Proper sharpening of a straight razor

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unky_gumbi

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Aug 28, 2009
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I was over at the bike shop yesterday for a visit, and they have hired a new guy to fill in for me while I am off and to take up some of the slack when two of our full time employees go back to school this fall. It turns out that he is a wet shaver, but with a modern cartridge razor, but he has a straight razor that was given to him and he would like to try it. Only thing is, is that it is dull right now. He found out that I sharpen everyone's knives at work so he asked me if I could sharpen his razor for him. I have never even held a straight razor let alone sharpened one and I don't think I am currently set up to do so.

What is the proper set up to sharpen a straight razor? Right now I have 220, 1000, and 4k water stones, and am picking up a new 8k stone this week, I broke my old one:(. I would like to pick up a 12k stone in the near future. I also have 4 leather strops, one with green compound, one with white, a double sided for hiking with green and white, and one with nothing but the veggie tanned leather. Would up to the 12k stone and my strops be good enough to get a proper edge on a straight razor, or would I need to add a higher stone and a canvas strop to the mix? I don't want to try sharpen this guys razor and come up short, and wont even accept the job till I know I have the right tools and technique down.
Once I have the tools I will pick up a cheap used straight razor to practice with and once I am satisfied I will take on the job. And just think of the job I could do on my knives with the tools for a razor:D
 
12k will be more than enough for the final sharpening. Stropping with paste after that could make a difference but is not necesarry imo. A higher stone is not necessary. Dont be fooled by old wives tales about belgian couticles etc. An abrasive of 12k will do the finishing job perfectly. If the razor is in pretty good shape, start with a high grit, say 8k, touch up and go to 10 or 12k. You"l have your razors edge!

As for technique: light pressure, slow going and the razors spine is the guide. Piece of cake
One caveat: some razors have been sharpened with tape on the spine to protect the spine, thereby the sharpening angle has changed. Making it difficult to reach the edge when sharpening without tape. Keep that in mind. The solution: either apply tape or reset the bevel on a low grit, maybe 1k or less, of course, you will see more grind marks on the spine after that
 
There are some other technique related things to read up on. it's quite diffrent from knife sharpening it appears. Theres a stickyed guide under straight shaving in badgerandblade.com.
 
It's a *very* different creature to sharpen. No matter what grit you use, remember, NO PRESSURE! When I have major sharpening to do, 5-10 passes on a 1000 stone, then on to the 4K/8K combination. After 8K (I don't have a 12K), I load a canvas strop with Thiers-Issard diamond paste. It's more like a stick, the old camo sticks we had in the Army (10 to 20 strops per side). After that, 30-40 strops per side on smooth leather, and you should be ready. If you are careful with it, only the leather stropping will be necessary for a month or two, before starting all over again.

Did I mention not to use any pressure? :D
 
I always read about str8's being so different to sharpen but essentially it's just an edge you have to refine. I find even though the razor is different than most knives, it's still a piece of metal with a sharp edge. No surprises there...

I actually find razors a lot easier to sharpen than knives, since the spine acts as the guide so you get a consistent angle. Freehanding knives is more of an art than sharpening razors and I've bought and fixed/restored quite a few of them.
 
zyhano said:
I actually find razors a lot easier to sharpen than knives, since the spine acts as the guide so you get a consistent angle. Freehanding knives is more of an art than sharpening razors and I've bought and fixed/restored quite a few of them.
Click to expand...

This has been my experience as well. It's much easier for me to hone a razor than to bring a knife to the same level of edge-refinement.

Phillip
 
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