Glorious past and elite straight razor present

Many of our readers ask us - how can you sharpen a straight razor, how difficult it is, and what is the difference between sharpening this truly rare tool today and sharpening a knife? In this article, we decided to answer all these questions.

So, before talking about the basic technological techniques for sharpening a razor, a few words about what a razor is in itself, and what it is eaten with.

Until recently, the straight razor was a one-of-a-kind tool with which, until the mid-20th century, a man could get rid of facial hair. With the active development of the cosmetic industry and the widespread distribution of safety razors, the straight razor is gradually leaving the market, losing its former positions. The art of shaving with such a complex tool, together with the art of sharpening it, is gradually becoming the property of history and is leaving everyday life. This was connected, perhaps, with the acceleration of the pace of life of society - when shaving and periodically sharpening the razor at modern man there was not enough time.

Since then, the use, and even more so - the sharpening of a straight razor - has become the lot of the elite, a kind of hobby and element of a lifestyle - unhurried, stylish and measured. And, of course, the number of experts who could tell and sharpen a straight razor correctly has greatly diminished.

Anatomy of a sharpener: skins, belts and stones

So, sharpening a straight razor is not at all the same as sharpening an ordinary knife - first of all, due to the specifics and purpose of this delicate tool. The section of the razor blade is characterized by rather sharp concave descents, which expand towards the cutting edge to converge with the leads into the thinnest blade. This design allows you to make the blade as sharp as possible, and at the same time shave the hair most effectively without damaging the skin. Moreover, if the knife is allowed to be sharpened slightly roughly, and the sharpener sometimes stops on a stone with a grain size of 1000 # - so the cut of the knife turns out to be quite aggressive, with a good and high-quality cut - then for a straight razor such sharpening is unacceptable - after all, the main thing here, despite the name of the instrument is human safety.

To begin with, sharpening a straight razor can be done in three ways: sharpening on stones, sharpening on a sandpaper and sharpening or straightening on a belt with various abrasives. Each of these methods has its own pros and cons. Sharpening on a skin is the easiest and cheapest way. All you need is a variety of different grain sizes, water, a hard base and glass to create a completely flat surface. However, in stores today it is difficult to find a skin with a grain size of less than 2,000 - 2,500 thousand. And for a straight razor, this grain size is quite small. Therefore, having sharpened the razor on the skin, it will no longer be necessary to bring it to the belt.

Theoretically, the razor can be shaved on any leather belt with a velvety enough layer with ordinary GOI paste applied to it. However, it is definitely better to use specially sold razor straps. Working with the strap is simple and requires no special skills, allowing you to quickly adjust the razor. However, professionals say that finishing on a belt is much less effective than sharpening on stones. The blade will be less sharp and the cutting edge less durable. As a result, a person who often adjusts his razor on a belt will have to do this regularly - once every 2-5 days, until the razor requires a new sharpening on the skins.

The most reliable, correct and durable method of sharpening a straight razor is still sharpening on stones. It is in this way that the whole tool is usually sharpened in grinding workshops, of which there are very, very few left in all of Russia. However, this method is at the same time the most difficult - as it requires a large number practice. For those who are just starting to learn how to sharpen a straight razor, the masters warn: most likely your first experiments will be unsuccessful. And only after a while you will get your hand good enough.

In addition to the fact that the method of sharpening on stones is the most effective and most difficult, it is also the most expensive, since high-quality stones are quite expensive today, and for a full sharpening cycle - such as to make a blunt razor enough for a comfortable shave, an entire range of stones ranging from 300 # -400 # to 10000 # -12000 #. However, they allow you to get the most out of your razor.

Time to Gather Stones: The Basics of Sharpening on Stones

So, before you sharpen your razor, you need to make sure the blade is clean and free of rust. If there is rust, remove it before sharpening.

Before you start sharpening your razor, there is one very important rule to understand. The blade is always laid flat on the stone, so that both the back and the cutting edge always touch the abrasive. This is incredibly important because, in cross-section, a straight razor blade is a concave blade - a kind of reverse lens - where the protruding parts are the cutting edge and back of the razor. The position of the blade flat on the stone guarantees a constant sharpening angle along the entire length of the cutting edge and the longest possible use of the razor. If, during sharpening, you give the blade an additional tilt - whether with your hands or with a piece of electrical tape glued to the back - this can permanently ruin the razor, or at least lead it to a state where fixing it can take a very, very long time: due to tilting unnecessarily, the original angle will be altered, become duller (and therefore less acute), and may eventually damage the instrument.

