WetShaving
This is a community of enthusiasts, hobbyists and artisans who enjoy a traditional wet shave: brush, soap, and safety or straight razor. We are a part of the WetShaving community found on Reddit, Discord, and IRC.
New subscribers welcome!
Please visit our wiki, which is always and forever a work in progress.
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https://gem.wetshaving.social/ - a nice modern interface
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Our sister Mastodon instance is https://wetshaving.social/.
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Be Respectful. Do not bully, flame, or harass others.
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Malicious comments are not allowed but heated discussion and salty banter is okay.
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Low effort replies and complaints about content will be removed.
Rule 2 - Content Guidelines
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Mail Calls, Simple Questions, and SOTD posts belong in the recurring weekly threads.
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Posts must have sufficient content to generate a meaningful discussion.
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Images, links, or videos must include additional text that summarizes the topic.
Rule 3 - Reviews and Disclosure
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Use [First Impressions] in the title if your experience with the product is limited.
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Use the [Review] in the title if you can provide comprehensive details with enough familiarity to answer follow-up questions.
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Disclose how the product being reviewed was acquired (e.g., PIF, loan, or purchase). If the product was provided to you directly by the maker or vendor free of charge or at a discount, you must disclose this fact even if the item will later be returned to the maker or vendor.
Rule 4 - Advertising
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Vendors are to keep marketing within the biweekly Deals/New Products threads.
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Non-vendors may post topics about products if it will foster a compelling discussion.
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Rule 5 - Inappropriate Content
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All NSFW/L content must request mod approval and be flaired appropriately.
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Non-shaving related NSFW/L content is not allowed.
Rule 10 - Moderator Discretion
- The rules may not apply perfectly to every situation. The mods have final discretion.
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You were right. My current struggle is that I know I can get a sharp edge, but I'm struggling with knowing when I got there. Short of shaving with a new edge, I don't know how to reliably check whether it's ready.
Something to figure out ๐
Here's some info for you to consider. The coarsest stone you use (3K in your case) should do all of the shaping. These means that the edge coming off that stone should be a finished edge, geometrically. Cut tests off of this stone are very important. It should cut like a finished edge. A finished edge will be more refined, and will provide a smoother cut, but only by a little bit.
I stopped using hair to test edges many years ago. Of course, a standard for testing is tomatoes or grapes, but you need to have them on hand, and there is variation in ripeness to deal with. About a 6 months ago I ran out of the paper I test with and moved to polystyrene packing peanuts. Polystyrene peanuts (not the "nicer" biodegradable packing peanut) have a "skin" and an internal cell structure. You need to develop a feel for this, but push-cutting polystyrene peanuts turns out to be a good method to test. When an edge is too dull, the peanut will offer resistance to the push-cut and will make a sound when you break the surface. When the edge is sharp enough it passes through the surface without a sound and with almost no effort. When the edge is ultra-sharp, it passes through the skin as if melting through it; an amazing feeling. I expect my coarse stone my edges to break the surface soundlessly with almost no effort, and my final edges to have that "melting-through" level. And, I sample test at 4 or 5 places along the edge from head to toe.
Thanks for the advice! I'll get myself some packing peanuts and report back ๐ซก
Good advice! I spent some time yesterday honing my Parker, and ran out of hair on my arms and lower legs (yes, I completely failed, and then I had to abandon). I'll try again next weekend.
Thank you! As I mentioned, getting the feel of different sharpness levels takes a while with the packing peanut method, but it is consistent, you can test the entire edge, and you can test at each phase of a sharpening progression without much fuss.