Thread: Noob, purchasing my first razor

That's assuming you shave 3x a week. I touch up my blades every 5 shaves or so (depending on the blade) but depending on the blade and your skin type, you can get away with 15 in some cases.

Originally Posted by 16valve

so matt, you're a noob too? i thought you were a guru haha. anyways, so how should things start out here when i receive my kit....like a few steps of sequences. say i shave 3 times a week, how often would you re-hone, and things of the sort, any tips and things would be great, i'm viewing as many vids as i can for the works. catch you guys later.

Haha, nope not a guru. I am well informed as I spend a good deal of time on this site, as well as a few others. I read a lot. But I have only been actually shaving with a straight for about a month now. I just started restoring a razor, and I am still waiting on my hone to start learning that. (My Norton and Tony Miller pasted padle will be here soon!)

well guys i got my #2 newb kit (paddle strop kit) and i also had tony include a hanging strop and it came in today but damnit i gotta go to work now hahaha. anyways, pretty excited to try it out, i let the facial hair grow so i could reserve this shave for my new dovo beast....i'll keep ya updated how this will work out, confidence is key!

Originally Posted by FiReSTaRT

A quick touchup on the pasted paddle every 2-4 weeks should do the trick.

Originally Posted by 16valve

man you guys are on point with the responses, thanks buddy i'll write that one down.

No need to, the shave will tell you when the razor wants some attention.

Originally Posted by 16valve

... confidence is key!

And overconfidence is a recipe for disaster. Just remember to stay loose, go slow and keep you mind on every millimeter of the business end of the razor at all times and you should do okay. Careful with the stropping too. Many a n00b has knocked the nice new edge off a razor by using pressure or stropping otherwise incorrectly. You may count yours truly among them.

Keep us posted!

X

quick question guys, i want to fully understand the sides of my strop just so i don't screw anything up. The "linen" side is the raw side correct? And paste is only applied to the opposite side of the linen? I took my ebay blade and practiced stropping along one of my leather belts

incorrect. i don't know what type of hanging strop you bought but if its ONLY leather then one side will be very smooth and refined. this is the side you use to strop. the other side is RAW meaning not as refined. this side isn't used. if you have linen on your hanging strop it will be covering this RAW side.

linen is exactly what it says, LINEN. as in a fabric. this is used before you do your normal stropping just before you shave. it is used to heat up the edge allowing you bit easier time aligning the steel as you do normal stropping on the smooth, pure leather side. it also helps to remove the microserations in the edge. some people use it after the shave as a means to both dry and align the edge before putting it away. not everyone has or uses linen side.


you can see here that the front side with the metal and horse head in it is the smooth side which is used for stropping. you can see as the strop bends the raw side which is not used.


you can see here a hanging strop with linen. smooth on one side and the white fabric(linen) on the back side. this is linen.

to do touch ups you use the pasted sides of the strop..these contain "grit" or cutting material that is fine and will reform that fine edge. like the people said above 5 shaves to 15 shaves or more, all depends on your use/beard type and technique/ability stropping and ofcourse the bevel. deminishing returns. you can't do touch up for 2years on a blade, eventually you will have to take it back to lower grit hones and put a good bevel back on it then just touch ups for a long time again.

for normal daily stropping just before you shave you use the plain leather side. remember to do it SPINE leading. if you go edge first you will cut into the leather and nick it, which you don't want to do. if you use a hanging strop pull it tight, use light to no pressure, lay the blade flat and go slow till you get technique down. speed does NOT matter. this daily stropping is where you can use the linen side also before the leather.

~J

ps. the above pictures were taken off Tony Millers site (for full disclosure)

Thanks for stepping in with the quick lesson <g>. I think he added the #4 Beginner strop to hos set which would not have the linen side as you mentioned.


16valve, did you get the instructions I included or where you just looking for more detailed info? Hopefully I didn;t forget them this time <g>

Tony

hey J, that was a BIG help. The reason i was asking is because the instructions i got included info about a linen side, that kinda threw me off but by the feel of this raw leather side i was really in doubt it was to be used. I just needed some clarification. I like to fully understand equipment before i use it and it aggrivates the hell out of me if i screw things up because i confused and such. again thanks alot, great info. Tony, that's basically all i needed, thanks for your response, you guys are a real helpful community.