Need Some Help

[Wabash Shootist]

Hello,

I have a straight razor and enjoy using it.

However, it takes way too much time to prepare it. It is a good quality razor, USA made IIRC, and old.

The best whetstone I had was a fine one for sharpening my knives, and an old leather belt for a strop - the rough side is covered with polishing compound.

This isn't cutting it - pun intended

Unless I spend an hour working on the thing with my strop prior to shaving, it stutters on my skin.

I've held off buying any stones or strops as I do not know what to get. I will lay out the money if I must, but at this point in my life, the less expensive, the better - just so long as it's good.

I stay far away from eBay for this as I do not believe I've seen anything worthwhile.

Any help would be appreciated.

Thank you,

Shootist

 

[LaughingAtFate]

Okay, First things first, What sort of hone are you using? Brand name/actual grit rating, etc) The reason I ask this, is because a fine whestone for a knife is rarely able to put a polished and decent edge on a razor, (unless it's something odd like a spyderco fine hone). Most fine hones seem to fall into the 2000-6000 grit range, Most folks suggest getting something even finer then that to aid in the shaving technique. Also, A razor is not a knife, so don't go sharpening it like one, you'll only end up getting major razor burn, but then I'm guessing you've poked around and read the tutorials, etc.

I would almost hazard a guess that it might be worth your while to send out your razor to be honed by someone who does it regularly, as they would eliminate any damage that might have happened to the edge since you got it. You can usually find a honemeister within short-postal distance (especially in the US) and I'd say that most are very reasonably priced.

Okay, so now we come to the Strop, An old Belt huh? I dunno how effective it would be as a regular daily strop, I'd possibly suggest looking into getting something else, A filly Strop might have a better surface for stropping on a regular basis with an outlay of $20. I've steered clear of using my belts for a strop, as they have stitching around the edges which would either cause chips, or get cut by the razor.
What sort of polishing compound are you using on the other side of your strop? if it's not of the right type, it may be less effective then stropping on the rough side of the strop without the compound

Basicly put, I'd suggest sending the razor out to a honemeister in your nearby area, Maybe looking into getting a proper strop instead of a converted belt, and maybe, just maybe getting a super-fine hone for your own touchups in the future

 

[Wabash Shootist]

Hello,

I'm not using a hone. That's the problem I think. I do not know enough to know what kind/grit to get. I was thinking about something in the 10,000 grit range, but if you're saying 6,000 is good enough, that's what I'll do.

What is a Filly Strop? A brand?

I'll look up "honemeister" and see what I come up with. I do know that my technique is good; my equipment is not correct and that's what's hurting me. This is a true case of the equipment being at fault - I deal with folks who shoot regularly, and if they are not accurate they tend to blame their equipment when it's really them. The equipment truly is the deficient part this time around, though.

Here is how I honed with the whetstone:

1. Put water on it.

2. Pushed the blade forward, flipped via its back, then brought the blade back toward me - the edge was facing me, sort of like I was trying to shave the stone, only the blade was laying flat.

3. I am using an automotive polishing compound which was recommend for this purpose. White stuff. It seems to work well. I did select a belt with no stitching - my belts very rarely have stitching and are more often than not simple strips of leather, one side rough, the other smooth. This is the case with the belt I selected, figuring hat stiching or bumps would increase the likelyhood of blade damage, as you suggest.

I guess I'm comfortable with my technique; I just need guidance on good names. I need to know what to get, and what names to avoid. I'm thinking, from what I've read, German and American made stuff = good, while anything that says Pakistan = bad.

Am I about on the right track?

Thank you,

Josh

 

[LaughingAtFate]

10000 grit is more then enough, 6000 is not, Some folks can shave off that, but they're masochists, it's more worthwhile getting a good hone, Shapton 16k, spyderco UF, Coticle, Barber's hones, Chinese 12k and Japanese 12k hones have all got a good reputation as being worthy finishing razor hones, I don't think you'll have much luck with buying new barbers stones, and you've already said you want to steer clear of th 'bay

Filly is indeed a brand of razor strop, it's sold by Ken Rupp, it's regarded as one of the best value strops on the market today, Do a quick search for rupprazor and you should be able to find it.

