First Shaving Edge

My Young Apprentice · Jan 27, 2013

Well, not first, (the first came from smith's mini pocket sharpener, aka v-sharpener, but that doesn't count) but definitely the best. I have Norton's popular combo India stone, 600/1000, and some trusty newspaper for a strop... Been practicing with my leatherman's blade for a while now and finally got it shaving sharp. Granted, it is a rough shave, and will more than likely tear half of my face off if I tried to shave my beard with it, but it can shave arm hairs decently, and slicing phone book paper and whatnot. All in all a good day

For anyone who is curious about sharpening multi-tools, be careful with mineral oil. When it gets into the blade hinge it can lubricate it TOO much and cause the blade to turn the screw, thereby tightening itself. First time I did that I had no idea what happened and thought I would have to take my leatherman apart to fix it...

Ethan_Hardy · Jan 27, 2013

Nice! Good tip on the leathermans. You would check out stropman.com he sells handmade sharpening strops that work very well and make razor edges a breeze.

David Martin · Jan 27, 2013

Good. Some of the Leatherman blades have thick edges making sharpening a challenge. Glad you could get it there. The Norton India combination stone's grit is 150/320 for the fine. Keep working with it. DM

9blades · Jan 28, 2013

Congrats Its a good feeling getting your first hair shaving edge!
got my kitchen knife very sharp last night......

My Young Apprentice · Jan 28, 2013

It is a good feeling. I thought I wouldn't get a shaving edge for a while, not on the Norton at least. I've read that it's very hard to get a shaving edge with that coarse of a stone. But I owe it all to you guys

The leatherman is the only blade I have, and it's 420HC, so not too bad with the oil stone. When taxes come in I'm looking at getting a new EDC knife. Might start out with something simple like the Skyline, or Griptilian. Just out of curiosity, will I have too much of a hard time with the new steels? Skyline is 14C28N, and the Grip is 154 CM. I've read that sharpening some of the new super steels on oil stones is damn near impossible.

HeavyHanded · Jan 28, 2013

My Young Apprentice said:
It is a good feeling. I thought I wouldn't get a shaving edge for a while, not on the Norton at least. I've read that it's very hard to get a shaving edge with that coarse of a stone. But I owe it all to you guys The leatherman is the only blade I have, and it's 420HC, so not too bad with the oil stone. When taxes come in I'm looking at getting a new EDC knife. Might start out with something simple like the Skyline, or Griptilian. Just out of curiosity, will I have too much of a hard time with the new steels? Skyline is 14C28N, and the Grip is 154 CM. I've read that sharpening some of the new super steels on oil stones is damn near impossible.

The India stone can handle those steels no problem. They'll go a touch slower than the 420hc for sure, but nothing to be concerned about.

BTW, good work and keep at it! You're off to a good start.
HH

David Martin · Jan 29, 2013

My Young Apprentice said:
It is a good feeling. I thought I wouldn't get a shaving edge for a while, not on the Norton at least. I've read that it's very hard to get a shaving edge with that coarse of a stone. But I owe it all to you guys The leatherman is the only blade I have, and it's 420HC, so not too bad with the oil stone. When taxes come in I'm looking at getting a new EDC knife. Might start out with something simple like the Skyline, or Griptilian. Just out of curiosity, will I have too much of a hard time with the new steels? Skyline is 14C28N, and the Grip is 154 CM. I've read that sharpening some of the new super steels on oil stones is damn near impossible.

Like a lot of subjects on the internet, you can read anything from persons with little Real experience. I've used a Norton fine India stone for 25yrs. and have easily sharpened 154-CM on it. S30V with a little more effort but far from what they're saying. 420 should be easy but experience and technique matters. Keep learning. DM

Swoop03 · Jan 29, 2013

Congratz on a shaving edge. Also don't believe what people say all the time. I can get a hair popping edge on a 250 dmt, its harder for sure but can still be done. It works better when you get up in the finer grits. 1000 is plenty fine to shave arm hair with. Face hair it'll be one hell of a rough shave if you get it sharp enough.
Personally I stop at a 600 dmt stone then I strop a few time to get any remaining burs and wire edge off. For edc its perfect for me. It's fine enough to push cut when I need it too and it's rough enough for fibrous materials when I need to cut them.

My first shaving edge was on a kershaw Chill. I re-profiled it and polished it with my strop from stropman, he makes great strops. I actually shaved my face with it. I had to finish with a normal razer though. 8cr13mov isn't the best in edge retention and I didn't feel like re-stropping it to finish. I just wanted to test it out.