Howdy! Just had my first honing, stropping, and shaving experience. I have honed kitchen knives before with my grandfather in his man cave with the rotating knife sharpener he made out of a washing machine engine. While this served its purpose to cut fruits, the straight razor is cutting hair and needs to reach a new level of sharp. It took about 30 minutes of trial and error to hone it. Then I stropped it with the back of my belt because I am still waiting on a larger strop. Then I shaved. This was a complete failure I repeated then process again and paid special attention to sharpening. This time around I got the sharpeners I was looking for and I was not tearing when I went to shave. I liked the experience and liked the shave even more. I could see this becoming a weekend affair because of lack of time in the morning. I will stick to shavettes and de's on the weekdays. I paid 30 dollars for a Melchiort bros. Chicagoland Omaha 4 of a kind razor. It has plastic scales but still functions. My norton 4/8k was 80. I hope I paid a good price for that? And my strop was 15 so I do not have to use my belt. There is still a lot to learn, and the honing comes in handy. Now I do not have to have to use my grandfather's sketchy washing machine engine knife sharpener. I will take a pic of it for you guys next time I see him.
One more thing... There is rust on the other side. Do I take it off in the same manner as a de razor?
As long as the rust is not on the edge, it shouldn't be a problem. Honing a razor is not something that should be done using machine assistance as you found out. Rubbing compound and fine steel wool will remove the rust but might damage the finish.
It was not that hard, it just takes some time. I'm the kind of guy who will do something himself to save a few bucks. How much money does a professional honemister cost?
A simple and non-destructive way to remove rust is to use a No 2 lead pencil. Sharpen it up and use the point to "write" on the rusty spots. It will remove active rust and not scratch the surface around the rust. I also, on occasion use an old pocket knife to scrape rust. In most instances the razor is harder than the knife so it doesn't scratch if done correctly. I have some old "cheap" pocket knives I use for this rather than using a good one simply because the steel in the cheapies is known to be a lesser steel than what will be in your razor. You can learn and hone your own razors. There are LOTS of videos on youtube. The biggest requirement is to get a razor hone or a series of hones. Good hones aren't exactly cheap, but if you intend to mess with a lot of razors, the investment is worthwhile. The main advantage of sending a razor out to be honed, is that you will then a have a benchmark to judge your efforts by. A "dull" razor is usually sharper than any knife you've ever used, yet it won't shave comfortably. Lots of available knowledge here. Ask all the questions you can and we'll do what we can to get you some answers. Willie
You make a good argument about sending it out. I found my shave more comfortable than my shavette, so it worked for me. I also did not want to spend the money to get it sent out to be honed because I had no idea what it costs. It also felt nice on my neck which is a soft spot for me. I may have also got lucky with an easy to sharpen razor! EDIT: I tried scraping them off and it did not work well for me. I am not sure how old the blade is so they could have been sitting there for 40 years for all I know. Ryan said it is not a problem unless it is on you edge. But if it is near your edge it would make sense that the stone should take off the rust. I'm not even going to worry about it. It is my first razor and it was cheap.
I'm with you. I set the bevel and honed my first razor with an old AHCONITE two sided barbers hone. I also sent a few razors out to be pro honed so I'd know what a really sharp razor was. There was a noticeable difference. After that I bought a set of hones and have been doing my own ever since. It isn't rocket science and once your razor is sharp, a decent strop will keep it shaving for a long time. A Norton 4k/8k will get you there with no problems. IF you want to take the edge a bit further, old barbers hones are still plentiful and relatively inexpensive. Most are in the 8k/10k range. AS for rust? All the pencil or the scraping will do is to remove active rust. The surface will be stained where the rust was. No way around that other than to sand/buff/polish the surrounding metal below where the rust was and create a new shiny surface. I rarely do that with my razors. Your choice on yours. As long as the edge is clean bright metal after honing, it'll work. The full hollow ground razors are more susceptible to edge damage from rust simply because the edge is so thin. I've had a few that the edge looked like swiss cheese, because of rust, but that't the luck of the draw sometimes with old razors. Sounds like you're on the right track, if you need an inexpensive strop, Tandy leather sells belting in a variety of widths and you can make your own leather strop. I stropped my first razors on an old belt I had until I bought an old razor strop for a few bucks at a junk store. I've since upgraded to a good strop with a linen strop combined. Hang in there. Willie
Honing is a process that takes some time to master. As 50 guys how they hone and you will get 50 answers. You can try pastes if you have a little trouble. That will refresh the bevel. As for rust, try Maas polish or try a basic sanding progression with high grit (400-2500) wet/dry sandpaper. ] When it comes to strops, don't go too crazy. A nice leather/linen strop will do just great. I personally just retired my first strop to replace it with a new Illinois 361. My old strop served well in it's 90 year life and still works great, but it's time for me to start my own heirloom. I think with a linen component strop and some croix paste, you might be surprised with the results.
It's really GREAT to see a young man continuing on with a tradition! Honing a razor is a skill that is best learned young so you will have a lifetime to enjoy it and help others. Remember like shaving, better equipment certainly does help, but its technique that is most important! Time,technique,practice and patience will turn you into a hone miester.... Good Luck..
