Sharpening a Straight

[DonN]

right off i want to say that i'm happy with my de and won't go the straight route , but to those of you who are regular straight users i have a question about sharpening - for my jack knife i use oil and a couple of arkansas stones with a more or less circular motion at roughly 10 degrees give or take - I get a decent edge for cutting string, rawhide, etc. but it certainly isn't good enough for cutting whiskers off my face - and years ago i had a chain saw & you could buy a guide that would allow for the correct angle with a file or dremel .

but i'm curious about sharpening a straight - what method is used and how do you know when it's sharp enough without having to test it on your face , if that's even possible ? are stones used and if so what motion and angle ? is there a sharpening guide available ? or maybe a machine like the ones used to sharpen knives and which rely on synthetic material for putting the edge on ? i would imagine the strop is used in between thorough sharpenings.

or do most guys bring their straights to someone for sharpening ?

 

[Axebreaker]

There is a whole forum in the straight razor section on honing, and a bunch of stuff on the subject in the wiki.

First, razors are honed on stones or more recently fiber optic lapping film. They are honed with the spine flat to the hone, edge first, and the most common strokes are small circles or an X-stroke.
After honing, razors are stropped spine first on a fabric or balsa strop with an abrasive, then a linen strop, then leather. Of course, at this point it really, really gets down to preference.
There are a number of tests of varying and highly subjective accuracy.

The two best known are the Hanging Hair test and the thumb pad test, as well as seeing if the razor will cut arm hair. Ultimately it all comes down to a shave test though, if you don't like the edge you got you go back to the hone.

Machines pretty much ruin a straight razor edge, most straight razor folks agree that a hand finished edge is necessary for a shave ready edge.

A lot of people fall down the honing rabbit hole with straights and hone their own. If you stick to synthetics and lapping film, it's not that pricey. If you go for natural Japanese stones and fancy finishers, well, the sky's the limit.

It's pretty usual for people to start out getting their razors hones, then buy the stuff to maintain it, like a finer stone, pasted strops, etc. You only really need a full progression of stone to to restoration of fix major damage.

 

[smalltank]

knifes n straights are different when honing

 

[Krodor]

There is a whole forum in the straight razor section on honing, and a bunch of stuff on the subject in the wiki.

First, razors are honed on stones or more recently fiber optic lapping film. They are honed with the spine flat to the hone, edge first, and the most common strokes are small circles or an X-stroke.
After honing, razors are stropped spine first on a fabric or balsa strop with an abrasive, then a linen strop, then leather. Of course, at this point it really, really gets down to preference.
There are a number of tests of varying and highly subjective accuracy.

The two best known are the Hanging Hair test and the thumb pad test, as well as seeing if the razor will cut arm hair. Ultimately it all comes down to a shave test though, if you don't like the edge you got you go back to the hone.

Machines pretty much ruin a straight razor edge, most straight razor folks agree that a hand finished edge is necessary for a shave ready edge.

A lot of people fall down the honing rabbit hole with straights and hone their own. If you stick to synthetics and lapping film, it's not that pricey. If you go for natural Japanese stones and fancy finishers, well, the sky's the limit.

It's pretty usual for people to start out getting their razors hones, then buy the stuff to maintain it, like a finer stone, pasted strops, etc. You only really need a full progression of stone to to restoration of fix major damage.

What a fantastic summary of the whole shebang. Nice!

 

[Slash McCoy]

right off i want to say that i'm happy with my de and won't go the straight route , but to those of you who are regular straight users i have a question about sharpening - for my jack knife i use oil and a couple of arkansas stones with a more or less circular motion at roughly 10 degrees give or take - I get a decent edge for cutting string, rawhide, etc. but it certainly isn't good enough for cutting whiskers off my face - and years ago i had a chain saw & you could buy a guide that would allow for the correct angle with a file or dremel .

but i'm curious about sharpening a straight - what method is used and how do you know when it's sharp enough without having to test it on your face , if that's even possible ? are stones used and if so what motion and angle ? is there a sharpening guide available ? or maybe a machine like the ones used to sharpen knives and which rely on synthetic material for putting the edge on ? i would imagine the strop is used in between thorough sharpenings.

or do most guys bring their straights to someone for sharpening ?