Let's repeat again: when sharpening a razor blade, the cutting edge is grinded parallel to the back - that is, the blade lies on the stone FLAT. A small angle at their own peril and risk can be set when sharpening a straight razor only by high-class professionals who strive to preserve patterns or inscriptions on the backs especially expensive models straight razor.

In addition, there is one more important point. The razor must be sharpened evenly along the entire length of the cutting edge. Therefore, professionals advise either to buy stones that correspond in width to the length of the blade, or to sharpen them crosswise. That is, during sharpening, lead the razor not directly over the stone, but somewhat obliquely, so that the entire blade is involved in one wiring.

Let's get started!

After we have figured out these simple, but very important points - we begin to sharpen the razor.

Sharpening a razor on stones can be roughly divided into three stages.

The first one is working with coarse-grained stones to flatten the cutting edge, remove an excess layer of steel, rough sharpening

The second is a gradual transition to medium and fine-grained stones, softer sharpening

The third stage is finishing, grinding on the finest-grained stones, as well as a razor sharpness test.

At the first stage, when working with coarse-grained stones, it is permissible to drive the blade in both directions, that is, both forward and backward - this will speed up the initial rough sharpening process. However, it should be borne in mind that when changing an abrasive to a new one, it is incredible important action will remove the burrs inevitably formed with such sharpening. Therefore, the last 20-40 movements on each rough stone should only be blade forward. In the future, on medium and small stones, only such a technique will be possible: wiring flat on the stone with the blade forward, with crosswise movements.

It should also be said about the pressure exerted on the razor blade during sharpening. When sharpening on a rough stone, it should be quite noticeable. However, the less coarse stone you use (provided good quality abrasive), the less effort must be applied. At the end of the day, your efforts should be limited to simply allowing the blade to rest on the stone under its own weight - and sometimes lift it slightly so that it barely touches the plane of the stone.

By the way, about the plane: You must be very careful to ensure that the stone on which you sharpen your razor is as even as possible. So that there are no bumps, depressions, or abrasive chips on it. For the same reason, it is necessary to thoroughly rinse the razor blade before changing the stone, and do not soak the stones in the same container - the hit of larger grains of abrasive on a finer-grained stone can lead to very ugly scratches on the blade and ruin the entire sharpening.

In addition, it is also important to remember that the razor does not like sharp jumps in grain. That is, when changing a stone from coarse-grained to fine-grained, it is worth observing such an interval so that the values ​​of the grid are next stone did not exceed the value of the previous one by two times. The smaller the transitions between the stones, the better the result you will achieve.

Quality control: methods for testing razor sharpness

Upon completion of the sharpening process, it is necessary to check how well the blade is sharpened. Of course, visually, without conducting tests, it is impossible to determine this. Therefore, hair cutting is considered one of the safest and most indicative checks. The test process is as follows: The razor blade is fixed on the table with the cutting edge up. Then hair is taken (any, from the head or from the body), and with a slow, gentle movement is brought to the RK. At the same time, the hair is kept even, no unnecessary sawing movements can be carried out. The hair only has to touch the blade. If the hair after that split into two parts, it can be considered that sharpening is completed, and you have achieved sufficient sharpness.

There is another test that you can use to check the sharpness of the razor - running along the cutting edge with the pad of your thumb. However, for inexperienced sharpeners, this experience is always quite traumatic and rarely goes without cuts. Therefore, we recommend that you be careful not to check the razor sharpness in this way, at least at first.

Still have questions? Ask them in the comments to the article and we will be happy to answer them!

Date: 19.05.2016
Topic: Note N79. An overview of fine abrasives using the example of sharpening razors

This material is a derivative of those plans and ideas that appeared in the summer of 2015. At that time, there were thoughts that it would be nice, using the example of the domestic Soviet razor and abrasives of the times of the USSR, to try to reproduce what great-grandfathers, grandfathers and, in part, fathers could squeeze out of dangerous razors. Of my ancestors, it is known for certain that only one of my grandfathers used a straight razor until electric razors appeared on the market. I myself remember him only with the Era electric razor, which was popular during my childhood and almost everyone around me shaved with such razors.

