Straight razor shaving take two

Hi all, i'm new here and new to straight razor shaving. I live in Cebu, Philippines but was able to get a hold of a Thiers Issard Carbon Steel razor from Art of Shaving on a trip to the US a couple of years ago but have not used it since then.
The sales person said it was shave ready but when I stropped it and tried to shave it was incredibly uncomfortable and painful that I couldn't finish.
So I researched and came to the conclusion that I need to get it professionally honed and there aren't any places here in the Philippines that do this.
I went to a barber shop where they do straight edge razor shaves and they tried stropping it and had a stone they used but to no difference and didn't know anyone who does any honing. I even had a shave from one of those guys and it was an awful experience too which left my face red and in pain and they said that it could be that I am not suited to a straight-edge razor due to the thickness/courseness of my beard. Surely this can't be true as everything I have heard is that the straight edge shave should be the closest and best possible shave.

So now it's 2 years later and I want to try again. I have a brother over at the moment from Australia and was thinking of asking him to take it back with him to get it professionally honed and then mail it back to me. I guess I will then need to buy the equipment to keep it honed.

Is there such a thing as too thick/course beard for a straight razor?
Can anyone recommend where to get it professional honed in Philippines or Brisbane, Australia
Should I look at getting the equipment and doing it myself? And if so, which?

Sorry for the long first post.

Welcome! Sorry to hear about your troubles. I vote for letting your brother take it (or mail it) to get it honed.
Maybe there are certain people with super sensitive skin, but your course beard shouldn't be a problem. I think mine is pretty darn course and it's not issue for a properly honed straight. It's the closest most comfortable shave there is In my opinion.

You may be able to get by with a pasted strop for a while, and/or a barber hone.

Do a search at the top of the page and you'll find all the info you want on all things honing. You can also check out he library section for nice articles.

Don't give up - straights are the only way to go. Once you get it honed, you'll say "wow that's what it's supposed to be like. "

That's the problem with (most) modern barbershops. They lack experience and knowledge in proper straight razor maintenance and honing. That's the reason most use shavette style razors to get the job done. Getting them honed is the way to go. And maybe it's worth a thought to get your own stones and learn how to hone yourself. But for now, get m honed, learn how to strop and enjoy the experience. Like royalcake said, don't give up. Once the razor is shave ready, you will find it to be the finest shave you can get.

I have just had a similar experience...

Bought a TI 'le dandy' 5/8 sold as shave ready and used it yesterday, what a horrible experience. I had a face like a baboon's rear-end and it hurt like hell. I've just stropped it (100 strokes or so) and done the hanging hair test and I swear I've seen spoons do better... Gonna order a properly honed vintage straight tonight and when it arrives I'll send my TI to be honed.

Anyway my point is I'm a beginner too but I won't let a bad experience put me off. Send the razor with your brother and get him to mail it back, when you need it re-honed I would post it to a honemeister who will ship it back to you (assuming that is something you are able to do). Also like most people say, order a 2nd razor so you aren't at a loss when yours is being honed.

Yes, have it honed and not by those guys who gave you bad advice.

If you can shave with any razor, you can get a better shave with a properly honed straight razor. The beauty of a straight is you can hone it to fit your beard and face.

It may have been honed by AOS, they do send some out for honing, but typically they are not shave ready and unfortunately not all AOS employees are that well trained and do not know that much about Straight Razors.

One of the problems with Straight shaving is you have to learn to strop. It is easy to dull a shave ready edge with just one missed stroke. It is a common problem with new shavers.

What are you using to strop the razor?

Post some photos of your razor and your gear.

As said, it may just need a good stropping, but you have to know how to strop without causing more damage to the edge.

When you stored your razor was the bevel clean? If hair, soap, skin and or blood were left on the bevel and edge, oxidation may have eaten the edge. Two years is a long time if it was not not properly prepared for long term storage.

Now that it’s been “worked” on by someone else it probably does need to be honed or re-honed.

Send it out and read the Beginners Guide in the library, if you have any question, just ask.

Find a local mentor for some hands on time, that will cut your learning curve.

Welcome to the forum.

Definitely send it with your brother and contact Oz from here. By all reports had gives great edges and you will know for certain that it is sharp. If you do a member search you may be able to find someone more local that can help so try that also. Good luck and let us know how you go.

Welcome to the forum. Don't give up! I'm sorry you had a bad experience. Send it with your brother like the others are saying. You won't regret it. You will feel more comfortable with that razor when it is honed right & also buy you a second one for when your other one is out being honed. You can watch some honing videos here:
Honing videos - Straight Razor Place Library
You will then eventually be able to buy your own stones & hone your razors yourself saving you time & money in the long run. Just think of the time you won't have to send them out anymore to be honed because you learned to do it yourself. Make sure you buy you some good hones when you do.When you get ready to do so you can visit the forum store, Straight Razor Designs. They have good quality hones on there & at good prices. You might even find someone selling them closer to you. For now though just send them with your brother & have him mail it back to you. You will be impressed with the satisfaction you will get from your shave once you do that. I hope we all have got you wanting to send the razor with your brother for now. Good luck my friend!

Thanks everyone for the advice and encouragement. The razor is on its way back to my brother to Australia and have emailed Oz.
Here is a picture of my razor and strop: Attachment 174849.

I'm sure I'll have to learn how to hone it eventually and then hopefully be able to help someone here locally or at least pass it onto my newborn son. :)

Just one more thing to add to all the above........shave with the razor before stropping it. Then, strop it before your next shave. It should be the same kind of shave you had the first time. Unless of course, you messed up the edge with improper stropping. Hopefully, that is not the case. Don't give up. You CAN do it. I recently started shaving with a straight razor (two months), and after many many videos of honing, I have started getting good results honing and better shaves. Good luck and smooth shaves to you.


