What Straight Razor Have You Honed Lately????

Tom, where are you finding all these cool razors?

 

I obviously have a problem... and eBay is not a good therapist.

 

Refreshed a user-grade Filly 14 on a stone I call the 'ugly asagi', using koma nagura and an equally ugly tomonagura. The stone has a face only a mother could love and almost every defect in the jnat book but none of them are toxic. Cracks, yep - shiny lines, yep, - corner faults, yep, - bias lines, yep. But with a good tomo it will impart a lovely smooth shaving edge to a straight razor. The stone sides had been painted blue by a previous owner, and this paint had been removed by the seller leaving bare stone where 'skin' should have been, another rather ugly feature, a 'bald' sided stone. So I coated it with black enamel. Cashew lacquer would have been more traditional but at the time I didn't have any black cashew and the sides actually looks pretty good now.

Cheers, Steve

 

Refreshed some steel for the month on one of my favorite stones, a butterscotch Ark I rescued years ago from the flea market. A Globusman, IXL Wosty and a W&B Masonic in Ivory

 

Wooo Hooo!!! I just successfully honed a Wilkinson wedge blade. I've tried, a long time ago, unsuccessfully, but it worked today.
This set was unhoned, and unstropped, from the start. The blades were sharp, but not sharp enough. I think the original owner had a few shaves with this one blade, oiled everything, stored it, and it's been that way for 95 years. Not a spot of rust, or marks where the blades have been in a stropping handle. The blade I used(Saturday) was the only dull one, so that one had a couple of shaves under the belt.
Soooo, I used the stropping/honing tool that came with the set, taped the spine of the holder, and did a progression. I started with a Norton 1k, and this was very very slow. I thought I was doing something wrong, but this steel is super hard. After about an hour, I saw that the original bevel on the blade was very small, so that is what took so long. That, and the hard steel. I then took it to my trusty, but slow, King 1k. This is a softer cutting stone, and leaves finer cuts in the metal. Perhaps its really closer to a 2k stone. Next was the Chinese? 3k. Then the Welsh Slate Stones, 8k, 12k, and 15k. Finally the Arkansas Surgical Black Progression Stone. Followed by some stropping. After I was finished, this was a serious hair popping blade, that gave a fantastic shave.

Razor- Wilkinson Sword, Alfred Dunhill of London, Pall Mall razor.

 

Wowzaa! Nice razors and well done sir!

Cheers, Steve

 

Congrats! Now you have to hone the other six!

 

Very nice. I have a 7 day Empire set that I always wanted to hone one wedge. One day

 

That one was a bugger to hone. I think I'll keep the other six as new and unused.

 

I have some of those too, but haven't honed any of those yet. Those empire blades are worth more than the razor itself.

 

H.Boker & Co. American Line SS St. Louis.

This one took a very nice edge, that took little work. I finished it with Welsh Slate Stones, and an Arkansas Surgical Black Progression stone.

 

Unidentified "Silver Steel" Stubtail. It's an oldie.

Tis blade was a pain, because of the 150 or so years of abuse. There were nicks down the entire edge. I had to grind off the nicks, until I hit smooth steel. That was easy, but the work came in setting an entirely new bevel. The Norton 220 grit stone made it go by much quicker that it would have, with a regular 1k stone. I'm very glad I invested in that stone(220/1k Norton).
I finished it off with the Welsh Slate Stones, and an Arkansas Surgical Black Progression Stone. It took a mean edge. I cannot wait to try it out.

 

Commie Razor, bought from Transylvania region of Romania. $1.99 + $13 Shipping
Stiz, "Dawn", Made in Moscow. 1975

Years of abuse left the toe edge with some micro pitting, that needed taken out. But, other than that, it was the usual PITA honing on a "Russian/Commie Razor". This steel is super hard. Commie Steel about the hardest steel I've ever honed. Once the bevel was set, it took about twice as much time, on each stone, to get the desired results. I finished it off with the Welsh Slate Stones, and an Arkansas Surgical Black Progression Stone. It also took longer on the strops, before I felt comfortably finished.

 

I bought #8 and #9 last week and tried them this weekend. Both were well balanced and flexible (which I like), but they both needed to be refreshed. I used a diamond stone just enough to smooth the edge followed by stropping on a web and then leather. I will see tomorrow how they came out.

 

I choose the Queen this morning. Wow! That is a sweet shave.

 

Joseph Elliots Best Silver Steel.

This one was straight as an arrow, and took on a killer edge, quickly. The most time was spent on the scales. which had oxidized, and had a lot of material sanded down, to get to good material.

 

Crown And Sword. Wald Solingen. ERN.

This was a tricky one. It had many dings in the toe. This required almost the entire bevel to be ground off, and reset. This took a long while, but could have been worse, had I not been using a 220 grit Norton to speed things along. It took on a very nice edge. I will be shaving with it soon.

 

Diamond Razor Co. "The Diamond".
The razor says Extra Hollow Ground, but, it looks like a 3/4 Hollow. This was an easy hone. The razor was about as flat as it gets, and had little, to no prior wear on the spine. The only issue was a slight chip, on the tip of the toe, that could only be seen under the 60x loupe. That was easy to fix.

 

George Wostenholm & Sons. "EBRO".

The Bone scales had to be whitened, and I had done that a while back. The blade was a joy to hone, as are most Wosties. It took on a Killer Edge. Straight as an Arrow.

 

I Personally Dont use a Stropping Handle to Hone these Blades..These are Full Hollow Grinds by the Way..I Hone Em Flat on the Hone the Same as an SR with One Layer of Tape..This One was Done for @Karl G ..

Its Been Debated this One..I have Tried Using a Stropping Handle & they are a Bugger to Hone with it..The Stropping Handle Can Flex an All on the Bevel Hone..Also it Changes the Angle of the Bevel..Big Time..

I Cant Evidence this But to Me the Stropping Handle is For Stropping Only..I Get a Finer Shaving Edge from Honing them Flat on the Hone & the Angle is Spot On..I have Honed Many of these Type of Blades for Folks with Zero Complaints..

Thats Probably Why..The Previous Owner had a Smaller Bevel..Thats Correct in My Books..Many Other SE Guys Do the Same as Me..Experiment & Decide for Yourself..

Billy..