Long Time Lurker Questions

[quijas23]

Hello To All,
Been Lurking and have been very pleased to browse through here over the years and see the wealth of knowledge that is shared.
Been straight shaving for about four years now and have a few questions...
Thanks in advance to all that answer; it is much appreciated.
1. I think I have a rough beard as I seem to not be able to get the great multitude of shaves out of my straight razor that others on here seem to get on there blades. In fact I only get one shave usually before I go back to the stones (I ocassionally get two shaves, but I prefer the blade fresh). Last night I shaved my third shave on my blade and it tugged really badly. The barbers that I have used in the past to straight razor shave me have all commented how rough my beard is so i'm guessing that how many shaves you get on your blade without honing is a "mileage may vary" kind of thing.
My method typically is to start at 1000 on shapton glass and (with all of the appropriate stones in between 4,000, 8000 and 16000) finish on a shapton glass 30,000 (using Straight razor designs method shown on youtube), then nano cloth with .025 liquid and finally bare leather. I get a nice shave after this but would one shave be enough to degrade the blade? I know I have a rough beard but really? I've had thoughts it might be the razor (revisor 6/8 ) but this razor seems to be better than the dovo I started with (5/8).
Can anyone with a rough beard and more experience than me advise me on the above?

2. Has anyone on here upgraded to Jnat's from shapton glass stones and been pleased or returned to the shaptons? considering taking the plunge but would like to hear from anyone else on why I should or shouldnt do this.

Thanks to all and I hope everyone has a great day.
Joe

 

[stone and strop]

If you are only getting 1 shave from a decent razor then you are either creating a foil edge when honing or your stropping is an issue.
It doesn't matter how tough your beard is - 1 shave is not normal.

 

[MurderousCrow]

Hi Joe.

One shave from honing is not a normal rate of wear.

Caveat: I'm still very much a relative beginner, and my own honed edges are decent and comfortable but probably not remarkably sharp.

(With my SRs I go up to 12k on Japanese synthetics, then strop on cordovan, which does great for facial hair but is slow going on my scalp...)

That said, most of my shaves have been done with my Feather AC SS, using blades that even at their dullest were sharper than most SR edges.

I have certainly experienced tugginess with Feather blades, even when they're very new. This tugginess came down to me, not the blades. The faults were in my lather production and in using the razor. I made huge strides in comfort and efficiency once I was making a richer but far wetter lather, and using the SR at a lower angle. Please forgive the impertinence; you've been SR shaving a lot longer than me. But it's possible, even likely that it's just your stropping, lathering or shaving technique.

Luke

 

[aussie]

Yes there is certainly a problem if you are only getting one shave between honings. That is a lot of extra unnecessary wear.

Get a razor honed by a competent hone meister to compare and also try a different strop. I would say that between those two you find find where the problem lies.

You might also consider a Feather Artist club and see what Feather blades do to your beard. If you have difficulty shaving with them, then you are truly a freak of nature!!

 

[Slash McCoy]

Sounds like fin edge. It will feel sharp but not last, degrading quickly to a very harsh feeling edge. Also your progression doesn't really make a lot of sense.

Leading cause of fin or wire edge is simply too much pressure. Or too many laps at barely too much pressure.

Try going back to your 1k and just go a dozen or two dozen very light laps. Then a pull stroke on each side, followed by a half dozen more regular laps. A pull stroke is where you lay the razor across the hone as if preparing to stroke it down the hone, but instead, you pull it sideways about 1/2" or 3/4". Flip the blade and do the same stroke on the other side. No pressure. You are simply stripping the apex of any artifacts. Now hit the 4k until you undercut water and get a marked improvement on the sharpness tests. Optionally, add a couple pull strokes and an additional dozen regular laps. Remember, light light light pressure. The weight of the blade only. Wipe the blade good and wash your hands, and hit the 8k until you feel the razor sticking to the stone. Again, a couple of pull strokes don't hurt anything, follow with the dozen extremely light laps.

Here is where you typically hit your 12k, which you don't have. Theoretically 8k to 16k is a 2x jump and perfectly acceptable. However as you approach the finish, it is good to keep your stages closer together in grit so much as possible. So my advice is go to TAP Plastics' website and order some 3/4" thick cast acrylic sheet, cut 3" x 12" to use as a plate for lapping film. Then get some 1u film. 3M is the most pupular brand but be sure you are getting full size sheets, 8-1/2" x 11" or 9" x 13". NOT PSA film. You want plain back. Lapping FILM. L A P P I N G F I L M. Spelled just like that. Not polishing paper or polishing film or lapping paper or anything like that. 1u, or One Micron. That is slightly finer than a 12k stone. See the Lapping Film thread on exactly how to use it. It is a couple hundred pages long. Read the whole thing, beginning to end, because a lot of things change as the thread progresses and the knowledge base improves. 1u film properly used will give you a good edge and it will last as well as any edge.

ONLY after you are dialed in with the 1u film should you mess with the 16k or 20k stones, or the lapped and pasted balsa. You want .5u, .25u, and finally .1u, prepared and used exactly and precisely as laid out in the balsa strop thread. NO detail is unimportant. If you can't follow directions then it simply will not work for you. If you can, then you will get great results straight out of the jar.

You don't need the .025 spray. Or the nanocloth. Waste of your time at this point, trust me.

See the Newbie Honing Compendium for the relevant threads and other information, located in the stickies in the honing forum.

 

[quijas23]

Long story short, had the angle too high on the razor as I was shaving. SO it was scraping my skin. Ounce I fixed that I recently went ten shaves and the blade lasted.
Thanks everyone for the help!