Mike

Start practicing to strop now while the razor is off being honed. Practice rolling a butter knife on it's spine as if it were a razor, get in the practice of keeping the razor in contact with the strop all the way through forward and back as well as using a light touch. Excellent stropping skills along with a properly honed razor should last you several months before it needs to be touched up, and I don't mean honed, just a light touch up on a barbers hone should suffice. And by all means, get yourself a second quality razor so that you have a backup when one is out of town being honed.

Anything with a factory edge is pretty much guaranteed NOT to be shave ready. I had a TI that had a pretty close to shave ready edge, and had a good shave with it, but it needed a proper bevel set and proper honing.

Unless I get a razor from a known seller who has the same standards around shave ready that I do, I send it right out to be honed. I like refreshing my own blades, but for now, I prefer to have a razor done by a pro the first time around.

So my advice is that, if you aren't 100% sure that it is shave ready, send it out to be honed by a pro. With the Classified Member Services on this website, you should be able to find someone reliable, if not just buying the razor from SRD first and knowing that it will be delivered to you shave ready with a follow up honing for free.

Got the news today that the edge was a bit messed up but succeeded in setting a new bevel. Will be a superb shaver!
Now I just hope that it survives the trip from Australia to Cebu and when it gets here I won't mess up the edge again.

@guitstik, I'll take your advice and start to practice with a butter knife on my strop.

Any ideas of when I should start to look at getting my own honing equipment? From the wiki and forum I have gathered I will at least need a finishing stone or barbers hone to keep it sharp.

You probably didn't mess the edge up in the first place unless you stropped it wrong. Many razors are said to be shave ready but really aren't. If buying a razor, it is best to have it honed & stropped to make sure it is sharp.
You will "at least" need a finishing stone but if you are going to do the honing procedure, just my opinion, I would get a 1k for setting the bevel & something like the Norton 4k/8k. Then to polish it in really good if you can afford it, get you a 10k, 12k, 16k or a Belgian Coticule. It depends what you can afford. You'll be glad you did then strop it & you'll be good to go.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by iancebu

Got the news today that the edge was a bit messed up but succeeded in setting a new bevel. Will be a superb shaver!
Now I just hope that it survives the trip from Australia to Cebu and when it gets here I won't mess up the edge again.

@guitstik, I'll take your advice and start to practice with a butter knife on my strop.

Any ideas of when I should start to look at getting my own honing equipment? From the wiki and forum I have gathered I will at least need a finishing stone or barbers hone to keep it sharp.

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There are two things that can ruin a razor, incorrect stropping, incorrect honing and faucets. Okay, three things, incorrect stropping, incorrect honing, faucets and dropping it. Four, four things that can ruin a razor, incorrect stropping, incorrect honing, faucets, being dropped and rust. This list can go on and on... Learn how to strop the razor correctly before moving on to honing one. Usually I would suggest that someone new to SR shaving go slow in fact that is pretty much my mantra, slow and finding a mentor in your area but that may be a difficult task for you considering your location. There still may be someone close to you that can help but with the experience that you had with the barbershop guys I say fat chance. Watch all the YouTube videos that you can find, I suggest all the ones by Glen and Lynn as they should be your benchmark for honing professionals. I could tell you to get a whole lot of stones but I won't as that won't help you. What I use and what others use will generally differ considerably but I use a Norton 800 for bevel setting and then move on to the Norton 4k/8k stone but only after it will shave arm hair off of the 800. After the 4k/8k I move to the Chosera 12k and that is pretty much it for stones, those three should be sufficient for all your needs. After getting proficient with those then you could start looking for new stones to add to the collection that you will undoubtedly start building when the HAD kicks in. As with everything tho, go slow

Quote:

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Originally Posted by guitstik

There are two things that can ruin a razor, incorrect stropping, incorrect honing and faucets. Okay, three things, incorrect stropping, incorrect honing, faucets and dropping it. Four, four things that can ruin a razor, incorrect stropping, incorrect honing, faucets, being dropped and rust. This list can go on and on... Learn how to strop the razor correctly before moving on to honing one. Usually I would suggest that someone new to SR shaving go slow in fact that is pretty much my mantra, slow and finding a mentor in your area but that may be a difficult task for you considering your location. There still may be someone close to you that can help but with the experience that you had with the barbershop guys I say fat chance. Watch all the YouTube videos that you can find, I suggest all the ones by Glen and Lynn as they should be your benchmark for honing professionals. I could tell you to get a whole lot of stones but I won't as that won't help you. What I use and what others use will generally differ considerably but I use a Norton 800 for bevel setting and then move on to the Norton 4k/8k stone but only after it will shave arm hair off of the 800. After the 4k/8k I move to the Chosera 12k and that is pretty much it for stones, those three should be sufficient for all your needs. After getting proficient with those then you could start looking for new stones to add to the collection that you will undoubtedly start building when the HAD kicks in. As with everything tho, go slow

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I agree. Learn to strop first, then move to learning to hone. An 800 grit would be one very good bevel setter & faster, I was only going by the way I learned but there have been times where I wish I had an 800 grit. I have both a 1k& a 2k for bevel setting. I see nothing wrong with an 800 grit because once you move to a 4k, it will smooth it out more, then the 8k & 12k & so on but learn to strop first.

iancebu, considering your location and no local mentor available I would suggest you start an email correspondence with one of the Australian mentors. They are all accomplished shavers with enough experience between them that all your questions and needs can be answered closer to your home. They should have possible contacts for supplies and materials in that area of the world that might not be known to the rest of SRP.

Keep at it. And if you continue to have irritation after shaving try a cold water lather and a cold water rinse after and use something like Nivea After Shave Balm for Sensitive Skin.