The Care and Feeding of your Zowada Damascus Razor.
New – Out of the box
Your razor will arrive with a heavy coat of RIG gun grease on the blade surface. Wipe off all the grease you can using a paper towel or facial tissue. Be very careful around the edge. The razor is supplied “shave ready” and will cut you if you are not careful.
These days many users are uneasy about the possibility of bacteria on the blade. If you are one of them, put the blade in boiling water for five minutes. This will not hurt the temper of the blade. Be sure not to bang the blade edge on the pot. Also, be sure to protect the handle material from the hot water and the stove.
For the first few uses, you may notice a black residue coming off the blade. This is iron oxide left from the etching of the Damascus pattern. The black layers are slightly pitted during the etching. These microscopic pits hold the iron oxide. After several uses the black residue should be completely cleaned out.
Daily Care
Treat your Damascus razor as you would any other carbon steel razor. After shaving, rinse the blade with hot water and gently dry with a towel. Be sure all the water is off the blade. If you will be using it again soon, that is all you need do.
Stropping
Stropping the blade before use improves the edge. Usually 20 – 30 strokes on an untreated hanging strop will keep the edge in good shape for weeks. Once the strop will no longer keep the edge smoothly shaving, it is time for re-honing.
The start of the stroke on the hanging strop. Pull the strop snug,
Pull the blade towards you. Flip the blade over it's back. Push it back to the top.
Little to no down pressure should be used.
Honing
Zowada razors are designed to be simple to maintain. A minimum of tools are required to maintain your razor for a lifetime. These would include:
1.Norton 4000/8000 grit water stone
2.Finishing stone – This could be a: Belgian Coticule, Escher, 12,000 grit Chinese water stone, Translucent Arkansas, Spyderco Ultrafine, Shapton 30,000 grit Pro-hone, or similar ultra fine hone.
3.Leather Bench Hone – This is optional, but a good idea. HandAmerican offers a great unit. Charge the leather with 0.25 micron diamond compound.
4.Hanging leather strop.
5.Electrical tape.
Honing Procedure
A. If the edge only needs a minor touch-up, you can start with the finish hone. Be sure the hone is lapped flat and in good condition. Keep the hone surface wet with water.
The way to think of the finish stone is that it is for polishing only. If you have any metal removal to do, you will need to use the 4000 or 8000 grit Norton to begin. Which one will depend on how much metal there is to remove. See “B” below
Lay the tape on the blade's back
Fold it ofer the sides
For final finish stone honing, place three layers of electrical tape on the blade back. This does two things. It protects the Damascus finish from scratching and the 0.018” thickness of three tape layers sets the correct bevel angle.
The edge angle is controlled by the height of the razor and the thickness of the back. When honing, lay the blade flat on the stone. It will only make contact on the edge and the back. Slowly and gently slide the blade across the stone, moving towards the blade edge. Roll the blade over its back and make a stroke in the opposite direction.
Five to ten strokes, alternating on both sides of the blade is usually sufficient to restore the edge. Use only the weight of the blade on the hone. Pushing down on the blade, to speed things up, will only ruin the edge. Do not use any slurry on the finish hone for this step.
The start of the honing stroke. Gently slide the blade to the right.
Flip the blade over it's back and go back to the left
After the finish hone, the leather bench hone may be used. This is not required, but it doesn't hurt anything either. Ten strokes, pulling the blade away from the edge is all that is needed. Once again, use only the weight of the blade on the hone.
The start of the leather bench hone stroke. Gently slide the blade to the left.
Flip the blade over it's back and go back to the right.
B. If the edge is too beat up to restore with the finish hone, start with the 4000 or 8000 grit Norton. Use only one layer of tape on the back for this initial step. The idea is to purposely create a very small two step bevel. This allows the finishing stone, with two layers of tape, to have a clean and smooth edge on which to create it's own micro-bevel.
After the edge looks good with the 8000 grit Norton, use about twenty strokes on your finish hone, keep one layer of tape on the blade for this initial polishing.
Then, go to step A. above. Use three layers of tape and ten very light strokes. This two bevel thing is very subtle. If you can see the secondary bevel formed by the finishing step “A”, you have gone way too far. It should only be visible at about 200 power under a microscope. Some will prefer to stick with one layer of tape for the whole thing. That's fine, and the traditional way of doing it.
Once honing is complete, use a quality hanging strop the finish the blade. On a freshly honed blade, I usually use 50 laps on the strop. Stropping on the hanging strop is done without tape on the blade back.
Long term storage
For long term storage, coat the blade and handle with a good gun oil or grease. I prefer RIG gun grease for this as it doesn't evaporate. Wrap the razor in a cotton cloth or paper towel. Store in a cool dry place.
Returning the Razor for Service
Call ClassicShaving.com at 760.288.4178
