Thread: help choosing razor for this beginner!

Mark, welcome to SRP

Now everyone else don't fall off your collective computer chairs

Your problem with the GD, is in the honing, they will take and keep an edge but they are just not always so easy to get them there, as many of them have issues beyond simple honing..

Not the best razor IMO by any means, but they will shave...


If your beard is heavy and thick then target a 1/2 hollow or heavier, but don't get the wrong idea from that suggestion, a full hollow used correctly will slice it nice too, but it is easier for somebody new and with a heavy beard to use the inertia from the heavier grinds at first.. You might change later you might not.. 6/8 and larger razors have a heavy spine and heftier tang that also helps with control..

Might I also suggest putting your location into your profile, you might find somebody is close enough to help out in person... Getting the GD honed back to a shave ready condition might be the smartest first option for you to try next,,, if that doesn't work then perhaps the DE with Feathers is the right option...


PS: You would need a Clean everyday strop, there is no doubt about it, you might need a separate Pasted strop or a Barber's Hone too if your beard is as tuff as you seem to think.. Only time will tell, but you need to strop the razor before each use at the very least,,, most start with 25 Linen and 50 leather laps, you might have to adjust that up or down but that is a good starting point...

Mark,

You said that you are in the Army. Are you in Germany? I'm in Vilseck if you are. Relax, I'm a government employee.

Chasmo

Thanks for the warm welcome! I already feel at home in here!

I checked out the library but couldn't find any info on 5/8 6/8, 1/2 hollow, 1/4 hollow etc..
I'm still confused on what would constitute as a ' heavy grit ' razor...

As far as the GD honing goes, I put a decent edge on it with my smith's honing stone, but the fine Arkansas stone seemed to dull it.

I've used the correct method, did tight circles, and x strokes... it seems the bevel on the GD is off, I don't know if I have to put 4-5 layers of electrical tape on the spine in order to raise the angle... i've tried the heel forward method, but didn't seem to help...

maybe I need to get a better stone - the smith one is great quality, but designed for honing knives - not razors.. plus it is rather thin..

Originally Posted by magnus28

Thanks for the warm welcome! I already feel at home in here!

I checked out the library but couldn't find any info on 5/8 6/8, 1/2 hollow, 1/4 hollow etc..
I'm still confused on what would constitute as a ' heavy grit ' razor...

Look here/Post #8 I think this might be of some help;The straight razor - Straight Razor Place Wiki

Originally Posted by magnus28

As far as the GD honing goes, I put a decent edge on it with my smith's honing stone, but the fine Arkansas stone seemed to dull it.

I've used the correct method, did tight circles, and x strokes... it seems the bevel on the GD is off, I don't know if I have to put 4-5 layers of electrical tape on the spine in order to raise the angle... i've tried the heel forward method, but didn't seem to help...

maybe I need to get a better stone - the smith one is great quality, but designed for honing knives - not razors.. plus it is rather thin..

Please remember that you have soooooo much to learn about your face (how the beard grows in different directions so you can shave effectively) how to properly strop to maintain the sharpness of your razor, let alone making a nice later that will work for you and help soften your beard!

Right now honing is the last thing you need to be worrying about! Leave that to the pros and and when the time comes and you get some hones that work well on your razor/s then you will have a comparison of how your edges compare to someone with experience!

It's a long strange trip but well worth the journey! Hang in there!

Originally Posted by magnus28

Thanks for the warm welcome! I already feel at home in here!

I checked out the library but couldn't find any info on 5/8 6/8, 1/2 hollow, 1/4 hollow etc..
I'm still confused on what would constitute as a ' heavy grit ' razor...

Yeah, organization in the Library could be much better, but here's the relevant article with most of the terminology.
http://straightrazorpalace.com/srpwi...straight_razor

Sometimes people would call razors with less hollowing to be of "heavy grind" - the more metal there is on the razor after grinding the heavier it is. Of course, very hollow razors could be made heavier by leaving more metal on the spine - some have spines that are up to around 5mm.

If you want current production german razor there are only few choices worth getting - dovo, boker, revisor, wacker, ralf aust. But you won't find one for $50. To get there you have to look at vintage razors which still can be found cheap. And there are hundreds if not thousands of solingen brands, plus a lot of imports to usa in the early 20th century that were sold under american brands. Most are quite good, some are exceptional, some are not so good. If you stay with the big brands you'll be safer, but will pay a bit more, with less known, unknown, small brands you will generally pay less.
Your razor will have to be honed either way, so the smartest way is to buy one that's already good to go coming form a reputable seller. If you try a-la-carte approach of finding a vintage razor then finding a reputable honer you dramatically increase the risk of getting subpar junk, and paying more for it.

You could try honing yourself too, but that generally makes things even worse. If it were easy to become good at this, this site and other similar to it wouldn't really exist.

"You could try honing yourself too, but that generally makes things even worse. If it were easy to become good at this, this site and other similar to it wouldn't really exist".

Good point.

Regards

Chasmo

Thx again guys! If I have any further questions, I won't hesitate to ask!

BTW, Chas, I live in Ontario, Canada.... (crosses fingers that someone near me can hone)

Originally Posted by magnus28

Thx again guys! If I have any further questions, I won't hesitate to ask!

BTW, Chas, I live in Ontario, Canada.... (crosses fingers that someone near me can hone)

Hi magnus28 - I'm in Toronto, there's lots of us around here that can do restores and honing. I can point you to some good places for restore work and honing.

The person I use in Toronto, Valery H, is a member here, does great work, and does a superb job honing.

Here's his FB page, you can contact him there:

https://www.facebook.com/Gentlemansden

Have you looked at whipped dog yet? You can find pretty cheap vintage there. The sight unseen aren't pretty but they are shave ready and you save money because he saves time.