I will not reveal anything that has not been repeatedly debated or discussed in various forums. Further, there is only one experience of a person who was carried away by sharpening and sharpening a straight razor as well. On this personal experience, I was convinced of what they are talking about. Only there is not always confidence in these words and I want to be convinced of what was said personally. For this reason, there is no expectation that my experience will inspire confidence. Trust still needs to be earned. And, everyone goes their own way. But, I hope that this material will help someone save time, effort, nerves and money.

During the year, several new razors from the Soviet era were purchased, as well as a certain set of various abrasives, which are positioned as razors.

For example, a razor wheel made of microcorundum.

Or such a wonderful specimen of Beloretsk quartzite, better known as Belorechite.

And also a set of GOI paste. The pasta was bought new, but some sophisticated comrades competently assert that the current GOI pasta is no longer what it was under the Soviets. I will not undertake to confirm or deny this. But the aforementioned pasta will not become the heroine of this story, for certain reasons.

The note was postponed because at first it so happened that I decided to shoot, and the idea to experience everything that grandfathers experienced on my own face somehow faded into the background and was postponed. I didn't really return to it, but the abrasives were bought, plus an impressive block of Guangxi Chinese stone appeared, on which I had pinned great hopes.

With this arsenal and a couple of test razors, I left to open the 2016 summer cottage season at the very end of April. And based on the test results, it was decided to create a small rating of razor finishing abrasives and record the results.

The first was a Soviet touchstone for dressing razors made of microcorundum. Having checked it with a metal ruler, I found a small saddle and decided to trim it. Nothing boded. I quickly adjusted it to 220 silicon carbide powder, but as soon as I switched to 400 fraction, the fun began. Instead of grinding the surface of the donkey, a thin, loose, spotty film began to form on it, which could be erased from the stone by rubbing it with your finger. No matter how he fought, nothing worthwhile came out. I tried 600 silicon carbide grinding grains, the result is the same. As a result, the powder returned to 220, which perfectly removed the "scab", but the touchstone felt very rough in comparison with the second factory side. I tried to rub it on sandpaper. Then things went more vigorously. I went through 600, 1200, 1500 and then 2000. The result, in general, turned out to be commensurate with what was from the manufacturer, but plus or minus. Rather a minus to me. With this abrasive I completed the preparation. This was some kind of first incomprehensible and unsuccessful experience of lapping on silicon carbide. This is what happened from the side that I brought up.

And this is a factory tweak from the manufacturer.

The microcorundum donkey instructions say that it should be used with soapy water. And so he did. First I began to work on my side, the one that I had previously ground. I worked for a while on a test razor (and it was decently sharpened and brought to an acceptable shave). I looked at the result and was horrified. The resulting risks were visible to the naked eye. I changed the side of the touchstone to the one that was with the factory debugging. Started working on this side. The situation has improved slightly, but only slightly. For myself, I concluded that I would not have any desire to even try to shave with such a razor. I ran a razor over the stubble once and felt all the hardness and sharpness of the shave. On this, I completed the tests with the touchstone. In my rating of finishing abrasives for razors, I will give this touchstone the last fifth place.

The second was Beloretsk quartzite. Such a beautiful and pleasant to the touch stone, with a Soviet blue seal. I had it for a long time and there was a desire to try it on a razor. I estimated the size of the stone. When I ordered and bought it, I thought it would be bigger, but a very little boy arrived. But when I put it in my palm and began to sharpen the razor, I realized that I like this shape and size. And not hard, and the razor glides over the stone very confidently.

I looked differently at this format of stones as applied to a razor, although for a long time I considered the most convenient stones that are wider than the razor blade. There is certainly a moment for reasoning, tk. if you work with nagur suspensions, then a wide stone is probably preferable. But at the finishing stages and on straightening, when you work on a stone only with water or oil, the width no longer matters, but the convenience and control over the work become much more important. This was for the health of the belorechite. Now for peace. The risks from my copy also turned out to be visible without optics, which suggests that the stone is quite rough and is not suitable for the role of finishing for razors. There are options to play around with finishing the stone on different grinders, but I don't want to waste time on this yet. I put the white-talker in the penultimate or fourth place in my rating.

