The use of tape in straight razors

In the last week I’ve been thinking about tape on the spine of a razor. The general conclusion is that you can use it for a couple of thing:

1. Save the spine some hone wear when you have to work out a chip or have to fix a frown.
2. Prevent scratches on the spine of the razor.

However, nobody seems to talk about another use for tape, and that’s strengthening the edge. For some razors this is the only way to prevent them from collapsing after 1 pass.

Traditional?

There are some honers that say tape is not traditional and they are right. In the “old days” they didn’t use and tape to strengthen the edge. They all held up fine when in use and they were honed often on the same hones we still use today. So why are we using it now then?

Let’s take a look at older hones. When you find an old Coticule for example, more often than not it will be dished. This will result in a convex edge of some sort that will be a lot stronger than the pure and crisp V-bevels we use now.

Now I won’t purposefully dish my stones because it’s helpful on some razors. I keep my stones flat because I also use them for knives and I like the crisper edge more myself.

When to use tape

In a lot of razors, tape won’t be necessary, but some really do need it in my opinion. Sure you can get by without, but micro chipping will appear and your edge will collapse during the shave.

Some stones (like the 16k Glass stone) also may need taped razors because they are so fast and aggressive that they might cut through the bevel. For this I’m borrowing Tom Blodgett’s pictures of a Klas Tornblom razor. You can see his article on these stones HERE

This is the razor honed on Glass stones with 1 layer of tape. I’m sure most of you will see that the edge is pretty clean, yet it didn’t hold up at all because the edge was too thin.

Tom added a second layer of tape, still to find out the edge wasn’t stable and would collapse at the end of the shave. So it did improve, but still it wasn’t good enough. So after he added 3 layers and this is the resulting edge:

Now that ting just looks odd right? Well yes and no. I’ll agree that 3 layers of tape just makes it look odd. If you look at the 3 bevels, you’ll notice why more tape was necessary:

The circled areas are the places where there would be chipping. You can see the deeper scratches and that’s where it would collapse.

After 3 layers, the edge of the edge doesn’t look that much cleaner, but it’s holding up this time resulting in a great shave. Here’s the edge after stropping:

Conclusion

In this case the micro chipping was because of the edge was too thin. Not because there were residual scratches.

I think it’s safe to assume, that with modern hones and modern honing techniques, sometimes tape is a necessity and not only there because of cosmetic reasons.

Kamisori honing

I got a Kamisori razor a few months ago, and looked up how to hone it. If you aren’t familiar with the traditional style, just Google it. You’ll find tons of info, but the general consensus is that you have to sharpen 1 side more than the other. A popular ratio is 7 on the “omote” and 1 on the “ura” side (this is the side with the stamp or engraving). I always used 10/3 and that worked well.

The only problem I had with this system is that the ura side will never be as well finished as the omote side because it doesn’t have enough strokes on it. That’s why I wondered how I could get them both finished equally.
So let’s start with the 8k stone. 8k is considered a finishing stone for most western razors, but in my opinion, it’s not enough for the Kamisori razors. I finish on a natural or the 30k Shapton pro. In most cases, I finish on my Nakayama Nasiji.

 

So what I did was using the 15k Shapton Pro as my synthetic finishing stone. So every time I was doing the ura side, I would use the 15k Shapton Pro. I only had to multiply the amount of strokes I did on the omote side. So for the 8k stone, I did 6 on the ura instead of 3. This way you keep the same profile.

A problem you can encounter is grit contamination, so you have to use a paper towel to clean off the blade each and every time you switch to the other stone. Of course you only have to do the math once. After the first honing session, you will only need the 8 and 15k stones to keep it in tip top order.

I’ve always found the Kamisori razors very easy to hone, but this improved the edge even more. I finished on my Nasiji with the regular 10/3 ratio.

