Hi All,
A relative newbie here - I have about 15 SR shaves under my belt. I’ve done about 5 shaves on a vintage Imperial 6/8” extra-hollow. Past few were actually comfortable. On Wednesday the sharpness seemed off. Inspection with a 60x loupe didn’t show anything but the light reflection test did - there seems to be distortion at the edge. The first shows what I want to see - a broad stripe of reflected light going across the bevel. The 2nd appears to show light reflecting from the very edge even though the light isn’t reflecting from the rest of the bevel.
Today shaved again - again the razor wasn’t doing well and some parts almost seemed to be not shaving. I switched to a different blade (Imperial 5/8” extra hollow, also a recent e-bay find) and things improved greatly. So I finished the shave with the 2nd razor.
Question 1: Is this a sign of a rolled edge?
Question 2: What are the possible causes of a rolled edge?
Question 2A: In particular I know my stropping is questionable - I’ve been putting nicks in the strop by flipping the blade over too quickly on the near flip. In addition not quite sure I have down the taughtness of the strop and the pressure to apply.
Question 2B: Another concern is the bevel. This razor geometry indicates a 15deg bevel angle and I honed without tape. I know this is on the narrow end of the spectrum. In addition, while this Imperial, like most says “made in Germany” on one side of the tang, the other side says “Sheffield Steel” and my understanding is Sheffield steel tends to be softer.
Suggestions for how to fix are welcome. I am thinking to pull out my 8K to start, drop down to 5k if the bevel won’t re-establish quickly. Also I just got some new balsa boards, so maybe this is a chance to try the pasted strop method for the first time. The existing edge was set with a progression of 5k, 8k, ILR, black ark, pasted denim strop, leather.
Thanks,
Marty
A relative newbie here - I have about 15 SR shaves under my belt. I’ve done about 5 shaves on a vintage Imperial 6/8” extra-hollow. Past few were actually comfortable. On Wednesday the sharpness seemed off. Inspection with a 60x loupe didn’t show anything but the light reflection test did - there seems to be distortion at the edge. The first shows what I want to see - a broad stripe of reflected light going across the bevel. The 2nd appears to show light reflecting from the very edge even though the light isn’t reflecting from the rest of the bevel.
Today shaved again - again the razor wasn’t doing well and some parts almost seemed to be not shaving. I switched to a different blade (Imperial 5/8” extra hollow, also a recent e-bay find) and things improved greatly. So I finished the shave with the 2nd razor.
Question 1: Is this a sign of a rolled edge?
Question 2: What are the possible causes of a rolled edge?
Question 2A: In particular I know my stropping is questionable - I’ve been putting nicks in the strop by flipping the blade over too quickly on the near flip. In addition not quite sure I have down the taughtness of the strop and the pressure to apply.
Question 2B: Another concern is the bevel. This razor geometry indicates a 15deg bevel angle and I honed without tape. I know this is on the narrow end of the spectrum. In addition, while this Imperial, like most says “made in Germany” on one side of the tang, the other side says “Sheffield Steel” and my understanding is Sheffield steel tends to be softer.
Suggestions for how to fix are welcome. I am thinking to pull out my 8K to start, drop down to 5k if the bevel won’t re-establish quickly. Also I just got some new balsa boards, so maybe this is a chance to try the pasted strop method for the first time. The existing edge was set with a progression of 5k, 8k, ILR, black ark, pasted denim strop, leather.
Thanks,
Marty
