help choosing razor for this beginner!

hello guys,
first time poster.

I've done my research and i've learned a few things:

-Gold dollar razors are conversation pieces
- china does not make quality razors
-you get what you paid for

I mistakenly purchased a "gold dollar" razor from ebay. It was advertised as "shave ready".
when i got it, it was approximately as dull as a butter knife. I tried to hone it with a whet stone and an Arkansas stone, and i got it to the point in which it would easily shave the hairs on the back of my forearm, but putting it to my face wouldn't even shave the longer hairs on the soft part of my cheek - a task that even a cheap bic disposable razor would accomplish....


I went into a store recently and looked at a " Colt 175th anniversary " straight razor. I've browsed a discussion on this forum about that particular razor, and the general consensus was less than favorable. I believe one guy went as far as saying he wanted to buy one for a novelty letter opener. The razor seemed pretty sharp doing a thumb pad test, and when the shop owner wasn't looking, i easily removed hair from the back of my arm totally dry - with ease. But then thinking back on the gold dollar razor that did the same, I was wondering the effectiveness of removing hair from my face.

Here's the scoop...
With a brand new hydro 5 or schick titanium I can quickly shave my face with ease, and after a few ATG passes, obtain a relatively smooth shave... The problem is, after the 3rd shave, the razor is ready to be tossed. My facial hair is EXTREMELY coarse! It's rougher than 40 grit sandpaper! I'm in the army, and I would get in trouble at my unit for " not shaving properly " by about 9AM - when i shaved around 0600.
I'm the kinda guy that grows the 5 o'clock shadow around 11AM in the morning. For a while I had to switch to electric razors because I was tired of disposables tearing up my face because I would have to go WTG,XTC,ATG,ATG,ATG, on my chin in order to get it all off. 5+passes just to get a smooth shave is ridiculous! And yes, I know how to prep my face for a close shave, hot towel, let the lather sit for a few mins, stretch the skin, yadda yadda yadda, I can promise you 95 % of you guys out there DON'T have coarse hair like mine.. only people I ever saw that was bad as me was me and my grandfather.
I can grow a full beard, that is thick and black in just a week!

I need help choosing a razor that will cut through my retardedly coarse whiskers. All I know is that I should look for one from Soligen, Germany.
I trust German engineering, that's what I want.. Not America,England, or Portugal, not that I have anything against those places, but I've never had anything that was made in Germany fail, whereas the other three I have.

I want to know what kind of razor would probably be best suited for me.. 5/8" 6/8" What are the main differences between the different angle and bevel sets?
What does " hollow ground " mean?

I want my face to be cleanly shaven and not worry about it being rough around supper time... clean as a baby's bottom.. and no more shaving twice a day BS for me..

Thx in advance for helping me choose my steel

oh and btw, my budget on a vintage razor or whatever is $50

Cheers,

Mark

Look in the classifieds. Most suggest 5/8 round point for beginning but really didn't hurt me using a square point to learn on. The grind of a razor is described in the library and this is all something you will have to decide what you like on your own. Trial and error, test drive etc.

Welcome to the most friendly, helpful and informative site on the web!!

You will find members here of all different backgrounds, ages and occupations from all corners of the world and all with a quest for more knowledge about using and maintaining a straight razor!

As far as your beard of Steel, I had an apprentice with about the same thing! He tore up razor edges like there was no tomorrow!

As far as your predetermined 'German only' steel, I think that you are 'unfairly' leaving some excellent razors out of the equation! Especially vintage razors made in NY USA!

Heavier grinds like a 1/4 grind should help.

With that said, if your beard grows as rapidly as you say, you may never have the clean shaven look 8 hours later! However with practice and a good shaving razor you may find it tolerable!

It's a long strange trip but well worth the journey! :tu

If you intend to get a strop as part of the "whatever" you are going to be fairly limited as to what razor you get, you will either have to take what is available for the $30 or so remaining, or wait a while for what you want to come up at that price.

thx for the replies so far guys! I have nothing against the good 'ol USA razors, just am partial to stuff made from Germany..

The Strop is not limited in my $50 budget, neither is the stones I will be upgrading to.

Lee Valley tools sells a combination 4k/8k stone for honing for about $85.

the strop and paste I already have, but according to my research, some sources say strop just straightens out the razor, and keeps it's edge, other sources say with the 'diamond paste' it actually makes the strop like 80k grit and will polish AND put an even finer, sharper edge on your razor.... so what do you guys think? Strop sharpen as well as keep straight?

First of all for you razor I would get a near-wedge vintage. I just shaved with my Wosty and it is a fantastic shaver.
As far a Diamond I don't use it...yet. But I am in the process of hunting down a board strop and diamond spray. I would have a separate strop for that, and one for everyday.
Good luck.

i know this is straight razor forum but with a $50 budget, how about a Merkur 37c with feather blades?

I agree. Try a good double edge like a Merkur and some Feathers. That might be a better option for you.

I think that you need to think about a stiff grind razor like a quarter hollow. Something with a reasonable bit of "heft" to it so I'd do for a minimum size of 6/8. Properly honed and maintained, that will shave you as well as any other shaving implement ever made.
A vintage Thiers Issard or Le Grelot, both from France come to mind. I think that you might struggle with a $50 budget though.

Yes, I feel your pain with the wire stubble growing from the face. Mine is like that too. It doesn't grow quite as fast as it once did but it is still as tough to shave as ever with soft skin underneath. For the fifty buck budget let me suggest you squirrel away a few more to get a nicer blade. The classifieds in the forum are good places to shop but, being new to this game try Revisor.de for a new 5/8 or 6/8 quality German made razor. You may even find one of the vintage razors they sell that are unused, never sold that you like. They have Schwartz razors on this site as well and some of them are very reasonably priced. As for the paste, in my opinion they are messy and unnecessary. Learn your hone work and your clean strop work well. There are plenty of recipes for pre-shave oil on the internet. They really help. Once you get this down pat you are going to surprise the little lady and never look at another disposable again.

By the way, those Thiers Issards, Le Grelots, most English razors and the Swedes are some fine shavers. I have a Filarmonica, a CV Heljestrand, two Wade and Butchers, a TI Spartacus and two Le Grelots that give great shaves. That's not to say that my German made razors don't. I'm just giving account of others out there that will make you rather fight than switch. Dang, I just gave away my age group didn't I.

Regards

Chasmo

Mark, welcome to SRP

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

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..

Quote:

---

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

Quote:

---

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! :tu

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

Quote:

---

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)

Quote:

---

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.