Will compound on wood yield a face shaving sharp edge? If so which compounds?

Magnaminous_G said:
Google "Murray Carter straight razor controversy" if you want to be entertained for an evening.
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Good reference, and an interesting window into ego.

There are two types of ego on this topic in my opinion.
1. I am a real man and I can shave my face with a jagged piece of steel I ripped of my truck hood, and anyone that can't is a sissy.
2. I am a refined type that has the skills to produce an edge such that I could shave the shadow off the Queens lip without her knowing I'm there.

Really there is some merit to both camps, and plenty of ridiculousness.

Really this is not so different from any other "edge" debates we see here.
 
I think the other dimension - one man is honing an edge for his own use, many of the vocal critics are honing as a part of a profession or singular hobby. Good enough isn't good enough in that case. From what I understand, "shave ready" for these folks means it can part a hanging hair from any direction and I just don't see that happening off a 6k stone. A couple of generations back, who knows how the average man's straight razor performed - I find it hard to believe too many regular guys had razors that would drop a hanging hair from any direction on a given morning. That might also explain the popularity of barber shops and the immediate embrace of disposable razors when they hit the market.
 
That is true to some degree. "Shave ready" can hold many definitions and even then the notion of the HHT is hotly debated (scoffed as a parlor trick that is a questionable analog for the shave test).
 
unit said:
Good reference, and an interesting window into ego.

There are two types of ego on this topic in my opinion.
1. I am a real man and I can shave my face with a jagged piece of steel I ripped of my truck hood, and anyone that can't is a sissy.
2. I am a refined type that has the skills to produce an edge such that I could shave the shadow off the Queens lip without her knowing I'm there.

Really there is some merit to both camps, and plenty of ridiculousness.

Really this is not so different from any other "edge" debates we see here.
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I'm don't think Murray falls into either camp. To be clear, Murray never shaves straight off the #6000. When Murray shaves with a straight razor he establishes his edge using a #1000 stone, refines it with a #6000 stone, and then strops the edge on a hard-backed leather strop loaded with Green Aluminum* Oxide. If we made the video featuring Murray sharpening his straight razor any other way it would have been a false representation. I can assure you that Murray shaves with the razor like this, has for years, and surely if it were uncomfortable Murray Carter, probably the most notable knife sharpeners and knife makers in North America, he would have modified his procedure.

No, I would add Murray to a third camp:

3) I'm a real man, I can establish a comfortable edge on my straight razor quickly because I also have other things to do in the morning than sharpen a razor before making knives

*Chromium
 
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He doesn't finish on a 6k he finishes on a 15-20k natural stone then uses a Chromium oxide strop. This will easily produce a shave ready edge.
 
knifenut1013 said:
He doesn't finish on a 6k he finishes on a 15-20k natural stone then uses a Chromium oxide strop. This will easily produce a shave ready edge.
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No, I can assure you, Murray finishes on a 6,000 stone and then uses a Chromium Oxide strop. He doesn't use a 15-20k natural stone because he doesn't find it necessary for his needs, nor does he own one.

--Jason from
Carter Cutlery
 
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So in the videos of him sharpening his razor on a natural stone that's not a natural stone?
 
I can think of only one video where he sharpens a straight razor. At the beginning, he pulls out a natural waterstone, but never uses it. At the end, he says you can use it in place of the stropping on newspaper that he does. (Don't know if he owns it.) :) Don't know if there's other videos... just remember this one...

[video=youtube;vTV4ph1LE3c]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vTV4ph1LE3c[/video]
 
For the sake of keeping all things equal; because the stone was mentioned in the previous video but never used, Murray used the natural stone in the response video. I can assure you, Murray doesn't use a natural waterstone when finishing his razor. His procedure, as it has been for the last three years I've been employed by him:

Establish an edge on #1000
Refine edge on #6000
Finish with newspaper/hard-backed leather strop with chromium oxide

Here's the stone in question: https://www.cartercutlery.com/japan...nes/asagi-kamisori-ultra-fine-finishing-stone
 
Gads!

Tapatalk is making me look dumber. Apologies.
 
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Murray Carter taught me a lot, so I'm not gonna bash him. I thought the straight honing community was a little harsh and irreverent in their reaction. Still, I'm glad the debate happened. I learned a lot from the discussion.
 
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