It sounds like you have an understanding of how to hone your razor, it seems that your stone is just not fine enough to do the job well enough. how many laps do you do on the stone? on the Polishing Compound?

There are fairly regular "Honing offers" popping up in the forum, where honemeisters here are willing to hone for a small fee, usually the price of return postage, Keep your eyes open for them, they usually pop up on a semi-regular basis

Oh, and yeah, you do have the right idea, though I'd have to add, Anything made in the US, Anything made in Europe, and anything made in japan is more then excellent quality

 

[SliceOfLife]

And British, and Spanish, and French... all of Europe pretty much (Sorry Brits, you're in Europe. My fifth grade Geography book says so). Japanese synthetic hones are basically the only ones mentioned above 8k. Their naturals are great too, but in my opinion so confusing that your best bet is to find someone trustworthy, grunt out "razors" and then start throwing bills at him until he's happy. I'm a bit slow though, maybe others actually know what they're looking at when they browse through those things.

The following hones I've used and are acceptable finishers

King Icebear 4k (rated in JIS)
Translucent Arkansas
China natural (~12k)
Mueller MST
Coticule
Swaty 3 line Barber hones
Various finishing Jnats (but definitely not a good first finisher, unless you have a big bank account and go to a reputable dealer and put yourself in their hands.)
Vintage Thuringian stones (such as eschers)


These I've read as being acceptable:
Norton 8k
Surgical Black Arkansas
Chosera 10k
Naniwa superstone 12k
Shapton 10k-30k (everything in that range)
Charnley Forest
Water of Ayr (Be warned, lower grit stones from this area that most would call Tam O shanty stones are often sold as WoA, I am to understand WoA should be dark and nonporous, don't quote me though)
Dubl duck barber hones
Itsapeech barber hones
Carborundum 100,101,102,106 stones
Frictionate No 00 barber hone
Swaty 2 lines
Apart Barber hones
Pike (norton) razor hones
O so ez barber hones
Swastika razor hones


I'm sure I've forgotten many, but you get the idea. You have a lot of options. Generally the rule is that most hones that are ~8k (norton rating system) or higher are suitable.

And yeah, Filly strop. $20 shipped for something that is well made by all accounts (haven't seen someone displeased with it yet) can't be beat.

 

[Wabash Shootist]

Thank you very much, gentlemen. This is exactly the information I was looking for!

I tend to do 20-50 on the grit side because it seems to need it. From what I understand, the metal looks like little hairs that bend backwards and need to be straightened out. The coarse stone I had to use to hone the razor would not let finer "hairs" form, and so it takes more stropping to get these more coarse to straighten out.

Thanks again!

Josh

 

[Wabash Shootist]

Hello again.

I bought this item:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=220559636636

I have no idea what AMALGAMITE is, but it's hard, cuts fast and works well. Small stone, but it's perfect for packing away for camping as well.

I have a light complexion and a dark beard, and this is the first time I've been unable to see my beard - even the five blade jobs leave a shadow.

Here is how I prepped the razor:

1. Honed using a slow cutting 6000 grit Water Bear Stone, stored in water.

2. Honed using this AMALGAMITE stone.

3. Stropped using the rough side of the strop, coated in polishing compound.

4. Stropped using the smooth side of the leather strop.

5. Had some balsa wood laying around, and used that as a final step. I do not know if this is correct with razors, but I used to do it all the time with knives, only I'd use tongue depressor sticks with them. The balsa wood seems faster and probably not as hard on the blade.

I use short strokes like with a safety razor, and it works very nicely. I do have sensitive skin, and I need to watch that, but there's some old aftershave I got from my dad that seems to work well.

Thanks for the help,

Josh