I’ve been lurking around the straight razor forum and getting acclimated. I consider myself to be a good sharpener, and I know I like to analyze what exactly is happening when I sharpen. But sharpening my straight razor has always been a challenge for me.
After watching Lynn sharpen his straight razor, I noticed that he repeatedly switched between the 4,000 and 8,000 grit stones. At first, I couldn’t understand why he would go back and forth instead of simply progressing to the finer stone. Then he explained that the edge of a straight razor is very delicate, and that single word immediately caught my attention. Curious to understand it better, I picked up one of my own razors and started thinking about what was actually happening at the edge.
At first, the explanation still didn’t completely click. As I sharpened and tried to picture the edge under magnification, a theory started to form.
Every sharpening stone removes steel by creating scratches. This is especially easy to visualize with stones like Shaptons, where each grit leaves a very distinct scratch pattern. As you move through a sharpening progression, each finer stone removes the scratches from the previous grit while creating a new set of scratches that are both shallower and narrower.
That led me to think about the edge as a series of tiny peaks and valleys.
The coarse stone creates those peaks and valleys by cutting deeper grooves into the steel. The valleys represent the shape you ultimately want, while the peaks are simply excess material left between those grooves. When you move to the next finer stone, its job is not to create an entirely new edge, but to gradually remove those peaks until they become level with the valleys formed by the previous stone.
That part of the process is fairly straightforward and is something most sharpeners already understand.
The idea of a delicate edge, however, began to make much more sense. As the bevel becomes thinner and the scratch pattern becomes finer, there is very little steel supporting the very apex of the edge. Every stroke removes only a tiny amount of material, but it also has the potential to change or damage that extremely thin edge if too much pressure is applied or if the progression isn’t controlled carefully.
Looking at the process this way gave me a better understanding of why some sharpeners alternate between two grit levels instead of simply moving in one direction. The goal isn’t just to polish the edge—it’s to refine the apex while preserving its shape and minimizing unnecessary steel removal.
If I use a Shapton stone (which I do) or any other, of any grit constantly, I would get the same version of the peaks and valleys described earlier from using the coarse stone, just at a different ratio. However, by making the peaks and valleys on the coarser grit (in this case, the second to last stone), and then smoothing them over with just a few passes on the finer grit (in this case, the final stone) WITHOUT establishing a new set of peaks a valleys, well… you should then have a very nice shave .
This method also seems to promote the very gradual approach to the thinnest possible edge without “going over”, and removing unnecessary metal from the edge.
BTW, I used a Shapton Glass 16K and 30K. I didn’t follow the pyramid per se, but I tried going between the 2 stones and I did notice a better finish on the blade than just using the 30K over and over. I didn’t strop. I got a good shave, but it still wasn’t quite what I am looking for, but it is definitely a step in the direction I want it to go.
I am going to take my blade back down to #2000 and work it back up using the pyramid “scheme”. I think the overall edge has been rounded over too much from all the previous stropping on the barber’s strop. Unfortunately, I only shave once a week, so I will have to wait until next week to personally see if my theory is correct.
If anone is able to follow my babble, I would love to hear theories — either way. Of course if everyone else has already had this epiphany, I’ve just had it for myself.
very interesting, I can visualize your idea, makes sense.
Eumax, Thanks! I just found out I can reply to comments! I hope you enjoy my posts!