What Straight Razor Have You Honed Lately????

Great news. Keep up the good work.

 

I am traveling at the moment and inspired by @mrchick , have only brought along a coticule with me (ok - I admit I have 2).

This Dovo Best has never shaved properly. I set the bevel with really think slurry. One progression later I wasn't happy. After a second I still wasn't. Took it from the start a third time. Then inspired by a combination of Dr Matt's approach and @DaltonGang 's soapy water, I stropped extensively and them took it back to the coticule to finish, first with just water and then two rounds with soapy water. Finally the blade stuck to the stone like a magnet.

I shaved straight off the coticule without stropping again. Had a very nice DFS shave in two passes and for a moment, all was right with the world.

 

It should be much better, after a good stropping.

 

Nicely done. It’s kind of relaxing doing that in a hotel room isn’t it?

 

Frankly it's scary how much I am enjoying honing since I discovered natural stones. It's another relaxing aspect of this shaving business.

 

Two bevel re-sets, a J West Atlas and a 6/8 Hart Steel. Decided to set the bevel on a Naniwa 5k then followed with Naniwa SS 8k, 12k and finished on Gulumyo 20k

The other razors just needs a touch up so Naniwa 12k followed by the Gokuymo 20k

 

I've been watching some videos of guys honing spine leading. So I thought I might try something slightly different today on this Erik Anton Berg. After setting the bevel I honed spine leading on the BBW back of this hybrid, stropped, then flipped the stone and and did the same first with water and then soapy water on the coticule side. It took a while but then it was tree topping more efficiently than napalm. I managed to mess the heal up and had to go back but the end result was very good.

 

Halloween door duty kitchen honing setup...
Took a 15/16 Wade & Butcher Celebrated Hollow Ground Razor to the setup. A bevel sets pretty quickly with this W&B grind, but I had time, so decided to do it with the Naniwa 4k Hayabusa... still pretty quick.
Went to the Naniwa 8k Snow White to refine, and then finished with this lovely black Thuringian. Horrible lighting photo, so the photo doesn’t do this stone justice.

Wow, that is a horrible picture... doorbell time!
Happy honing!
Tom

 

I love the sound of the progression you used.

 

Finally got around to shaving with the Henkel Seven day Set .Posting the results .
Sat Escher Super Smooth Finish
Sun Apache Almost as Smooth as the Escher
Mon Welsh Slate Soft Keen edge .Just a little behind the Escher
Tue Blue/Green Thuri Soft as the Escher
Wed Nakayama J-Nat Very Keen and Smooth
Thur Belgian Couticle Softest of the lot .But not as sharp as the Ecsher or J-Nat
Fri Unmarked J-Nat Very Keen and Soft

My Top Two edges were the Escher and Nakayama .But all the edges delivered a great shave .

 

Shifted from a 15/16” W&B to a 5/8” with a unique shape. This doesn’t seem like the normal Wade & Butcher, and it is definitely not a chopper .

Added my Suehiro 1k to the mix from above to set the bevel a little quicker, but kept the rest the same... Naniwa 4k & 8k, finished off with the black Thuringian in the photo.


Just a quick thumbs up for the Suehiro 1k. The Naniwa Specialty Stone 1k was my bevel setter for a few years, and I started getting wandering eyes... pulled the trigger off the bay for this used stone for $17 to my house. I don’t think these are their latest stones, but they’re on the bay now.



I do not hone professionally, and this should be trumped by any recommendations by the honemeisters on this site, but after about 30 razors on this puppy, I really like it.

So if your looking for an economical bevel setter and like auction sites, I think you can pick up a Suehiro Deluxe 1000 or 1200 (I’ve handled both) for around $20, I think you would enjoy it.
Happy honing!
Tom

 

Coticule Sunday...

Bulk of the work done on the small combo in the back. Set a bevel on the Suehiro 1k, but really spent the time refining and sharpening on that one. Finished the Tally Ho on the green one and the W&B on that pinkish bout. I just run the faucet very softly and do two passes, then run under the faucet again before two more passes, and repeat... and repeat... and repeat...
Happy honing!
Tom

 

Ever had a razor you didn't like? That was the case with this Art Razor until I gave it some coticule attention. Today I changed my mind about it completely.

Heavy slurry progressively diluted to water.
Stropped on canvas and leather
Back to the coticule this time diluting with soapy water. Took it slow.

This coticule had been problematic in the past so I started off by lapping with a coarse lapping disk. Metal removal was much faster today and the stone surface burnished nicely by the time I was in the finishing cycle.

 

I used for the first time Ballistol/water on a Special Stone OFGR to refresh a tugging Fili 13. Normally I would use oil but the Ballistol gave up a laser edge on this stone.

 

Dubl Duck, Pearl Duck, SatinEdge.

This one had me a little worried. It isn't my razor, but another member. It has cracks, spyder webbing, all around the scales, around the Picot Pin, on both sides. The worry was, the blade was so lose, that it could almost touch both scales, down the entire edge. I was afraid of snapping the scales, at the pivot pin, if I tightened them. So, I tried to hone it, but it flopped around, so much, it was a safety hazard. So, I did some very light tightening, of the scales, now it will only touch the scales, at the very tip. at least it won't flop around, while honing, and the scales didn't split. I was afraid to do any more.
Off to the hones. This blade is narrow, with significant wear, on the spine, with a slight frown, towards the heal. I didn't correct the frown, because it was very slight. I did work on it, a long time, with one strip of tape, and that seemed it was going nowhere, with a large bevel. So, 2 strips it was. That did the trick, and it progressed from there, through the Welsh Slate Stones, with ease. I finished it with the Arkansas Surgical Black, Progression Stone. . Now it is passing the HHT, with ease, down the entire blade. It should be good to go. Oh, after I oiled the blade, the spider webbing of the scales disappeared, visually, but I know they are still there. I will inform the owner.

 

Imperial Razor
Germania Cutlery Works
Germany


This was a nice relaxing Honing job. The blade was perfectly straight, the Bevel went on with ease, and I hade zero issues. I used Welsh Slate Stones, and an Arkie Surgical Black, as finishers.

 

Son, you best have a good edge on that!
Old Francisco

 

K.C. Seelbach Co.
Seel Brand Cutlery Razor
German razor imported into NY

Set the bevel on the Suehiro 1k. Used Naniwa for the 4&8k and finished on the German Thuringian in the pic.
Plan is to give this and an SRD strop to a friend for Christmas.
Happy honing!
Tom

 

Otto Busch Solingen-Wald 7/8 Full Hollow WORLDMASTER 1960s
North Wales Slate 10-12K

 

Hone of Today 2018-12-20
Some new entries
Otto Busch, Solingen-Wald 7/8 WORLDMASTER #194
Gebr.Weyersberg, Solingen-Ohligs 7/8 CORNETA #6000
Gebr.Weyersberg, Solingen 7/8 CORNETA Stainless #6000
Adrian&Stock, Solingen 9/16 BLITZ #172
NoName Solingen 4/8 Barber's Notch
passed the old stones, Washita 8-10K and North Wales Hard Slate 10-12K and are now shave ready again.
The WORLDMASTER, CORNETA Stainless and NN Barber'sNotch will go for Sale, while the black CORNETA and the BLITZ will join the collection.



Happy Holidays from Solingen!
Rainer
https://www.etsy.com/de/shop/SolingerStahl