Hello SRP!

I suggest you go to SRD for your strop as well, you won't get very far with canned shave foam, you'll want a decent cream or soap. You'll also want a shave brush, the choices there are generally between Badger and Boar bristles. And forget about honing for now, but if you must hone, start with getting yourself a finer stone, say a 12k and practice on touching up the edge with that before moving up to honing from scratch with your 1k or lower stone.

Others will elaborate on that for you I'm sure. In the meantime, welcome to the forum, and have fun. I wish you every success. it's the best way to shave once you get the hang of it. :)


Mick

Welcome to the forum!

Note that sharpening razors is vastly different from sharpening any other knife that I know of. Mick has a good point in buying a 12K Naniwa for touch-ups. Otherwise, I would advise 3/8K Naniwa Super Stones or the 4/8K Norton. Both have been used by hundreds/thousands of people here and they are reliable and predictable, unlike natural stones that are charming and smooth but harder to master.

Take a (long) look at the beginners guide here, don't forget about brush and soap and have fun!

That strop will be crap. If you are buying a razor from srd, then you should pick up a strop from them.

Welcome to the forum! Read a little more BEFORE you buy.

Michael

+1 for a strop from SRD. I recommend a 3 inch strop so you won't have to worry about learning the X stroke.

Welcome to the best forum on the net.
Good luck.

Yes sir that strop will get you no where. How do I know? Because I bought the same one when I first began. I was looking for cheap in all the wrong places. While everyone is telling you to go to SRD for a strop there are other places you can get a good strop for cheaper such as whippeddog.com or starshaving.com.

I would skip the hone for now. Just me but if you have to have a hone follow the sage advice mentioned above and get something in the 12k or higher grit range.

As far as the canned stuff for cream. There is no rule anywhere saying you can't use it and its not like there is some force field around your razor that won't let it near canned cream. Its just that yes you will experience a better shave with a real
shave soap or cream that you have to work into a lather. If your trying to save money you can get the Van Der Hagen deluxe shave soap or premium (I can't remember which one but its the more expensive one). Its like 5 bucks so same price as a can and you can pick up a boar brush on the cheap in most cases. Although if you are really only wanting the canned shave cream then I would at least suggest you get a quality shave cream as to lower the irritation from you beginning technique (read bad). Try Nivea shave cream as that is the only canned stuff that I have found can come close to the real deal.

Good Luck

Hello, ballsley, and welcome to Straight Razor Place.

I keep my honing setup simple:
Chosera 1K for repairing blades and setting bevels.
Norton 4/8K
2 Japanese water stones in the 12-16 K range
Naniwa 12K

For finishing, sometimes I use the Japanese water stones and sometimes the Naniwa 12K. For you, I suggest the Chosera 1K, the Norton 4/8K and the Naniwa 12K. It's nice and simple. This is in the future. For now, as you try to hone your skill with the straight razor, as Mick noted, have your razor honed professionally. That will give you an idea what a well honed razor should feel like.

Then there is the strop you have listed. Good heaven, you can do far better than that. Online shaving and razor vendors offer a variety of fine strops: SRD, Tony Miller, Neil Miller, Mountain Mike, Illinois (Fromm) and others.

You also have a choice of a wide variety of brushes from these same vendors: Simpson, Rooney, Thater, Vulfix, Plisson, Muhle, Kent, Semogue, Omega and others.

For soaps and creams, you have even a wider choice: Martin de Candre, Xpec, Castle Forbes, D.R. Harris, Taylor of Old Bond Street, Geo F Trumper, Institute Karite, Provence Sante, Mitchell's Wool Fat, Proraso, Cella, Valobra, and on and on.

Give yourself a good start. The best of luck.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by ColonelG

+1 for a strop from SRD. I recommend a 3 inch strop so you won't have to worry about learning the X stroke.

Welcome to the best forum on the net.
Good luck.

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That's debatable, many guys still recommend using an x stroke on wider strops to account for inconsistencies in the strop surface, however I still think a wider strop is better, I only have a 3" strop. But I know that I prefer using my wider finishing hone over my narrower one.

Obie covered everything very well, it looks like you have a limited budget, but want a nice razor, which is good, I would leave the hone at the moment and spend that money on a better strop, and some proper shaving soap, even the VDH kit advertised as an also buy on the link to the strop would suffice. If you start out with a solid basic kit, you can upgrade parts slowly as you find the need, however start out with rubbish, and you will buy things twice.

Welcome to SRP. Simply put.
1.) Razor is great selection
2.) Forget that strop. Spend a bit more and you'll be happier down the road. Read here Strops
3.) Forget canned cream. Look for a brush, good shave cream/soap/stick & a preshave.
4.) Nothing wrong with the stone but IMO not for edge touch up. Need finer grit. Go with something at least 8000 - 10000 or Naniwa 12000.

thanks so much fellas!

Learn to shave, usually takes about 30 shaves for it all to come together.

Learn to touch up a razor, takes a bit of time to learn the feel of honing..I don't care if you are a master knife sharpener.

Learn to hone, by this time you will have realized you are hooked...enjoy the ride.