr/ox route.

Thanks!

 

[Alum of Potash]

PM to be sent as we are venturing off-topic...