Thread: Honing Help Required

I have been using a yellow coticule and finish with 25 linen 50 leather. I get about 12 shaves ie 3/4 passes is 3/4 shaves. I am using a vintage Sheffield straight razor 80 years old ford and medley, in steel. I find that I have to hone the razor on the hone usually about 30 passes using just water I also use electrical tape on the spine of the razor. My question is this right as I appear to be using the stone a lot. I do use the razor everyday and I do like a close shave ( 3 passes WTG,ATG,ATG ).

Your input would be appreciated. Thanks Ian

I would say 12 good shaves out of the same Sheffield razor is not bad at all. Just IMHO.

Not really sure what you're asking here. Are you wondering if you're needing to hone/touch up too often?

A lot of it depends on your tolerance for dulling blades. I find that I tend to hone more often than necessary just because I prefer to have a very honed edge and many who have used what I would have touched-up would say that they are more than sharp enough. This isn't a technique thing because I have successfully shaved of a 3k hone, but I prefer the luxury of getting the most out of every shave, every time.
I find a lot of this depends on your stone as well. I have one coticule that will get just about to the same level as my favorite finisher, but will cause the razor to need a touch-up long before edges from the other. I now use that hone essentially as a prefinisher (plus I have trouble selling my natural stones).

I think you perform a touch up when your blade says "hey, I need a touch up". After 12 shaves, if it needs to be done, it needs to be done. When I started straight shaving, I think my razor needed a touch up after 6 shaves, because my technique was sorely lacking!

It also seems frequent because you're constantly using the same razor. When you have a bunch in rotation, you may find that you do a slew of touchups at once, then over time they parry off slightly, and you do one here and one there.

Is your razor on the softer side of the razors? How thick/full is your beard? Have you ground your stubble into another man's (like rubbing honing stones) to see his face quickly scratched into hamburger, blood streaming from his face, screaming in agony? How sharp do you like your shaver to be? Hard to tell with so many variables. You can describe what your idea of acceptably sharp is, then describe what signs you look for in deciding if your razor isn't sharp enough.

WOW I wasn't expecting that..... Thank you..... Will give it some thought and come back.

I think it's actually a good question, not that anyone said it wasn't, just thought I'd say it's a good question. Of course, as everyone has alluded, there's a lot of variables (coarseness of beard, technique, hardness of steel, and one not mentioned, stropping technique). You may find that as your technique improves (in beard preparation, stropping and shaving technique) the need to hone may diminish.

BTW, I haven't ground my stubble into another man's. Is this something I've missed? (I'm still only a beginner)...

[EDIT] Oh, BTW, do you strop between passes? I've started doing this (though for a fewer number of laps than the initial pre-shave stropping) and find it beneficial...

Originally Posted by carlmaloschneider

I think it's actually a good question, not that anyone said it wasn't, just thought I'd say it's a good question. Of course, as everyone has alluded, there's a lot of variables (coarseness of beard, technique, hardness of steel, and one not mentioned, stropping technique). You may find that as your technique improves (in beard preparation, stropping and shaving technique) the need to hone may diminish.

BTW, I haven't ground my stubble into another man's. Is this something I've missed? (I'm still only a beginner)...

Are you sure you're Australian?

Originally Posted by Mr. Schneider

[EDIT] Oh, BTW, do you strop between passes? I've started doing this (though for a fewer number of laps than the initial pre-shave stropping) and find it beneficial...

I can hear the little imperfections being pulled gently back in line on my paddle strop. full hollows are obviously much more vocal. the still of night and all that. I agree, Carl. Just 10-20 laps and it sounds clean. I haven't been doing much with this, because I believe that for a man with as sparse a beard as mine it is reasonable to expect a complete 3-4 pass shave without stropping a razor (I have some thick hairs, though).

Hey, Westminster... you take your time to cogitate. I should also mention what is common knowledge (not my own) about coticules having some variance in their speed in cutting power and final finishing potential. You may need to use more laps to truly bring it up to speed. If you think about it, the truer the edge the less quickly it will degrade because there is less resistance to it and less deflection of metal and impactions/dulling. I've purposely taken a number of razors "out" beyond fast, close, safe shaving just to gauge the quality of the steel in them. The more frequently you maintain your razor the better it will serve you (within reason), so you seem to be doing well on awareness of your shaver's condition, maybe it's just not brought back all the way? Carl's right, most of us, even if we can hone early on, still have improvement on the strops... I'm as guilty as any other.

P.S. how long do you soak your whiskers? do they truly feel as soft as they can be (have they felt softer in the past, such as after showering)?

Originally Posted by AxelH

...Are you sure you're Australian?
...

Well, actually I've just lived here for 48 of my near on 50 years, I was born in England, my heritage is German, English, French... :-)