 

16k Shapton glass

There was never a stone that got so much love and hate at the same time. Some love the stone and get smooth edges with it, some say shaving with this edge feels like shaving with a rasp. I found it odd that there were so many different opinions on it and decided to try the stone myself.

I used a Swedish 5/8 Heljestrand razor to make it even harder because of the hard steel.

There are 2 main problems with this stone that you need to overcome:

Speed

Shaptons are fast. Faster than pretty much every synthetic and natural out there. And the glass stone is even faster than the pro series. This has its advantages, but at this level, it’s a disadvantage. Because the stone is so fast it’s hard to polish the grooves instead of replacing the 8k scratches completely. If you set a true 16k edge, this will be a harsh edge and you will see micro chipping and flaking at the very edge.

Binder

The binder in the Glass stones is softer and releases abrasive much faster than the Pro stones. This means they are faster, but they also generate slurry faster. Slurry can be handy at low grits to get things set up fast, but after 600 or 800 grit, it only causes more troubles. Especially on these hard Swedish razors. The slurry that forms keeps hitting the edge so that it chips out.

This is the edge that was honed before I called Tom. It had around 40 laps on the 16k before I took the picture.

At this point I had no idea what I did wrong, so I called Tom. He explained this and said I should go back to the 8k Pro and do 40 laps on it to clean everything up again. So that’s exactly what I did. I remembered my edge looked nice and clean at 8k, so I figured that it would look the same. In my experience you can’t overdo the 8k Pro stone. If you wish to do 100 laps, then that’s no problem. The 8k Pro will always look the cleanest because it hides scratches and blend them too. When you progress to the 16k, all the underlying flaws will pop up and the edge might not look as good.

Also, since this is a Swedish razor with very hard steel, the very edge of the edge will never be as clean as a softer American or British razor of the Shaptons.

Yes… the chip in the bottom part is horrible. I decided I wouldn’t go back to 2k to fix it. Hitting the Veho microscope with the edge 1 time will cause this, so I decided to let it be since I’m all thumbs and I would probably hit the edge again (luckily I didn’t)

 

After that I went back to the 16k. I cleaned it of so no slurry was on top and sprayed it with a bottle of water. I proceeded with VERY light laps. After 10 laps, this was the result:

The edge of the edge will clean up with some stropping. As you can see, there is no micro-chipping anymore.

 

After 5 laps on the Kanayama canvas + 20 on the leather:

I hope this helps a lot of the Glass stone owners out. Each stone needs a different approach. And until you figure it out, it can drive people mad. I’m glad Tom helped me out here and it gave me a smooth and comfortable shave.

 

 

 

Shapton 2k

Sharpeners and knife fanatics often ask me what stones I use. Most of the time they ask questions about coarse stones and finishing stones. For some reason, the medium stones aren’t that popular. It’s a shame because these stones hold the key to a good edge at the end of your progression. The progression determines which medium stone you use. I often use a 1k stone after 400 grit and before 3k. But what if you have a 800 grit coarse stone and a 5k polishing stone? Well then, the Shapton 2k is perfect for you!

The 2k Pro is an odd piece. It cuts close to any other 1k stone, yet leaving a smooth finish that already has a certain level of polish. For most softer steel knives, this is a good finisher. For harder knives, this is a perfect way pre polisher. The Shapton stones have an interesting grain pattern. The interesting bit is that the white is the abrasive and the green the matrix.

There’s a reason Shapton does not offer a 3k Pro stone. It’s because there is absolutely no need for one in their progression. The 2k is fine enough to lead the way for the 5k Pro. You can’t miss out on this stone. It’s a valuable part in my stone lineup and my results wouldn’t be the same without it!

Substrates

Introduction

There are a number of different substrates that are sold through CKTG and most of them can be used for numerous compounds, pastes, powders and sprays. I’ll try and briefly explain the advantages and disadvantages of each substrate. As always, these products are horses for courses and my favorite might not be yours. The macro shots used were kindly provided by Ken Schwartz, the microscope pictures were taken by me. The products are all made by Hand American, except the paper.