I just posted a youtube video of me honing a razor on lapping film. My connextion is mega slow right now but you can do a forum search or look for it right on youtube under Slash McCoy.

 

[shakin_jake]

right off i want to say that i'm happy with my de and won't go the straight route , but to those of you who are regular straight users i have a question about sharpening - for my jack knife i use oil and a couple of arkansas stones with a more or less circular motion at roughly 10 degrees give or take - I get a decent edge for cutting string, rawhide, etc. but it certainly isn't good enough for cutting whiskers off my face - and years ago i had a chain saw & you could buy a guide that would allow for the correct angle with a file or dremel .

~~~Hey Don, you got some good answers...I'll answer some of your questions through the prism I see things, and that said, I've been using straight razors to shave with since March of 2011 and bought my first natural hone (coticule) at the time of that 1st straight razor purchase. since that time I've accumulated approx 70 straight razors...some (neglected vintage) to return to shave ready condition, others in shave ready condition to collect (AD= and shave with. I enjoy finding old neglected straight razors (that need love) and getting them into shave ready condition...but I'm also partial to collecting interesting straight razors in very good condition

but i'm curious about sharpening a straight - what method is used and how do you know when it's sharp enough without having to test it on your face , if that's even possible ?

~~~when I started out, I researched all the straight razor honing systems out there and after due deliberation, I chose to learn how to hone using Belgian coticules. I've picked up and used a few synthetic hones here and there, mainly 1 K hones for rough bevel work. I've also tried my hand using lapping films and have honed approx. a dozen straight razors from dull to shave ready using lapping film, but the bulk of the honing I do is with coticules. About 3 months ago I bought a Japanese natural hone and have used it to finish a few razors. I like a J-nat edge but nothing beats the Wisconsin buttery smoothness of a Belgian coticule honed straight razor edge (IMNSHO=

As far as which tests I use to guage sharpness w/o going to my face for an actual shave, there are two I priimarily use. The first is the arm hair shave test. I use this test to determine when bevel correction is done. On a dull razor your first task is to establish or correct existing bevels. I first make sure the edge wont shave arm hair by dragging the edge over the lip of a glass bottle or drinking glass (by the weight of the blade only, no additional force) then see if it will shave arm hair. if it wont, you're good to begin re-establishing new bevels. if it still shaves arm hair, you pull the edge over the glass lip once again and re-test. The idea behind making sure you start out with a dull edge is so you know the edge you create is yours and not part or partial of the last edge

Some honers wil do the TPT (thumb pad test) instead of the arm hair shave test. 6 to 1, 1/2 dozen to another. The point is, you want to be certain you have corrected the bevels before moving on to another level of progression. Because, if you don't get it right here (bevel correction), your edge will never get to be all it can be. Those new to honing straight razors and get a poor finish, the result can often be traced back to poor bevel work. The bevel is that important on a straight razor. It will determine the outcome of your final edge

The other test I use is at the end of honing/stropping, the hanging hair test (HHT). I use a length of human hair, preferably 4" minimum and hold it between thumb and index finger, wet it first (saliva works here), pull the hair through those digits to remove any saliva and hold the hair so 2.5" extends past where you bring it down against the blade. I'm right handed so I hold the blade upside down in my left hand and hold the hair with my right tumb/index finger and bring the hair down against the edge, w/2.5" of hair to the left of the blade

That test is rated 1 through 5. HHT5 AKA the silent slicer...you bring the hair against blade and the blade severs it in two w/o you hearing it. HHT4, the hair is severed but you hear a pop. HHT3 the hair wont sever in two when brought down agaisnt the edge but will eventually cut into two when pulled from one side over the edge. HHT2 is where you pull a hair across the edge, it wont cut but the hair dances atop the edge. HHT1 the hair will drag motionless across the edge

