Sharpening Routine

[AustinC9]

Hey Fellas,
I'm realitivly new at the whole straight razor thing

Below is my sharpening routine and i was wonering what people think of it. The shave is great but Is there anything I could do to get a finer edge? Or am i good to go? I use proper pressure, angle and the "X" pattern.

Soak stones for half an hour (one pass is two strokes, one on each side)

1. Five passes on a norton 4000 grit
2. Twenty passes on a norton 8000 grit
3. 25 passes on a chinese 12000 grit waterstone

rinse razor

4. 25 passes on a .50 pasted strop
5. A couple strokes on the linen side of my strop
6. 30 passes on my quality leather strop

-Austin

 

[asbjorn]

Rinse the razor between any change of hone, so you dont bring low-grit slurry with you.

 

[Thebigspendur]

Are we talking an Eboy Special or a new razor? If its new I wouldn't use less than an 8K unless its really dull. With a 4K your starting to mess with the bevel. If it is an Eboy special it depends what kind of shape its in. Hows the bevel? Whats the condition of the edge? what's the grind?. That will determine the honing strategy you will need to use. Sorry but there are no magical formula's. That's why honing is more art than science.

 

[heavydutysg135]

Hey Fellas,
I'm realitivly new at the whole straight razor thing

Below is my sharpening routine and i was wonering what people think of it. The shave is great but Is there anything I could do to get a finer edge? Or am i good to go? I use proper pressure, angle and the "X" pattern.

Soak stones for half an hour (one pass is two strokes, one on each side)

1. Five passes on a norton 4000 grit
2. Twenty passes on a norton 8000 grit
3. 25 passes on a chinese 12000 grit waterstone

rinse razor

4. 25 passes on a .50 pasted strop
5. A couple strokes on the linen side of my strop
6. 30 passes on my quality leather strop

-Austin

On the Norton you have to do as many passes on the 4K as what is needed to get the razor sharp, and this will be different from razor to razor. There is no set formula that you can use for this part of the honing progression. On vintage razors that are really dull (or if the edge is not set at the correct angle) it can easily take several hundred passes on the 4K before the edge is set and ready for the polishing stages. I made this guide to teach people how I assess when the edge is done on the 4K and ready for polishing:http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showthread.php?t=31640 Once you are ready for polishing, 15-25 passes on the Norton 8K should be good to remove the scratch pattern left by the 4K. The Chinese is a really slow cutter so I would bump up the number of passes to 50-100. I usually do at least 50 passes on the leather after I come off the stones/pastes.

 

[netsurfr]

On the Norton you have to do as many passes on the 4K as what is needed to get the razor sharp, and this will be different from razor to razor. There is no set formula that you can use for this part of the honing progression. Once you are ready for polishing, 15-25 passes on the Norton 8K should be good to remove the scratch pattern left by the 4K. The Chinese is a really slow cutter so I would bump up the number of passes to 50-100. I usually do at least 50 passes on the leather after I come off the stones/pastes.

+1