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.
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Huh. Interesting.
I wonder whether 1k is too coarse?
@gcgallant@sub.wetshaving.social, do you have an idea?
It's really too difficult for me to assess what's happening based on the description. @PorkButtsNTaters666@sub.wetshaving.social, are you using a 25x-40x loupe to inspect the edge?
I did a quick check online and found that a Proyan 1K is approximately equivalent to a 500 grit Japanese stone. That's too coarse for anything other spine correction, if true. Can you provide more specs on the Proyan stones you have?
Did you test with the tomato after your 20-30 passes on the 12K or just after the 1K?
Also, is this a Japanese Parker? I don't get an image when I follow the link in the SOTD.
Edit: I did a little searching. Are you using the glass-bottomed Proyan stones? I do see that they attempt to mimic the Shapton Glass stones. Their 1K stone is 9 micron which would make it a little finer (not coarser) than a Shapton Glass 1K.
I don't have a loupe or a microscope, so I can only inspect with my mark 1 eyeballs.
I have the Proyan 1k glass stone, which should have a 9.1 micron grit (at least, that's what is written on it.
The Parker is a US made Parker straight razor. I tried to cut the tomato during honing with the 1k stone; afterwards, I stopped trying.
OK. That's what I found, and I also watched a video review of the Proyan stones which, as you've stated, were very positive.
You don't need a microscope but an inexpensive loupe would be very helpful. They are a pain to use until you get the hang of them.
The only Parker razors I can find that aren't Japanese are replaceable blade shavettes. Is your razor new? Vintage? What's the width and grind?
Frustration is your enemy when sharpening. I learned this the hard way many years ago. Since the razor is shaving well now, I suggest you test it with your tomato to see how "shaving sharp" performs. For technique in testing sharpness with a tomato you can watch any of DrMatt357's YouTube sharpening videos. [I don't suggest that you try to emulate his sharpening technique. He's very fast and efficient because he has the experience of having sharpened many razors.]
Here is the Parker straight:
I bought it used on ebay, and they stopped producing them. If I 'm correctly informed, this is the same company as the one producing the shavettes. The grind is full hollow.
I will check Dr. Matt. What kind of loupe do you use or would you recommend?
The razor looks very nice!
I don’t use a loupe anymore but I did when I started freehand sharpening knives. I would suggest something in the 20X to 40X range. Higher magnification is better, but they are harder to keep in focus. I’d guess by now there’s probably a great YouTube video on how to use a loupe properly.
The loupe helps you see what’s happening with the scratch pattern on each bevel. The pattern should be even from the top of the bevel to the edge and be consistent from heel to toe on both sides of the razor.
The edge should look like a straight line but might look a little saw-toothed at 1K.
Refinement should be obvious as you move from coarse to fine abrasives.
I got a 30x loupe, and I can clearly see the striation marks on the edge - neat! It's probably not that surprising, since I went from the 1k directly to the 12k. Next time I 'll do better, but even so, it's usable.
Glad to hear it! I struggled with loupes at first.
Generally, you want to use the 1K only for razors that need the bevel set. In that circumstance you might go from 1K to 4K followed by 12K or 1K, 4K, 8K, 12K if you have the stones. If the bevel is already set, dropping back to 4K or 8K followed by your 12K finisher should be all you need.
The 30x loupe works well for me, but I have also a 60x and a 90x loupe in the same contraption - where I'm not even sure whether it reverses the Image or not 😱
Ok, I'll try that!