What conclusions have I drawn from the two previous sharpening experiments? That these abrasives are not enough to keep the razor in good condition. And although the instructions for the microcorundum donkey say that the razor should be brought after it on a canvas sling, and then on the skin, something suggests that pasted belts should be inserted in front of them (for example, with GOI paste). This seems to have been practiced due to the inaccessibility of finer abrasives. I didn’t do this, because such a process and the subsequent result was no longer interesting to me.

The miracle did not happen, but there was still hope that not everything was so bad with domestic fine abrasives. There were also doubts about the idealization of certain abrasives from different parts of the world and thoughts about belittling the capabilities of abrasives mined or produced in the USSR. They were dispelled. There is also Baikalite. Recently, cunning businessmen appeared who, under his guise, began to trade in something similar. After a small scandal and debate, something began to call it tuffite or baikalite-tuffite or something else. I stopped watching the battles of the dealers and how it all ended, I do not know. I have something similar in the format for the Apex format sharpener, but when sharpening the knives, it did not show anything particularly outstanding.

This stone worked for me when sharpening knives, probably thinner than belovechite or micro-corundum whetstone on razors. One could try this stone on a razor, but not this time. And he did not take it with him, and his format is not the same. I will definitely not buy for razors.

I will put Black Arkansas in third place.

A lot of copies have been broken here and discussions are overflowing. Arkansas are certainly different from each other. I have in stock a freshly mined one from the Dan "s company. Lapped on silicon carbide powder of the 1000th fraction. I can say that this stone was my first sharpening, after which I was able to shave more or less tolerably. But, you can regularly come across opinions that the razor after black Arkansas is quite aggressive. The tooth on the edge picks up, and shaving with such a razor, as they said before, is “troubling.” The sharpening technique in Arkansas, and the stones themselves, can vary. The razor finishes decently. It is not my task to refute these opinions, but I also gave up trying to squeeze the edge out of my Arkansas to a decent shave. I have no desire to look for another Arkansas. For knives, Black Arkansas is one of the best finishing stones for my taste. But for a razor - for an amateur.I put this stone in third place, due to the rather aggressive edge after finishing on it.

Guangxi. The stone is natural and from China. According to reviews - a big lottery to buy a decent copy. Because the stone is natural, then it may differ in structure and in the nature of the work from layer to layer. But, it is thin enough. Those inclusions that are found in it, for example, of a reddish-brown color, have a soft structure (according to the descriptions of the rock, these are fossil remains of ancient plants) and they do not affect sharpening.

My copy of Guangxi is finished with 1000 silicon carbide powder. The stone was larger, but during the leveling process a serious crack was found in it and had to shorten... According to my impressions and taking into account my razor sharpening technique (when the stone is on my hand), even such a hand-held version is too weighty and inconvenient. The hand gets tired. You need at least half the thickness. It became clear why some sellers saw them to make them thinner at least twice. With this stone he set up an additional experiment, abandoning synthetic abrasives in the early stages of sharpening. Now I use a set of solid Norton Washita, finished with 400 KK powder and black arkansas from this post above. I do not particularly lick a razor with these two stones, but, according to the results, it can be shaved with a grinding noise. And then I move on to nagura. V in this case to Guangxi and Nagura. I use nagura attributed by Asano Nagura.

When working with nagura, there are no special differences from working on other honzan bases, but they begin to appear when the nagur suspension is diluted in the process of work. Feels like the razor starts to slide over the Guangxi stone like a palm on the soap. Perhaps Guangxi could have been brought a little rougher, but there is no such desire. As a result, the process of sharpening and finishing is somewhat stretched when compared with Japanese natural stones. This is especially felt at the stage of finishing, when you are already working on a clean stone without using nagur. If the technology of sharpening with nagura is not very clear, then it is described in detail in an article on the Iwasaki method. How I do it myself, I showed in the film. From my own experience I was convinced that Guangxi is a rather specific and slow stone. But in the end lung effect there is a sticking / braking of the driven razor on the stone. In general, this stone is quite suitable to become the basis for nagur, as well as for finishing razor sharpening. By aggregate - Guangxi ranked second.

