What Straight Razor Have You Honed Lately????

FW Trademark
I got this blade years ago and found out it had a warped blade.
Finally, found a set of warped scales that matched the blade perfectly.
However, the spine miked out at .1614 and the width is .897, that worked out to 10.3 bevel angle.
2 layers of tape and the nose and toe were turning to foil. Digging through my junk drawer I found a cheap compass and cut off the tubular shafts and opened them to slide over the blade. A layer of tape to hold the 2 pieces together and off to the stones with a 17.9 bevel angle. Much better! While not a perfect edge, it did give an adequate shave.

 

Many honing sessions have passed since my last post, but I rarely think to snap pics before I break down the station. Tonight’s hones were especially smooth and enjoyable so I had a mind not to forget.

I was able to set bevels starting at 8k then progressed on to JNATs. The progression for both razors was: Snow White —> Hakka —> Suita —> Nakayama —> Nakayama. I did Mikawa Nagura progressions and finished with tomos. Edges came up quickly, much more quickly than expected. I couldn’t be more pleased and now have a couple days’ worth of shaving excellence (hopefully ) to anticipate.

 

Honed the 7/8 Rigarazor. One layer of 1 mil Kapton, bevel set on a Shapton 4k HR, then pre-finish on a fast kiita and final finish hand held with one of Alex Gilmore’s iro koppas. Seemed to take a nice edge.

The bevels are thin and even, it’s well ground. The blank is thin and the blade is shorter than some 7/8 making it feel very nice in hand. The Bohler steel seems on the hard side of a normally tempered steel, but not much - it’s certainly no E. A. Berg or Sub Cero. The bevel set with only one spot needing a little extra love, Amd from there easy pie. Shave tomorrow!

 

@Steve56 is that the Böhler R100 steel or the Tungsten? I have one incoming from Latvia (it’s been in Chicago for about 2 weeks according to tracking) and have been looking forward to it since 4/12 when I bought it.

 

@SilverSwarfer it’s the Böhler steel. Nice stuff BTW, at least based on the edge from that iro.

What did you get? I think that you’ll be very pleased with it.

 

23mm X 68mm R100 Böhler steel.

 

That will be my one and only Riga. I read up ad nauseam before I bought. Lots of happy users out there!

 

Fixing up the Brookes and Crookes that arrived today, a thorough cleaning and it was ready to make it shave again.

One layer of 1 mil Kapton was used. The bevel was re-formed with a Shapton Glass HR 500, then a Glass 2k HR with a little slurry And down to clear water. The bevel tested as set except in one small spot, so more work on the 2k. The bevel then tested set but sometimes all is not what it seems and on the first time out a little extra hone time is not a bad thing, so I went to the Glass 4k HR then to a fast kiita pre-finishing jnat. After that, I finished on one of Alex G’s ‘butter’ kiita on thin slurry then finally 20 clear water strokes. I was rewarded with silent HHT. Shave tomorrow!

’

 

Krusius Brothers
"KB Extra"
11/16th
1/4 Hollow
Germany

It liked as if it hadn't hit the stones before, and needed to have a new bevel put on. It had many many Micro-Chips on the blade. No biggie, since it needed a new bevel anyway. I finished on an extra hard JNAT, with various Naguras. Then topped it off with an Arkansas Surgical black. Wickedly sharp now, from toe to heel.

 

Dubl Duck
"GoldEdge"
Extra Hollow

It was a wreck when I got this, a couple of weeks ago, and the only thing remaining was a 1/4 width of a bevel ding, on the edge, and some micro chipping. The ding was barely able to be seen, and probable wouldn't make a difference in the shave, but, I knew it was there. So, I went to the 220 grit Norton, and took it off. I worked my way up the progression of stones. I then finished it with a Hard JNAT with a progression of Naguras, and an Arkansas Surgical Black. Very Very nice edge, with a tiny little bevel.

 

I like the way you bevel set at 4k. I prefer working higher than 1k, myself. Recently there has been a lot of talk of bevel setting at 600 or lower.

 

That's beautiful work.

 

Thank you.

..

 

I think that setting the bevel with the finest stone that you can is a good thing for a couple of reasons. It minimizes the removal of steel because coarser scratches don’t need to be removed, and if you can do it, it can save time by minimizing the number of stones in sequence. I’m not always successful and sometimes have to drop down in grit, but that’s OK, you have to do that sometimes.

My normal bevel setter for edges that need the bevel re-formed or small defects fixed is a 2k Shapton Glass HR. I can get away with a 2k Glass because it’s faster than many 1k stones, plus it’s finer. The 4k Glass HR I use for minor bevel work of full hollows, again because of it’s speed and because you can’t push very hard on a full hollow. I got the idea from Alfredo (Doc226) who uses it the same way as does Will (jnatcat). You can also slurry the 4k with a diamond plate to increase cutting power without going to coarser grits, and that indeed works.

Lately I’ve been experimenting with a minimalist synthetic progression to jnats. The Shapton Glass Stones were designed to go in 3x steps, so I’ve been using a 2k Shapton Glass HR followed by a 6k Shapton Glass HC (High Carbon), and then to a jnat finisher. This has worked well so far with every razor that I’ve tried, but I’ve only had the 6k HC for a month or so.only 2 synths and a finisher in the progression, and it’s pretty versatile.

Hope this gives some ideas on prepping the bevel for finishing on jnats/naturals without going coarse.

 

Just makes me smile from ear to ear

Double trouble
Iwasaki Kamisori

Heading to the Nakayama with Kita slurry soon, yes that is Dried slurry left on the stone

 

Hey Steve, that is an awesome amount of information in one response. Thank you.
I am hovering around similar stones when I bevel set and like what you say about fast and fine.

 

Suzumasa 800
Hana Tonbo 333
Wade & Butcher 6/8

My 2 favorite Nakayamas. While they look very different and feel considerably different, both give similar super-fine results and top-notch shaves. Quick and relaxed touch-up work tonight. The W&B requires some serious focus and patience, as the right bevel has an interesting warp at the heel. This old Sheffield steel never ceases to impress: just feels great on the stones as well as the face.

 

My Nichiri Manaslu 300 came from a guy who either gave up on honing it or just decided against it, so I didn’t quite know what to expect. Bevel was there, but a refresh was not enough to get it to shave. Today I took through 4k, 8k, 12k and then finished on my mystery jnat. It worked! (Well, I expected it to work.) I know it can be improved (even by me), but I will get to know it a little before it goes back to the hones.

 

Refinished my Rigarazor on a new kiita in this morning from Alex Gilmore, giving it a try. I used medium diamond plate slurry (heavier slurry than I usually use) and the edge tested and shaved very well indeed!

 

Hey- new to the shave den- not quite sure how to post pictures on this thing- been straight razor shaving about a month and a half and juuuuuuuust got the hang of it and am achieving blood free shaves- it’s novel because when I’m done and not bloody I’m amazed....and I feel alive

Still not sure how to post pictures on this thing but I ordered and received this week a vintage Soviet Stainless straight razor made in 1967 in the Labor factory in Vacha, USSR. It’s a “Yahta” but I call it “Natasha” because I honed this thing up with chips on the edge, spent two days trying to get an even bevel all the away across the edge- and this thing was the first truly good shave I’ve had since I began straight razor shaving. Also- if you don’t lap your finishing stone, you could kill your edge