Getting Started
- This topic has 18 replies, 1 voice, and was last updated 03/08/2022 at 7:00 pm by
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Straight Razor guys please jump in and teach us a little about technique, finish, pressure etc… Do the same principles carry over to shaving with a regular knife?
-Clay
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It does. But the thin edge that makes a great razor is lousy for most knife jobs.
Ken
Thanks for jumping in Ken. Can you give us a little primer for sharpening for razors?[/quote]
I can tell you what I do, Clay,
Mechanically razors are trivial. They have the angle “baked” into the design. You lay it flat on the stone (a bit of tape on the spine if you’re worried about wear) and lightly draw it across (into the edge) in a bit of an X pattern until you establish the bevel. Generally around 1k works well for this.
Since shaving is a push cut, a high polish is best. For me, at least an 8k minimum.
I’ve used everything from Arkansas bench stones to DMT plates. It doesn’t seem to matter until you get down to the last couple grits. I like finishing on PSA diamond sheets (drawn, like a strop, not pushed) down to .1μ followed by leather. Seems to leave a nice smooth edge.
While this gives me a great edge, I’d love to see what a 30k water stone would add to the mix. A lot of guys like to use coticules at this point but I haven’t and don’t feel the need to.
I watch my edges with a loop along the way to make sure my technique stays clean.
Strop 20-30 light strokes between shaves and touch up the edge on the PSA sheets every 6-8 shaves and I can go a year between sharpening on a 4 razor rotation.
Side note – like knives, you’ll find every kind of steel out there. I prefer the edges I get on Thiers Issard’s regular carbon steel to anything else I’ve tried, but that’s a personal preference thing. Just be prepared to try a few different steels to find “yours”. TI’s higher carbon Silverwing sounds great and I think I’d like it but haven’t tried it. Those things aren’t cheap, and I really don’t mind touching up my edges.
Side note 2 – if you go carbon, make sure you dry it well. They will stain in a heartbeat and those thin edges can pit very easily (ouch 😉 )
Hope this s helpful?
Ken
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Clay produced a video where he held the razor by the tang only. Then rotated the rod holders 90*. Not sure this works with the upgraded arms.
There’s a video here if you scroll down a bit.1 user thanked author for this post.
Clay produced a video where he held the razor by the tang only. Then rotated the rod holders 90*. Not sure this works with the upgraded arms.
Have you looked at doing this with the new upgraded arms rotated forward? I think it works really well but would love your feedback.
Great video! It shows that razors can, indeed, be sharpened using the WEPS. Given the geometry lesson we got from Anthony, I’m not sure the arms even need to be rotated forward. Maybe they do, I’d have to try it, but he showed the angle doesn’t vary as you go forward, so the only reason you’d need to would be to get a lower angle than you’d get from the upright position.
Regardless of the ‘can you do it?’ question, there’s the ‘should you do it?’ question. As Clay shows (and says) in the video, the angle is set by the spine. Consistently getting the right angle is the least challenging step of sharpening a razor (and one of the most challenging steps of sharpening a knife 😉 ) Where the WEPS adds great value to the consistency of sharpening a knife, all it adds (IMO) to sharpening a razor is additional setup steps not required by using a simple stone. Are they onerous or tedious? No, not at all. But I don’t see the value.
Now if all you have is a WEPS. You have all the necessary fine grits, strops etc and you worry you may rock the blade side to side on such a narrow stone (because, yes, you can just use your WEPS stones freehand for a razor). I’d say ‘go for it’. But it will take longer and add no value if you have a few full sized bench stones laying around (pretty much sitting around unused, now that you are using your WEPS for all your knives 😉 )
I guess, in the end, it’s just what you have to work with and what you feel comfortable with. I know freehand sharpeners who feel the same way about using the WEPS for knives. Why would they do all that setup when they get perfectly fine edges just using bench stones?
For me, I LOVE it for knives, but I don’t feel the need to use it on razors.
Ken
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