HHT is a good test to use for it will guage your progress on the hone. Some will do it only after stropping but the idea of doing it after the hone and before stropping, it will save you from stropping a razor that isn't ready to come off the hone. I look for HHT3 off the hone because I can pick up another full HHT point after stropping, so an HHT3 off the hone will be an HHT4 off the strop, and that will be a good shaving edge

are stones used and if so what motion and angle ? is there a sharpening guide available ?

~~~no guide other than the spine of the razor is used. You lie the blade flat on the hone so that the spine and the edge touch the hone. Moving the edge forward with the spine trailing is your honing stroke. Stropping a razor is just the opposite, the spine leads on a stropping stroke so the edge trails. Worth noting...the spine stays in contact with your surface (hone or strop) in both applications, especially stropping. Some will lift the spine off the hone when honing & you can get away w/that when switching directions honing but that's a no no when stropping

or maybe a machine like the ones used to sharpen knives and which rely on synthetic material for putting the edge on ?

~~~machines are employed druing the grind phase of manufactiong a straight razor blade but the honing portion is always done by hand. the Dovo factory in Germany has a nice u-tube video showing the various steps they use to manufacture their straight razors. You'll see a lady honing on a well loved/dished coticule

i would imagine the strop is used in between thorough sharpenings.

~~~yes and before and after every shave. I use a two component strop (linen/leather) When stropping between shaves the linen gets used for 10 laps after the shave to remove any soap or whiskars still on the blade that weren't removed with a wash cloth and dry towel, then I strop a dozen or so times on the leather to thoroughly dry the edge. It's imperative (IMO) to dry the edge of the razor well by stropping after you're done shaving so as to avoid moisture causing micro chipping. The intersection of the two bevels sometimes referred to as the fin, is approx. .5 mm in width. it's a fine edge that can easily be destroyed from moisture. Stropping after shaving eliminates the moisture but wiping the blade well with a dry towel before stropping is a good idea to remove moisture from other parts of the blade

I would imagine in desert climates, drying a blde well isn't as necessary as the humid climate where I live, in the Fla. peninsula I call home

Here's what moisture can do to a razor blade

the rust ruined this blade...here's another view of the same blade, other side

the guy that sent that blade to me to sharpen it for him was broken hearted to learn the money he paid for it was all for naught

but the other two razors he sent for me to sharpen took fine edges, especially the Puma in the middle. that one he bought from a member here through the BST forum

or do most guys bring their straights to someone for sharpening ?

~~~~I don't know what the ratio is here, those that hone their own to those that send their straight out. I knew when I decided to learn how to shave with a straight razor that I wanted to learn how to hone, and FWIW, I was never one who cared to hone knives, although I have, professionally in a kitchen as well home to keep an edge up on my 8" chef knife. for some reason though, I'm all in when it comes to collecting hones to sharpen straight razors

guess you could say I jumped down that rabbit hole



Best,


Jake
Reddick Fla.

 

[WoodNUFC]

I just posted a youtube video of me honing a razor on lapping film. My connextion is mega slow right now but you can do a forum search or look for it right on youtube under Slash McCoy.

Thank you for posting this! I've been looking for videos on lapping film this week.

 

[DonN]

thanks everyone for the great info and your time , sounds like the honing process is much different than sharpening & like everything else takes time to master , thanks again !!

Don

 

[barnstormer]

I sharpen my pocket knives on a Lansky system. The blade is locked in a holder with a guide so that the stones are constantly held at an exact angle. The stones progress up to a 1k stone. When I'm done I can shave the hair on my arm but the other night I tried a HHT and it did nothing. I still think it's pretty sharp for a pocket knife but I would be scared to take it to my face!

 

[blackman]

What a fantastic summary of the whole shebang. Nice!

I agree. That was a really great, concise description.