Sharpening a straight razor

I

Ikhnaton

Joined
Apr 15, 2023
Messages
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Hello gentlefolk of Bladeforums!

I recently acquired a Puma Solingen 88 straight razor and while it came sharp, it didn't come shaving sharp. The blade looked to me as having never been sharpended before and the seller told me so as well.

All my other EDC and kitchen knives get sharpened on a DMT Duosharp, which works really well. I didn't want to sharpen the Puma on the DMT, so I got a (cheap) whetstone by WMF, supposedly a 500 and 1000 grit. After finding out that "finding" the sharpening angle on a straight razor is really straightforward (I lay the entire blade flat on the stone, spine and edge aligned) I got to work first on the 1000 grit side, since the blade had an edge on it. After a couple dozen strokes on each side I went to stropping it (again, laid the razor flat onto the strop and with almost zero pressure) and then tried to cut tissue paper. Which didn't work as well as I thought it would, especially since all the other knives I sharpen on the DMT will cut said paper.

Edit: Forgot to mention, I tried shaving with it when I got it, which was virtually impossible, after my sharpening efforts it was better, meaning I could shave with it, but it was rough and my face is not nearly as smooth as I know it can be!

So I come to you with questions:

Is it correct to lay the blade flat onto the stone and repeat the strokes with very light pressure?

Could it be that I just didn't sharpen long enough? As said, I'm used to diamonds, the time I put into the razor on the waterstone would've made every other blade on the DMT extremely sharp ...

Or could it be that I didn't use enough pressure, though I could tell that material was being removed?


Thank you for reading and for all potential answers! Have a nice day!

Chris
 
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Two thoughts:

Cheap waterstones are a false economy. More or less depending on the steel involved, but modern steels can be stubborn.

1,000 is not going to leave a smooth, shaving-approved edge, for most users. You're going to need to go more fine, I would think at least 3K with a strop or two to follow.

Kitchen knives, work knives, EDC knives will come off your 1K diamond stones in excellent shape for their intended tasks, but shaving your face is levels beyond preparing lunch or cutting up cardboard. Your straight razor requires different tools of much finer grits. I would consider one or two of the premium ceramic waterstones like Naniwa Chosera Pros or Shapton Kuromakus. 3K and 5K should be fine after your 1K diamonds. Then strop down to 4 or 2 or 1 micron, and you should be fine.
 
A few things,

You need to be 8000 grit or higher before you strop. Use a bare/uncoated strop. Kangaroo leather works well and is what I would recommend unless you get a true barber strop.

Not all high grit stones are the same, Chosera and Shapton are good but not ideal for Straight razors. Naniwa advanced is perferred and a good Japanese natural is even better for final finish. You need stones that polish.

Do not keep going on the 1k, you will damage the razor and make future honing difficult. Razors are not like knives and dont need much work at low grits, in most cases.

Only test with hair, cutting paper or tissue paper will damage the edge. Look up Hanging Hair Test.

If you would like it professionally honed shoot me an email and I can get you squared away.
 
Ikhnaton said:
Hello gentlefolk of Bladeforums!

I recently acquired a Puma Solingen 88 straight razor and while it came sharp, it didn't come shaving sharp. The blade looked to me as having never been sharpended before and the seller told me so as well.

All my other EDC and kitchen knives get sharpened on a DMT Duosharp, which works really well. I didn't want to sharpen the Puma on the DMT, so I got a (cheap) whetstone by WMF, supposedly a 500 and 1000 grit. After finding out that "finding" the sharpening angle on a straight razor is really straightforward (I lay the entire blade flat on the stone, spine and edge aligned) I got to work first on the 1000 grit side, since the blade had an edge on it. After a couple dozen strokes on each side I went to stropping it (again, laid the razor flat onto the strop and with almost zero pressure) and then tried to cut tissue paper. Which didn't work as well as I thought it would, especially since all the other knives I sharpen on the DMT will cut said paper.

Edit: Forgot to mention, I tried shaving with it when I got it, which was virtually impossible, after my sharpening efforts it was better, meaning I could shave with it, but it was rough and my face is not nearly as smooth as I know it can be!