Bovine leather

Perhaps the most used substrate of all. It’s fairly cheap and works well with  bar compounds, powders, pastes and sprays. The grain holds the abrasive particles well and the slight cushioning is good for convex edges. If you want a pure straight V bevel, then this isn’t the substrate for you. Yes, the convexing is marginal and I for one like it, but some don’t.

Bovine leather on its own (without compounds) doesn’t really do much and isn’t an optimal finisher. If you want to finish on bare leather, I would advise horse because of the silicates in it. But more on that later.

Horse leather

 

This is my personal favorite for a number of reasons. One of them is the slightly stiffer nature of the leather. The leather isn’t as soft as bovine and doesn’t convex as much. If you do want your edge to be a bit convex, you can get away with a bit more pressure here. The second reason why I like this one better than bovine is that it can be used as a plain leather finisher.

Its feedback is better and the leather has more silicates that act as a compound on its own. This isn’t like CBN, or another compound that removes scratches. It blends the scratches of the finest compounds together making the edge slicker.

 

This is the back of Hand American horse leather:

Split leather

How this leather is processed is explained on the webpage of this product at CKTG. In short, they basically cut the top layer of the leather to expose the rougher layer underneath. Think of the layer as a cat’s tongue. Rough to the touch and slightly bumpy. This offers some advantages on its own. The grabby little “fingers” are excellent for deburring and give great feedback during deburring. I prefer this leather with sprays and more specifically sprays up to 0.25µ. The leather holds these sprays very well, and buries them into the grain. This will lead to a more polished edge and will cause the particles to not cut as deeply as on another substrate.

Balsa

 

This a fairly recent substrate. Keith de’Grau started with this substrate and it’s become one of the most popular substrates around. And rightfully so! The slight velvety feel of Keith’s balsa holds semi pastes perfectly and the grain of the wood will hold sprays as good as any other substrate. It’s the perfect substrate for people that are looking for a precise crisp V-bevel. It has almost no compression so it approximates a stone’s hardness. A 30k Shapton is hardly inexpensive, but a 30k balsa blank is pretty cheap. A 0.5µ spray or paste combined with a balsa blank can get you close to the same results with some patience and some care. You can’t use edge leading strokes however.

Paper

 

Another good option for perfect V-bevels. When glued to glass, it acts as a stone and works well with pretty much every compound. It is however a bit fiddly because paper curls and when you remove it from the glass it tends to roll up. You can glue it to neoprene too so you can have a softer backing for convex edges if you like that. Contamination is very easy too. You really need ziplock bags for this substrate. Ever since balsa came to the show, paper is used less and isn’t discussed as much as it used to be. It’s still a good substrate and it can work wonders on both knives and razors. On its own, it works as a polisher. Newspaper has been used for a long time as a strop and the ink in the paper works as a compound. Paper used for fine fountain pens (like Clairefontaine) work very well.

Mylar

 

There’s not much to say about this substrate as it’s more or less the same as paper. It’s flimsy, but flat. It has less of a grain though and therefore makes the compound cut deeper than paper. But when you scratch the mylar, you will scratch the finish. There is no room for error here.

 

Felt

 

One of the most used substrates for deburring and sprays. It’s best suitable for sprays, but I don’t like it for pastes or dry compounds. Also on the Edge Pro, it’s messy because of the hairs that fall off of the felt. When spraying compound on felt, you can get bumps because the liquid in the spray swells the surface. So spray once, let it dry, and then spray again.

Like split leather, it’s full of small holes that hide the compound making it smoother than some other substrates. The feedback is something you love or hate. For deburring, felt is the number one substrate and used most. CKTG has recently announced special deburring blocks made by Hand American.

Conclusion

Whatever substrate is your favorite, there’s a purpose for using them all. Luckily Mark stocks them all and has the highest quality available. We have Keith de’Grau to thank for that