I’ve been straight razor shaving for about 7 total shaves but I have 4 years off and on with Shavettes. I’ve been traditional wetshaving for four years. I have a gold dollar 66 and a theirs Issard 6/8 Evide Sonnat extra hollow I wanted to know what your opinions were on chromium oxide green crayon. I’m going to be using it whenever I think my razor needs a refresh… which hopefully won’t be for a good while. Thanks!!!!
It works. Just use it, only when needed. Good stropping techniques will keep a blade sharp, for a long time.
I have had good luck with Chromium Oxide powder but I believe the crayon works just as well. Like another said, use sparingly to refresh the edge and you should be good.
Yeah my razor was honed by Anthony Esposito about a month ago and I only have about eight shaves on it
When I decide to do a refresh how many labs should I do on the Crome ox side, then the reverse side then the leather?
Would you say certain grinds are easier for newbies? I have a Gold Dollar 66 ( 1/4 hollow) and a Theirs-Issard (extra hollow) and I find the Gold Dollar a lot easier to shave with. Might want to trade the TI for another TI with a different grind
I also find Shavettes a lot easier to maneuver, but I’m getting better everyday. I just find it’s a lot easier to mess up a straight razor from not stropping it correctly, messing up the edge on accident you know stuff like that… with Shavettes it’s like the modern “Straight Razor”
I can't say I've really noticed the type of grind affecting ease of use (exception at bottom). I have some larger blades (6/8 and 7/8) and I think the bigger, heavier razors feel more steady in my hand. For me, the main thing that determines if a razor is easy to use is the shape of the end of the blade. Rounded tips are easy, almost square but just a little bit of rounding are still fairly easy... A true square tip will result in more blood and gore than a Mortal Kombat game if you're not careful. As a self proclaimed newbie, you probably wouldn't be looking at one of these, but traditional Japanese razors use asymmetric grinds and square tips, so they'll give you an extra thrill of danger.
There are basically three types of CrOx 99.99% pure soft .30~micron that is about useless for refresh but is awesome after honing (Powder) 99% pure .50~micron this is what most people use, it is usually in Powder, but used to be made in a Tube Crayon from Hand American and sold from several online vendors The Bars that you can buy online and at most good hardware stores, this is all over the place with grit size, and most have larger Iron Oxide grit also they are usually less than 30% CrOx. This is designed to be used for polishing metal on buffing wheels. You can try it but it just isn't the same as the .50 Pure stuff
Thanks guys any tips on honing? My 12 k just arrived the other day but I’m still waiting on my 8K, 3K-5K combination and my 1K
I've got a 12K, but it's so fine, I can't really tell if it's doing anything. Initially, I just had the 5, 8, and 12 because that's what that one store sold. Starting that high worked pretty well for maintaining new razors that you don't allow to get horribly dull. But I could really get vintage razors into a decent state. So if you do plan on bringing back really dull razors, it's good you got the 1 and 3K. Just watch a bunch of honing videos before you begin. I watched one and excitedly got to it... And I kind of messed up a moderately expensive razor. Fortunately, not so bad that I couldn't fix it (after three attempts). It's not that hard, at least to do an passable job, just make sure you know what they're actually doing in the video before you begin.
Are you familiar with our Tutorial section? ---> https://theshaveden.com/forums/forums/tutorials.86/ Several cover straight razors, to include honing.
Why are you honing a razor with only eight shaves on it? If you are properly stopping before each shave and drying the blade after each shave you should be able to go 40 or 50 shaves and then only need a lite touch up with the 12k stone (maybe only twenty laps) and then polish with a chrome oxide linen strop. As long as you don't damage the edge, e.g drop it, you may never need to do anything else. Why do you have all these other stones?
No but I will check it out, i’ve mainly just been watching videos from the likes of Geo fat boy and Lynn Abrams
You should never need to reset the bevel on a properly honed and maintained SR unless you have damaged the edge. All the stones you have purchased except the 12k are for restoring ruined razors, e.g. razors that have rusted, razors that have been chipped, etc.
