Hey I dunno if this is the right board, but anyway. I have a straight razor I want to restore (pic related), however I haven't been able to sharpen it to be shave ready. I can get it sharp with the 4k grit but when I go to 8k it loses all the sharpness. What is the adequate technique for doing it? Also how can I make the razor shiny as a mirror and get rid of most stains?
>>960481
Check YouTube.
Either you're not doing 8k for long enough to gain the edge or you're changing the angle and rolling the edge off.
Try 4k then stropping it
>>960691
This sounds about right. It's a skill, OP, one that I can't grasp, unfortunately; so stick at it over time.
Hold it flat and drag it up and down an old leather belt, gently change the angle, you should be right with a nice bit of practice.
The spine of the razor is the angle guide for honing. Lay it flat, low pressure, and stroke across the 4k side of your hone. Alternate sides, check with magnification. Use a Sharpie on the honed area to check progress and make sure you got it.
When you are at full contact to the edge at 4k then a couple of dozen identical strokes on the 8k. Razor fags will say you need to keep going to 1jillion grit Japanese wankstone but 8k is enough. Now you need to strop.
Honing you go edge-forward, stropping the opposite. If you don't have a strop you can try on a soft leather belt, but it's really better to just get a real strop. No need for abrasives on the strop (if you try, that strop is permanently charged with abrasive). 30 strokes at a decent pressure and speed and you can shave.
A lot of razor guys say 8k isn't fine enough but it is. 18 years of straight razor use and I've never gone finer than that. Belgian coticle hones are about 10k and the difference in grit size is marginal, and they are considered by many to be the best razor hones in the world.
>>960481
When you switch to the 8k make sure you rinse it well on those dual sided hones. You dont want to being any of that 4k grit over.
Apply light even pressure in an X pattern on the hone. If you just go straight you wont see very fast cutting. You should move the blade in the direction that the blade is pointing, so that the edge is leading the stroke. Stropping is the other way.
If using only the lightest touch and practice you cant get it to a cutting edge then its possible its a shit steel. Theres plenty of frustrated guys who get turned off from straights because they have inferior steel that wont hold an edge. Any "made in china" straight edge is 100% worthless.
