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Let's talk stones. How often do you put your straight razors to the stones? Is there any reason to prefer minimizing stone use, and rather go for loaded strops (blade wear, etc.)?
My main question here is finishing and refreshing stones (in the 8k+ range), and not resetting the bevel.
I think I could comfortably go 30 shaves between refreshes, but I don’t. I normally refresh after 15-20 shaves. But I also tinker with edges a lot to see what I can get out of a stone or a razor.
I am not concerned with wear from stones but I know others are. I have razors that are over 170 years old, have a lot of hone wear, and work perfectly.
For those who aren’t interested in honing, I suggest using a pasted strop. I prefer a bench strop for this, but it seems most straight razor users paste one side of a linen or flax hanging strop.
I think if you strop normally with every shave and use the pasted strop every 15 shaves or so, you could go a long time between refreshes.
I don't have (for the moment) a pasted strop, but I have stones. I guess I'll just take the stones, and pass on the strops.
You don't need much for a strop. Some denim, a 2x4 (38mm X 89mm) that's about 6" (15cm) will do just fine. Staple the denim to the 2x4, and spread some chromium oxide (the green crayon) on it and you should be good to go. I made one of these recently from a wood scrap. It took all of 15 minutes I think.
Handicraft project! Nice!
Does the chromium oxide dry out or vaporize, or what's the reason for keeping it in a zipped bag?
I do this primarily to keep it from rubbing off onto other things. The feel of these is like a hard wax candle. I don't know of any issues with keeping them in open air.
Ok, thanks 😊
I use a pasted strop after honing. I find that edges feel rough fresh off the stone. I don't use pasted strops to prolong the life of the edge, though
The two times I put my straights to the stones (a Shapton 12k synthetic), I didn't have the impression that it was rough - maybe I 'm lacking the proper comparison. I used 100 strokes on unpasted denim, and 200 on clean leather.
That's a lot more stropping than I do. I do maybe 30 or 50 on loaded canvas and it's done.
I'm realising it's really difficult to compare methods over a text based forum😅
If you're not loaded, you have to strop longer 🤣
@PorkButtsNTaters666
😂 very true!
How much do you strop between shaves?
@[email protected]
I do 30 on canvas to make sure the blade is dry, and then 50-70 on leather. And you?
Same! I do 15 on canvas and 25 on leather right before the shave, and again right after, so 30 and 50 like you
I recently touched up a blade after 13 shaves because it seemed like it was a bit less keen and I was curious if my ark could bring it back as I definitely find it rather slow and subtle (but also really like how that lets me tune up my coticule edges a bit while still leaving them feeling coti-ish). Definitely noticed a difference so it does something :)
But for the most part I have too many razors to get them that far. However I do wind up re-honing them when, for various reasons, they don't retain an edge. Sometimes the steel is too soft for the bevel angle so I need tape to make it a bit more obtuse and get reasonable edge retention (usually in these cases it degrades over the course of the very first shave on the edge). That could be because previous honing has taken too much off the spine or the steel is somehow compromised eg. by polishing or regrinding done carelessly allowing the razor to get too hot and affect the temper. Beyond changing the angle I also find one can get lucky and just need to take off a bit more metal, I wonder if some of those weren't necessarily heat treating but some subtle oxidation or something over time that affects just the thin layer near the very edge so even if I'm lucky enough to find an old razor without any pitting or damage to hone through I might need to take off a bit more than it looks like.
I imagine similar things (steel hardness/quality, bevel angle) can also affect the overall edge retention so even with my same face and technique some of my razors with hard steel can probably go for 20 shaves (if I ever let them) while others would not be able to hold an edge past 10.
Thanks for that detailed response!
Not sure yet. I dove into the rabbit hole too quickly, and only a few razors have seen enough use to go back on a stone. I know my Wade and Butchers only last a few dozen shaves, but that can probably be explained by the softer older steel. My most used more recent razors with 37 and 29 shaves since their last refresh are two Friodurs (472½ and 14) and they are still fine
I didn't count for my Parker razor, but I believe it was in the 30s when I found that it got rough. I'll see how things go with the TI.