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First time trying the dilocut

J

jfdupuis

Well-Known Member
Hey guys,

just finished honing a razor using the dilocut. 3/4 of the blade seems to be shaving well and popping hair (haven't tried shaving with it yet) but the heel is pretty dull. Based on how the blade is resting on the stone, I think it might be warped a bit since it's not sitting completely flat. I don't know how you guys do it though. I tried adding a drop or 2 of water every 30 strokes or so but the slurry wasn't changing much to be honest.
 
If the edge is not shaving arm hairs all along the entire edge when your doing half strokes, you can not move forward or you will just wasting time, as for the warp, try doing a rolling X as shown in the sharpening academy, this should catch the whole edge nicely
 
I will try the rolling X to see if it improves it. I also find it difficult to use so many strokes without losing a lot of the slurry.
 
I'd put black marker along the edge and do 10 or 20 regular strokesif there is marker left near the heal you will need to use rolling x as ralfy says and like ralfy says check each potion of the edge to see if you can just shave arm hair or even top of your leg. then move on. as for loosing slurry you will loose a little . i stop way before the end so's not to push slurry of the hone just keep diluting untill your down to no slurry and increase laps towards the last stages before fresh water.
 
garyhaywood said:
I'd put black marker along the edge and do 10 or 20 regular strokesif there is marker left near the heal you will need to use rolling x as ralfy says and like ralfy says check each potion of the edge to see if you can just shave arm hair or even top of your leg. then move on. as for loosing slurry you will loose a little . i stop way before the end so's not to push slurry of the hone just keep diluting untill your down to no slurry and increase laps towards the last stages before fresh water.
Click to expand...

I try to do the same. Good call, Gary:thumbup:
 
Thanks guys! I think I will give my great grand dad's razor a spin today. I hope it shaves well! (I used the unicot for that one)
 
Try this... put your thumb on the blade near the heel so the blade tilts and the edge at the heel is in contact with the hone, Then do a few straight back-and-forth (no "X" strokes) strokes on each side until the heel sharpen up a bit more, then lighten up on the pressure for a few more strokes.

What is happening is... the bevel at the heel is still rounded, but the rest of the bevel is flat, so you need to give "only" the heel a few extra strokes to help that area "catch up" to the rest of the bevel. The thumb will put a little bit of pressure to help speed up the process.

Test the heel from time to time, and when it's about as sharp as the rest of the edge, then you can do the usual rolling stroke with no pressure.


Next time, I will show photos of the process.
 
Good idea. Based on the HHT, the rest of the blade appears to be ready to go. I will try your suggestion and give the heel some much deserved attention. It doesn't bother me if the entire blade is operational. From what I've read old barbers even purposely left the heel a bit dull. When you really think about it. We don't always use the entire blade.
 
That’s true; barbers (and most of us) use the point end of the edge 99% of the time.
However, some self-shavers use the heel to do the chin, because the heel is closer to the hand, for better control (leverage, so to speak).

Its just like pealing an orange... you use the edge near the heel because it's closer to your hand for better control.
But it is very difficult to peal an orange using the edge near the point of the knife (unless of course the knife is very short).
 
Smythe said:
That’s true; barbers (and most of us) use the point end of the edge 99% of the time.
However, some self-shavers use the heel to do the chin, because the heel is closer to the hand, for better control (leverage, so to speak).

Its just like pealing an orange... you use the edge near the heel because it's closer to your hand for better control.
But it is very difficult to peal an orange using the edge near the point of the knife (unless of course the knife is very short).
Click to expand...

I was just thinking last night how important it was to have the whole blade sharp. I use every part of it, and if it wasn't all sharp, I'd not enjoy the resulting frustration:p
 
Well just finished a quick shave with my great grand father's razor honed using the unicot method. Overall a pretty good one pass shave (ended up switching cream while shaving so ran out of time to do two passes). I think it could be a bit better so I'm going to go back to the coticule and touch it up a bit. What do you guys recommend? No tape and light slurry followed by tape with slurry and water? Or simply tape and water? or?

Thanks!

JF
 
if its unicot then go back to where you finished and do 30 laps on water. Did the razor pull at all?

Dups if you want to try both methods if i was you i would start with dilucot method do your test shave on one side of your face if you think it could be better just convert to second method that being unicot add layer of tape to your exsiting layer of tape and do 30 on very misty slurry then 50 on plain water strop as usaul and shave the other side compare the differance you can reserve unicot as back up if dilucot method is'nt keen enough eventualy you will get that much quiker and better that your dilucot method will just improve and you won't need unicot.
 
As said, if you finished the razor using unicot I would put the same amount of tape back on and rework on water 30 laps then try the hht, if its less than a loud violin I would use very very light slurry, like 2 rubs of the slurry stone, and do a light 30, then rinse the stone and razor and do 50 on water, try the hht again and if its a catch and pop even with a bit of a fumble, take the tape off and strop 60 on canvas and then 60 on leather, hht should now be a lot lot better and the shave should be a lot lighter
Did you strop before shaving?
 
Yep I always do. I did 60 on fabric 80 on VB Latigo and about 40 on my old Craftman Horseside strop. I got a pretty good shave out of it. I'm sure the little incident with my first soap didn't help. (I couldn't get the right consistency so I ended up shaving with it anyways.) I then switched to my trusty Proraso cream to finish the other side.

JF
 
I don't no about you ralfy but i find the hht on unicot never realy fails i get exallant results. With dilucot it is a little more inconsistant but can be done with practis. my 6/8 dovo is passing fairly well but compared to the filarmonicas they passed on ultra fine hairs its weird how i get this differance. not so long back i was happy with passing of normal medium hair now i want to pas on the very fine hairs i wonder if barts razors tend vary on the hht from razor to razor do yours? i will only shave of a razor if i'm passing 3 to 4 but i prefer 4 to 5. having said that a 3 gives a good shave any thing below i would not atempt
 
thanks for the great replies guys. It's my very first time with this razor so I can't really compare. According to my uncle the razor hasn't been used in about 60 years. It was dull as a butter knife when I took it out of its box.
 
Proraso cream Mmmmm :thumbup:

Yeah gary I am looking for a HHT 3 before i quit the stone, if I just get a HHT 2 then I will do more laps on water, I have never tried but I reckon you could shave without stropping if you got a hht 4
 
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