So I come to you with questions:

Is it correct to lay the blade flat onto the stone and repeat the strokes with very light pressure?

Could it be that I just didn't sharpen long enough? As said, I'm used to diamonds, the time I put into the razor on the waterstone would've made every other blade on the DMT extremely sharp ...

Or could it be that I didn't use enough pressure, though I could tell that material was being removed?


Thank you for reading and for all potential answers! Have a nice day!

Chris
Click to expand...
I'm starting to feel like a librarian . 🤓
Check out this portion of the forums .
 
You're not even close to being fine enough. Go up to an 8K or a coticule followed up with a hard black ark.
Spend a few minutes rubbing the ark with something hard like the back of a chisel or an old knife to break it in and don't skimp on the black ark.
Just get the black from Dan's and be done with it, trust me on this. Not everything being sold is the real deal with these stones and Dan's has a justified reputation for coming flat, defect free and they are indeed the real deal.
 
I once shaved off of a 1K stone. I did it just to prove I had mastered bevel-setting. It was comfortable but did not shave closely. Also, I sort of cheated; I used a Shapton Glass 1K, which will glaze a bit after a hundred really really light-pressure strokes, which helped it act like a finer stone.

It was a stunt, to prove a point. Generally speaking, shaving off of a 1K is insane. Coticules took me a while to master properly; if you want to go that way, read up on the dilucot technique. Naniwa Superstone 12K is a very common synthetic choice for razors. Do not buy Chinese stones from Amazon (or anywhere else), especially for razors.

I use arks on razors only as post-finishers, after a JNat or synthetic; they are very slow, but can really make an otherwise ready-to-shave edge shine. Buying a translucent is just as good as a true hard/surgical black, but can be a good way to go because, unlike black arks, there's nothing that looks anything like them, so you can't be faked out, as can happen with the black arks, unless you buy from Dan's.
 
UncleBoots said:
I once shaved off of a 1K stone. I did it just to prove I had mastered bevel-setting. It was comfortable but did not shave closely. Also, I sort of cheated; I used a Shapton Glass 1K, which will glaze a bit after a hundred really really light-pressure strokes, which helped it act like a finer stone.

It was a stunt, to prove a point. Generally speaking, shaving off of a 1K is insane. Coticules took me a while to master properly; if you want to go that way, read up on the dilucot technique. Naniwa Superstone 12K is a very common synthetic choice for razors. Do not buy Chinese stones from Amazon (or anywhere else), especially for razors.

I use arks on razors only as post-finishers, after a JNat or synthetic; they are very slow, but can really make an otherwise ready-to-shave edge shine. Buying a translucent is just as good as a true hard/surgical black, but can be a good way to go because, unlike black arks, there's nothing that looks anything like them, so you can't be faked out, as can happen with the black arks, unless you buy from Dan's.
Click to expand...
My first coti took me way longer to master than I want to admit. Great stones with range and speed but not everyone can shave off of them or perhaps hold their mouth right to get that last little bit out of them.
They will take even a beginner up to the door and an ark will kick it in.

I much prefer the natural edges to synthetic.
 
Ikhnaton said:
Is it correct to lay the blade flat onto the stone and repeat the strokes with very light pressure?
Click to expand...
Almost. Two points:

You want to very gently twist your hand to emphasize the razor bevel side of the contact. Otherwise you can grind away at the spine and not get anywhere. I speak from painful experience honing my first straight razor.

You want to do something like an X-stroke (look that up), unless you are honing a kamisori. Your edge should be shaped like a smile, just a little bit. So you need a stroke that takes just a little more off the heel and toe than the center, every time.
 
Thank you all so much for your replies and insights, really thank you so much :) this thread again shows really well how wonderful of a place bladeforums is ❤️

Unfortunately, you're going to have to be patient with me posting updates, I looked into how much the stones mentioned would cost me and since we're moving into a new apartment in about two weeks, I can't spend hundreds of Euros on sharpening equipment right about now :(

But when all is moved and built and done, appropriate stones are very high on my list!

Thank you again, and we'll be reading eah other soon!
 
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