While shaving today nicked myself (removal of a fair amount of skin) in a couple of places. I noticed it was when a certain point on my straight touched my skin. I'm wondering if I don't have perhaps a burr or some such anomaly on the blade at that point. I did a thumb nail test and it indicated a keen, smooth edge. The razor still gives good shaves although it's getting to the point where it would benefit from being refreshed a little. With that information, I'm a little unsure of what actually is going on, thus unsure of how to fix it. I'm leaning towards a burr and thinking of doing 1 backhoning pass then refreshing the razor as normal, but I would love some other suggestions. Thanks!
I'm still a bit of a newbie at honing compared to guys like Bill and Joe and Peter, but it might be that one spot on your blade has dulled some and drags slightly, then a sharper point (where you are getting cut) catches and nicks you. Is it a smiling blade, or just straight across? As you say, maybe refresh it on a finishing stone or pasted strop and see if that does it.
Okay, that should make it a little easier to hone or strop. You don't have to worry about "rocking" the blade along the hone or doing part of it at a time. Yeah, especially after a thumbnail test, it will need refreshing anyway, so try that first.
OK, thanks. I knew I was sacrificing the edge doing a thumbnail test but it was the only way to see if I had a problem. Do you have any suggestions as to other ways to test it other than the thumbnail?
One of things with a str8 is that people tend to favor one part of the blade over another when shaving. The blade will feel good when you test it but variable amounts of sharpness. A refresh on a hone or pasted strop will probably help. You also might want to re-check how you are stretching your skin to see if maybe you're creating a slight fold for the str8 to catch.
I'll have to pay more attention tomorrow to the skin stretching. Off the cuff, I'd say I'm stretching enough but familiarity can often breed complacency and I may not be doing what I think I'm doing.
Well, the best test is just to shave with it. But you can see where you are along in your honing by grazing the edge lightly over the inside of your forearm. If hairs are cut easily and seem to "pop," you are pretty close. There is also the "HHT" or hanging hair test. Hold the blade still and pull a strand of hair over the cross-section of different parts of the blade to see where you are (I'm not a fan of the HHT, though.) But yeah, prior to honing, if you want to see if you have a small nick or uneven edge, the thumbnail test is probably best.
Be sure the bevel of the blade is smooth, without chips, and ends perfectly at the edge. Get yourself a cheap 30X loupe to see how you're progress is coming along. Some guys have a Radio Shack mini microscope that is cheap, as well. Once you pay attention to your method of sharpening by continually lookin through the loupe, it won't be any time at all before YOU BE STYLIN', BRO..." (Sorry, every once in a while, I digress to communication patterns from my days in jail.)
The first thing I did was view the edge with the RS microscope. I noticed it was not smooth. Next, I went to the 4k norton and did a series of strokes starting with some pressure then moving to very light pressure (weight of blade only). Every few strokes I'd check with the scope. I noticed on other thing that I don't know as any correlation but it is interesting. As the razor got a smoother and smoother bevel, I could take the razor and shine some bright light on it. The bevel would reflect gradually brighter and brighter light as the edge kept getting smoother under the microscope. A second test was the thumb nail test and I went from it being real bity and harsh to a firm, consistent grip on the nail from heel to toe. I stopped the thumb nail test once I went to the 8k I moved to the 8k after getting that firm, consistent grip and after seeing a smooth edge under the microscope. Bill had some great advice that saved me much aggravation. I quote it from above: "Be sure the bevel of the blade is smooth, without chips, and ends perfectly at the edge. Get yourself a cheap 30X loupe to see how you're progress is coming along. Some guys have a Radio Shack mini microscope that is cheap, as well. Once you pay attention to your method of sharpening by continually lookin through the loupe, it won't be any time at all before YOU BE STYLIN', BRO..." " He also said not to pay attention to the width of the bevel as that would change from razor to razor. So all I kept focusing on was the smoothness of the bevel/edge. On the 8k, I took a series of very light, slow strokes testing after every 5 strokes or so. My test was the thumb pad. I knew I was getting better as the blade got stickier. And, again, I kept using the microscope. At some point where I felt no more progress was being made, I stopped. Then stropped and shaved in the morning. Great but not quite so I did 5 more light passes on the 8k and that took the back to where I needed it to be. I know this is different to some degree on each blade (for example, it's not working quite as smoothly on a DOVO I'm trying to get shave-ready) though with more experience, I would think it would still serve me well.
This effect depends on where the light was relative to the bevel. Some guys hold the microscope in an orientation where the bevel gets darker as it becomes smoother - you'll see these guys referring to the bevel developing a "black ice" look as it gets smoother.