It is very difficult to decide on the first place. On the one hand, these are hard Japanese natural stones, on the other, Thuringian slate (but soft or hard is a question). Moreover, a fairly cheap Japanese stone Shobudani gives me finish results comparable to the finish on the attributed Japanese natural Nakayama Maruka (also not so expensive). Both are lapped in 1000 silicon carbide powder. There are recommendations to finish grinding such stones not on free grain, but on something made of thin synthetic water stones. I do not have such in stock, so I am content with what I have. Namely, silicon carbide powder. Nakayama Maruka was worn on thin synthetics by the previous owner. After that I finished it myself on silicon carbide. I didn't feel much difference in the work of this stone after one and the other type of finishing.

My first Japanese natural stone is Shoubudani.

And this is Nakayama Kiita Maruka. Once the stone was inserted into the box, but I uprooted it from there, because I prefer to sharpen the razor by holding the stone in my hands.

Next comes the export Thuringian.

Unfortunately, it is not attributed by the Escher hones. The seller, and the scanty descriptions from the Internet suggest that my stone is from the series and type that S.R. Droscher. I had the razors that finished on the Escher. And we managed to compare the difference between the finishes. If there is a difference between them and my Thuringian stone, then it is, for my taste and physiognomy, very insignificant. The stone is ground in 1000 silicon carbide powder. It was recommended to grind it in no higher than 600 fractions, but could not resist, brought it to 1000. The result is still satisfactory and once again there is no desire to scribble the stone.

I still can't decide which finish I like better, on Japanese natural stone or on Thuringian. On the latter, it may not be very happy with the fact that the water on it does not lie in a thin film, but collects in puddles during operation. The line in fine-tuning is so small and blurred, and the testing conditions are different (sometimes the razors are different, then the face is prepared in different ways, then the bristles different lengths) and it is still extremely difficult for me to grasp this line. I like both, but I still want to find something even better, even thinner, even more comfortable.

Summing up a certain result of this personal rating, I can say that if you are interested in budget sharpening and fine-tuning of the razor, then this is a set from Guangxi and Asano nagur. If you want some delights and more speed of work, then here is a set of Japanese natural stone and Asano nagur. At the same time, there is no particular sense in chasing attributed stones, which will not give a special subtlety and quality of the finish, but will rather have a collection value and interest. Well, for show off, you can add Thuringians to your arsenal and diversify the finish of the razor sharpening. The only drawback of the Thuringians against the background of the Guangxi and Japanese naturals is that these stones are the finishing stones. Guangxi and Japanese, combined with Asano nagura, provide a greater range of sharpening and finishing than the naked Thuringian. You can't equip him with nagura. You can, of course, try with nagura, only the hand does not rise, so you have to pick up a whole set of stones in order to squeeze out the same, which allows Asano to give nagura with a solid stone-base (which is called avasedo or honzan).

An inexpensive Japanese natural stone and a set of Asano nagur would probably be optimal. The rest is subtlety and sophistication that only people who are fond of sharpening and dangerous shaving can appreciate.

But, there are still enough stones for sharpening and fine-tuning the razors. Perhaps, if I have the means and desire, I will try other options and supplement this note.

Sharpening your straight razor is just as much fun using this tool as shaving. If you learn to sharpen a straight razor, you can tackle any cutting object. Therefore, such a skill is worth acquiring for every man.

Various stones are used to sharpen a straight razor. As much as you want to save money, you will have to spend on several copies, which you will use in turn each time. Today, synthetic stones are often used for razors, which you can buy in our store of razors and accessories for them.

Buy straight razor stones at britvaopasnaya.ru

Our online store is a specialized store of razors and accessories. We work directly with manufacturers, which means that we only have original products. In our large catalog you can buy straight razor sharpening stones, straightening razor straps, as well as straight razors from world famous manufacturers: Solingen and Thiers Issard. Solingen razors are available in two ranges. You can buy a dangerous Dovo Solingen and Erbe Solingen razor from us.

With proper care, these truly quality razors will last for decades. For a comfortable and safe shave, you need to buy a straight razor sharpener and strap. Below we will show you how to choose and use a straight razor stone.

Choosing a stone for sharpening a straight razor

People who recently bought a straight razor often get lost in the huge supply of the modern market and cannot choose the right stones for their tool. Different materials, section, quality - it's really easy to get confused. Your choice should be stones that differ in the following qualities.

1. A good straight razor stone should be uniform. Take a close look at its surface. It should be perfectly even visually. If you observe elevations on it, or heterogeneity, then it is better to refuse such a stone. 2. Size matters! Stones 150x50 work best. You can find other offers on the market: 60 × 180, 70 × 200, etc. We recommend that you stick to the optimal size so as not to overpay and sharpen your safety razor with maximum comfort. Assess the shape of the stone. It should be even on all sides. Often there are low-quality samples in which only one side is declared even. Get ready for the fact that you will buy a really high quality stone.

