I'm not enjoying this film!

Discussion in 'Straight Razors' started by Danny Soz, Nov 19, 2019.

  1. Robert1955

    Robert1955 Well-Known Member

  2. Danny Soz

    Danny Soz Active Member

    Great Caesar's ghost! You have Inspector Morse on your side of the puddle?!
    Well we got Starsky and Hutch, so howdya like dem apples, hotshot? ;)
    PS. I ALWAYS fancy a drink. Sometimes, even 2 or 3. If you ever come to my great city, look me up and I'll take you for a few pints of London Pride Best Bitter and a tub of jellied eels. :)
     
    Keithmax and Chuck Naill like this.
  3. Chuck Naill

    Chuck Naill Well-Known Member

    And I would put a proper synthetic edge are your razor. We'll get through this with a wee bit of patience and skill. The good news is you've done nothing you can't start over and try again. The films are easy on the metal, no deeps grooved scratches as some do on 1000 grit stones and minimal pressure it required.
     
    Keithmax likes this.
  4. Danny Soz

    Danny Soz Active Member

    I've not even used the film on my Dovo yet. I practised on a real piece of 20-dollar rubbish using a 5 then a 3 then a 1 micron. Still blunt as hell. I'm gonna use it to practice setting a bevel at some point. All I've done with the Dovo is to get it honed by the Invisible Edge a couple of months back. Since then I've stropped it on pasted poly-webbing one time. The rest of the time, I've just stropped on plain webbing and leather. It seems ok but it's not super sharp and tugs a little when slicing through the coarse whiskers. Maybe I'm just too damn manly for it, mate :p

    I've got a nice glass, lapping plate coming tomorrow, so I'm gonna give it a refresh using the film and your words of advice. I'm thinking of giving it around 10 laps on the 3 and another 10 on the 1 micron, letting the weight of the blade do the work. Sound good to you?
     
    Keithmax likes this.
  5. Chuck Naill

    Chuck Naill Well-Known Member

    Consider 50-100 laps which can be split up in 20 or so laps per side. So, 20 on one side flip and 20 on the other. Do this four to five times. Make sure your films have water on them using a spray bottle. 10 laps will do nothing. My mentor does 100 stropping laps at the end of his honing process using 200k diamond pasted balsa. Every night I do at least 50 on diamond followed by 25 linen and 50 horse hide. It sounds like a lot, but it goes by fast. That said, others may disagree and that's fine. Since I am getting same as shavette on my entire collection using these processes, its hard to consider an alternative.
     
    Keithmax likes this.
  6. Danny Soz

    Danny Soz Active Member

    I hear you, mate. You're the guvnor, as we say in Cockneyland. If there's one thing I've learned in life it's to listen to people who know what they're talking about and to follow the advice they give. I've heard so many conflicting opinions on refreshing an edge, from pasted strops to Belgian stones, to balsa, to lapping film etc. Some people say 7 to 10 laps on the film, others say more. It's a real jungle of info out there. Anyways, I'll follow your advice and see how it goes. If you don't hear from me again it's because I got such a keen edge on the thing I cut my bloody head off :D
     
    jason koonce and Keithmax like this.
  7. Robert1955

    Robert1955 Well-Known Member

    On leather I do a min of 100.
    To hone on film takes longer than stone imo.
    Film appears to be cheaper, but once used it is discarded so that cash is gone, keep repeating this over many years and it will mount up, stones hold a value..a resale price that may actually go up, but it is not about the money for me, differrent blades seem to take on better edges from certain stones...so there is a variable there that you cannot do with film. My stainless blades are better finished on a black ark, prolly coz the steel is harder, some carbon steel seem better with a coti and thuri finish and some with my 12k then a film finish... Crox and pastes are good to refresh on but I find diamond spray very very harsh...I bought it and have used it twice, 2 sprays on a leather bench strop...but it can destroy a good edge. Learning to hone is the way forward, and getting a set of decent stones is key to that, I dont hate film coz i use it for refresh at times but I would never set a bevel on film...I just prefer stone...I enjoy honing on stone and can drift away into a zen like mindset :) I cant do that with film :-( each to their own...but learning to hone on whatever you prefer is going to give you great confidence and improve your honing technique.... Very first thing tho is to get a REAL shave ready razor, this lets you see the standard you need to get too, I have a razor billyfergie honed for me, it is my comparision blade...if i hone a blade and the shave is not right, I pull out the pro honed blade and 99 times out 100 I can feel the difference, it is easy to let standards drop and not know it, so it is essential to have a razor to compare too...once I have seen the problem it is easily rectified and my standard is back to where I want it to be...SHAVE READY.
     
    Keithmax, gssixgun and SevenEighth like this.
  8. SevenEighth

    SevenEighth Well-Known Member

    What a brilliant post. I agree with so much of what you say.
     
  9. Chuck Naill

    Chuck Naill Well-Known Member

    I will agree with certain portions of @Robert1955 post, films start up cost is less than stones and using stones is much more enjoyable. I enjoy holding the Thuingian under a tiny stream and doing a 100 x laps.

    I see two camps in the use of straight razors. Some hone to shave and other shave to hone.

    I doubt I will ever need to use my 3m film 30mu bevel setter again unless I hone a friend's razor. I do see myself using the yellow Coticule and Thuringian. Therefore, buy the stones you think you would need to touch up your existing collection.

    If you intend to continue purchasing razors for personal or to sell, invest in stones. I would probably get a blue Coticule as a bevel setter and may at some point.
     
  10. Danny Soz

    Danny Soz Active Member

    As an engineer who routinely works within tolerances of +/- thousands of an inch, you have no idea how interesting I found your observations. Yeah, I know I should get out more :D
     
    Keithmax likes this.
  11. Danny Soz

    Danny Soz Active Member

    Ok fellas, I've got all the gear now so I'm going to get to it this morning
    I was thinking, instead of using water to hose down the film before honing how about I use a solution of aftershave, rubbing alcohol, and some crushed alum. That way, when I'm done, that first shave will disinfect any nicks, seal 'em up and also leave a nice fresh bay rum scent. Sounds like a great plan to me anyways!
     
    Keithmax likes this.
  12. CastleShave

    CastleShave Well-Known Member




    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
     
  13. jason koonce

    jason koonce Well-Known Member

    O god i bought the same ones the other day and waiting for them to come in :(
     
    Keithmax likes this.
  14. Danny Soz

    Danny Soz Active Member

    Look on the bright side. You'll have a really good beard going on by the time they reach you. :)
     
    jason koonce and Keithmax like this.

Share This Page