Thread: New razor... not shave ready...

Originally Posted by feltspanky

Take your razor to Scott at the Portland Razor Company. He can put a very nice edge on your razor. He can also answer a lot of your questions regarding stropping and honing.

This is a fine idea too... I have a razor on order with him as well.

At a minimum I'll have some good first-hand experience with two new, US production straights!

Originally Posted by tab

Good video - I'd seen it before and sat through it again. He's done some good honing videos too.
My razor definitely failed this test, and in the near future it'll get there.

Yeah,

Glen has a lot of quality videos....a major treasure trove of razor info!

I have no doubt you'll succeed!! But, as we tell many........Explore and try to solve problems one at a time. Changing too many things at once can be confusing because you won't know which change was beneficial or detrimental.

If you can't meet with one of the mentors in your area, Local Help - Straight Razor Place Library, Then I would send the razor to one of our members that professionally hone razors and then you'll know what a shave ready razor feels like.

I'd link our classifieds, which contains the list of our pro razor honers, but it's currently under repair.

So, if you want to send it off, PM me by clicking on my user name and then follow the "private message" link and I'll give you some names to choose from.

Howard

Without even being able to shave yet , how do you know it won't shave? Many of us starting out thought a blade wasn't shave ready just to find out that after you become a little more experienced it was, and honing is easy till it ain't ,, just saying, this is a post that comes up all the time, it takes a little patience and time to get good shaves from learning the technique, when I started my first razor had a terrible edge, by the time I figured out angle and beard prep ,, suddenly it was sharp. Tc

I have two Harts. The first one (7/8 Square Point by JA) was ready to go right out of the box. Held its edge for quite some time. Required a rehoning about a couple months age...no tape; tape is tedious. Works just fine now.

2nd blade a was a 6/8 French Point fron the "Artisan" Series by BG. Unususl razor..it was "ok" from the get go but lacking. After MANY laps on the ol' Tony Miller the edge truly came into its own. Won't use tape on this one when the time comes either.

Both are nice razors..neither rank in my top 5 though.

tab,

We had a big meet-up in Seattle last September and are planning on doing it again next year. If you can make a meet-up or find some time to meet with a local mentor I would highly recommend it. I know both Razorfeld and Pinklather are in the Portland area and are very generous with their time.

Originally Posted by tcrideshd

Without even being able to shave yet , how do you know it won't shave? Many of us starting out thought a blade wasn't shave ready just to find out that after you become a little more experienced it was, and honing is easy till it ain't ,, just saying, this is a post that comes up all the time, it takes a little patience and time to get good shaves from learning the technique, when I started my first razor had a terrible edge, by the time I figured out angle and beard prep ,, suddenly it was sharp. Tc

Let me dive into this a little further, you could be correct.

I did shave with the blade one time. Good face prep, 2 days growth, C&S 88. All the time and attention I give for my normal DE shaves.
It was one of the roughest shaves I've had since trying a slant DE. I managed 3 passes, and missed some areas, which I expected. Had this been a normal DE shave for me I would have been swapping the blade before I finished one cheek.

I'll get a PM off to the local guys here in Portland. I'm sure if time allows they'll get me on the straight & narrow.

Originally Posted by tab

It was one of the roughest shaves I've had since trying a slant DE.

Wow, which slant did you try? I found the Merkur slant to be a real sweetheart to shave with.

Bob

Originally Posted by tab

Let me dive into this a little further, you could be correct.

I did shave with the blade one time. Good face prep, 2 days growth, C&S 88. All the time and attention I give for my normal DE shaves.
It was one of the roughest shaves I've had since trying a slant DE. I managed 3 passes, and missed some areas, which I expected. Had this been a normal DE shave for me I would have been swapping the blade before I finished one cheek.

I'll get a PM off to the local guys here in Portland. I'm sure if time allows they'll get me on the straight & narrow.

Originally Posted by BobH

Wow, which slant did you try? I found the Merkur slant to be a real sweetheart to shave with.

Bob

I had the 39c and gave it a really fair shot. Four or five different blades and some of the best soaps available.

It worked out fine, I sold it and moved on to the R41 & Cobra Classic where I received fantastic results.

Originally Posted by tab

I had the 39c and gave it a really fair shot. Four or five different blades and some of the best soaps available.

It worked out fine, I sold it and moved on to the R41 & Cobra Classic where I received fantastic results.

Yea, don't know about the Cobra but for sure the R41 shaves closer than the slant.

Bob