For a full-fledged and high-quality sharpening of a straight razor, you will need several stones of various grain sizes: # 500; # 1000; # 3000; # 5000; # 6000; # 8000; # 10,000: The first stone will come in handy for correcting straight razor geometry, rough cutting edges and repairing them. Further sharpening should be carried out on stones with an ever larger section.

Natural or synthetic?

Among the owners of razor razors, there is an ongoing debate about which stones are better to use for sharpening their tools: synthetic or natural. Let's try to understand this issue. For a long time, stones made in Belgium and Germany were considered the best. These are natural stones made from slate. They were even called once "razor stones". But progress does not stand still and can offer us alternative options. Recently, Japanese-made synthetic stones have become more and more popular. How are they better and worse?

1. Think about what nature can provide us with a synthetic stone machine. The slate can be heterogeneous in places, have different grain sizes, gradually fail, which will lead to a lower quality sharpening over and over again. Unfortunately, nature did not even assume that it was creating razor sharpening stones, so its plans were not to make them perfect. Synthetic stone for sharpening razor razors was made just for this purpose, therefore it has optimal characteristics. Therefore, with a qualitative approach to the manufacture of such stones, homogeneous samples are obtained without compaction, elevations or small depressions.

2. Experienced sharpeners still tend to choose stones created by nature. They say that using a straight razor sharpened on such stones is much more comfortable.

3. The use of natural stones is a real tribute to tradition. You will sharpen your shaving tool just like your ancestors did, and it is up to you to choose which stone to choose. However, for beginners, we recommend synthetic stones that are easier to handle. Alternative The modern market is ready to offer us alternative versions of stones for sharpening razor razors and in general other methods that you have to evaluate. We strongly recommend that you try each one individually to see which one is right for you. It is necessary that the sharpening process brings maximum comfort and pleasure.

Water stones

Most often, such stones are used for sharpening woodworking tools. However, it works for a straight razor too. It should be used for honing a razor (very coarse) when the tool no longer works as it should.

Water stones are also synthetic and natural. Most often, such products include aluminum, silicon carbide and ceramics. Before use, the stone must be moistened abundantly. You need to buy stones for sharpening dangerous razors by the size of the tool itself. Try to keep the length of the razor no more than the width of the stone. It is better to purchase a water stone with a small margin in order to sharpen your instrument with high quality.

Ceramic hones

These are old-fashioned razor-sharpening stones that you can still buy at regular stores, but have to look around. Domestic diamond-coated products can be purchased. Such stones are called "butcher's core". They are much softer than water stones, so they can be used for fine processing of the cutting edge. As a rule, these are very small stones that give a really high quality result. Suitable for dry work. You can also moisten such a stone. It all depends on how comfortable you are in working in one way or another.

Fine abrasive grit or sandpaper

You can try this method only for the sake of experiment, as you are unlikely to like it. Although it is inexpensive, sandpaper needs to be replaced frequently.

It can be very difficult for a beginner to determine that a razor's cutting edge is perfect and usable. There are two effective ways to determine how sharp your straight razor is. To do this, you can use a hair strand or a microscope. Better to combine them.

To get started, try using your straight razor to cut the hair in the air. You can do this on your hand without touching your skin. If the razor cuts off hairs, then you can use it. Next, look at it under a microscope. At 500x magnification, the cutting edge should be mirrored with only small spots and scratches.

Common mistakes when using sharpening stones

When you are just starting to use the Straight Razor Stone and have not yet experienced sharpening, you may encounter several interesting effects and bugs. In order to quickly learn how to bring the cutting edge to the ideal, we recommend that you avoid the mistakes that are listed below.

Sharp pain in the arm

You work with the razor for one hour, the second, the fourth, and now it is brought to perfection, it cuts hair on the fly! Remember that you have been working for a very long time, so be prepared for the fact that individual fingers or the whole hand can constrict a spasm. It manifests itself in sharp pain.

