Thread: Another newbie with a dull blade.

Hey all,

I've been at it with the straight for a little over a month now, and over the last couple of shaves the edge has gone downhill quite quickly. I'm sure my newbie hands have dulled the blade prematurely. I took the razor to my barber today and he said "Yeah, this isn't sharp". He suggested a barber hone. He uses a shavette - he's not a honemeister.

Thoughts on picking up a barber hone to refresh the edge? Also - how long do you experienced types get out of a razor before sending it to a honemeister/rehone it yourself?

Of note: Interestingly, my barber showed me the grip he was taught when he was learning in Iran (3 fingers on the shank, thumb right up on the shoulder). Also - he said always use the same hand for shaving - don't switch.

everything depends present condition of the blade.if it hasn.t damage too much barber hone should be enough. Second part of your question how long edge should last at least 3_5 months with using it right way.always send 1 of your razor to person who knows what is he doing.you can use that blade and learn how sharp edge should feel like etc.hope this helps

Well, first things first, if you noticed that your razor has been pulling and tugging on your beard, then your right and it needs a touch up, and barber hones are great things to refresh your razor( i own a franz swaty, one of the more popular and abundant ones you can find on ebay) but i would recommend getting a piece of balsa and buying some CrOx(from ChrisL in the classifieds is my suggestion) and that should suffice just as well as a barbers hone, and total cost about 8 bucks

My suggestion would be to pick up a balsa strops with chromium oxide and try that first to refresh the edge. If you must get a barbers hone? Try to get in touch with Glen he sells them. I believe his website is Gemstars.com

Here is Glen's website.... gemstarcustoms.com

Ordered the CrOx from Chris, and picked up some strop dressing from the local barber supply store on their recommendation. Will give it a go! Thanks for the advice.

Interestingly, I took my razor and strop to the guy at the barber supply store and he showed me how he stropped - he had a very firm hand and really pushed the razor (not the blade end but the whole thing) downwards. He said that how they used to do it.

let us know what happens

This is in addition to the leather/canvas stropping.

A barber hone is nice to use when you notice that the straight is starting to lose its fine edge. A few passes on it and the razor is up and running again. How long can this go on before a big stone honing is in order? Who knows and I am working it on one straight razors to find out.

I have a 4 sided paddle strop with three sides pasted with Chrom Ox. 3.0/1.0/.50 and one side pasted with diamond past 1.0. This has been very helpful in extending the life of all my razors before they need a stone honing. One razor got in over 60 shaves before it needed a stone honing. Although I could get a sharp edge on the straight, the shave was very rough because the bevel was gone, thus the stone honing was in order. I think the pasted strop does a nicer job of "smoothing" the edge of the razor than the Barber hone. However, the Barber hones seems to last forever and are inexpensive.

Both are great tools in extending the life of the staight edge before a stone honing.

Pabster

would you consider a barber hone to be a finishing hone? Would you take a blade from an 8000 grit stone to a barber hone and then to CrOx? Or is it only for touch ups and has nothing to do with a normal honing progression. I could be missing the whole point of a barber hone. I have about 2 weeks of str8 shaving under the belt and finally starting to get better.

I picked up some balsa wood at a hobby shop and received the CrOx from Chris. I stropped the razor about 10 times and then finished it on the leather 50 or 60 times. Huge difference. I got a rather good shave today, with little discomfort. It was very encouraging. Thanks for the advice guys! Now I can get back to getting better with the razor.