The pain does not occur during the sharpening process, but after it. During the evening, we do not recommend that you carry fragile objects in your hands, hold children and animals in your arms, because due to the sharp pain you can drop them. Also, don't shave right after sharpening. This can lead to injury. And if you drop the razor, it will turn into chips and the blade will have to be sharpened again or even purchased a new tool. Many people feel that they need to see a doctor because of such things. The point is that the spasm cannot be predicted. Beginners should be prepared for this effect.

Along the blade and in a circle

Despite all the respect for those people who taught you how to sharpen kitchen knives and other cutting tools, you must look at the facts and use the stone to straighten straight razors correctly. You must clearly understand what processes occur with the cutting edge due to certain manipulations with stones. And the first thing to know is that any stone leaves scratches on the cutting edge, right up to the final stages of processing.

Moving the cutting edge across the stone will have a positive effect on the sharpness of the razor. The furrows will be across the blade. In this case, the razor will withstand a lot of stress during chopping, cutting and planing and will not dull for a very long time.

This is not to say that circular and longitudinal movements will not lead to the fact that the razor becomes sharp. However, it will remain so for a short time. The fact is that the longitudinal grooves create thinning in some places. This leads to the fact that the razor gradually breaks off in the weakened areas. "Where it is thin, there it breaks." With this approach, you will need to use the straight razor stone very often. Circular and longitudinal motions can be used on non-abrasive stones that do not cut the cutting edge. This straight razor stone is designed to harden the tool.

Don't push!

Excessive pressure on the tool is a common mistake made by newly-made owners of straight razors. It is important to observe gradation here. At the very beginning of sharpening, with a rough cut of the cutting edge, the pressure on the razor should be significant. You should gradually release the pressure the next time you use the shaver. In the final stages, the razor should press on the stone only under the weight of its own weight. In some cases, even this pressure should be reduced.

Why is it so important? The fact is that under high pressure, the razor bends, and you are not processing the tip of the cutting edge, but the areas that are slightly higher. This will not work well and can ruin the razor if you try too hard.

Appearance or efficiency?

Even experts often use electrical tape or other interlayers when using stone to straighten and sharpen razors. In the short term, this will not lead to serious problems. However, after 10-15 such sharpenings, the razor will work worse and worse. Why? An explanation will be required.

Electrical tape and other interlayers are used to prevent abrasive materials from damaging the razor blade. This measure contributes to the fact that the razor looks aesthetically pleasing, no roughness remains on it, and mirror cleanliness is maintained. But by using such devices, you violate the geometry of the tool. It is already made so that everyone can sharpen it without resorting to using other materials and tools, except for stones.

When you use duct tape, you change the angle of the sharpening. He's getting dumber. Accordingly, the razor itself becomes dumber and dumber every time, despite the fact that you use a microscope to monitor its condition and other tricks. Therefore, we strongly discourage the use of electrical tape. If you buy a cheap stone of poor quality, you risk not only not achieving the desired result, but also ruining the razor. Such products are sold at every step at prices ranging from 20 to 200 rubles. They are usually made in China.

Determining which abrasive stone is not right for you is not easy. First, look at the price tag. A good tool cannot be too cheap. After purchasing, test the stone on something less gentle than a straight razor. Take a kitchen knife and try sharpening it. If, in the process, grains break off from the stone or they are located on it in small clusters, then it can be thrown away, "having bought yourself a mind" in this way.

Why are chipping grains so bad? They can be fatal to the cutting edge! Breaking off, they begin to roll between the surface of the stone and the cutting edge. This will damage the blade and cause severe chipping. Naturally, this negatively affects the severity.

Level up the stones!

It is very rare to find a perfectly flat stone that will become a faithful friend of your straight razor. Therefore, any stone, whether it is just from the packaging or the old one that you inherited from your great-grandfather, should be leveled before use. The exception will be stones of the DMT brands. But even among such products there are crooked products that need to be fine-tuned. Adjustment is a rather complicated process. It can be carried out using another stone of a smaller section or special tools. In this matter, it is better not to risk it again and contact a specialist.

Cleaning before use

During storage, stones become covered with dust. The dust particles, although small, serve as an additional abrasive that interferes with work. Brush all rubbish off the stone with your hand, both before use and when working. Rinse and moisten water stones in a timely manner to achieve maximum results.

If you take good care of the stones for sharpening razor razors, which you can buy from our certified online store, then your tool will delight you every day with sharpness and efficiency. Don't make common mistakes and don't stop improving!