Thread: I wish to be able to shave my face vaguely comfortably, with a blade

You're right, it's immensely satisfying to get a good shave off a razor I honed myself from butter-knife dull to smooth and sharp. And you can get great shaves off 8k; if you'd visited around 2006-2007, not that many guys here honed up into the really high grits yet.

But _how_ you get there can so be a worthy part. I learned to shave, for many weeks, off razors honed by experts. Then, I learned to refresh them on the 8k (returning them to the experts when I'd screw them up). Eventually, I got good with the 4k/8k and began working up bevel-less blades from 1k. Now I'm at my goal: great shaves from tools I prepared myself.

Best of luck!

personally if you want to go a very long time without buying replacement stones , I'd purchase a set of Arkansas stones.these will last your lifetime plus your son's .buy a 1k grit waterstone to bevel set and have fun.as far as using soap from a store i/e hand soap try using French milled soap.good luck.

I have read all of this thread am here are a few thoughts. If you want to use a knife choose a small one about 6 inches overall length. Any longer and using it would be difficult. Keep the blade for shaving only. Use a high quality knife honed with a low angle to at least 8k. You will want to strop it between uses so a strop is necessary. You mentioned Murray Carter and I have seen a lot of his videos when I first started. He himself mentioned in 1 video that using a knife wasn't comfortable and he uses a lot of his own knives which are high quality with great steel honed by himself ans he is obviously VERY good at knife honing. A good knife will cost you a lot and a good straight shave ready can be had from around 40 dollars and will last a few lifetimes if looked after properly. As for dry shaving even water alone would be better. Different oils or even body soap like dove even better again. Good luck with what ever you choose and let us know how you go

In regards to the axe video, I can see shaving with a gransfors axe. I have one of their hatchets that I use for roughing in logs and it can be honed to 12k without any problem and comes off of a .1 micron diamond pasted strop sharp enough to literally split hairs. Great Swedish steel in their products.

As for going self sufficient, why not just ditch the steel blade altogether? Get a large piece of obsidian and shear off a blade as you need it. Instant blade, no honing necessary, completely environmentally friendly. I think there is even a youtube video about how to shear the stone for shaving blades.

Some things to consider are:
1: “Usual” bevel of a Working knife 25 - 30 degrees Straight Razor 15 - 20 degrees
2: “Normal” temper of a Working knife 53 – 63 HRC Straight Razor 58 – 67 HRC
3: The hone on a razor needs to be meticulously flat, not so for a knife. I do not to mix the two stones up, a razor is the most precise and deliberate edge you will ever deal with. You can comfortably shave off of an 8K edge.
4: Shaving with water and soap is possible but if you make your own soap, shaving soap is not far off. There are a few web sites that list recipes however fine tuning it is where it is at, people are very secretive about their specific recipes.

The edge of a working knife needs to be more robust than a razor, a razor needs to be harder to hold an thinner edge at around .35 - .45 micron. A normal knife will usually foil at these angles. I have tried a two bevel option, one side at 30 degrees and one at 17 on some Wusthof Trident knives and it did not work.

A knife is considered sharp when it shaves hair at skin level, with a razor this is usually a indicator that you have a good bevel and can begin refining the edge. A fair bit of effort goes into keeping a razor edge pristine. you would most probably end up with a knife that you specifically use for shaving any way.

I've done this before using Dove soap, it actually works fairly well, it's not as good as some of the finer shaving products in the market but it does the job

How to Make a Shaving Cream for Men: 10 Steps (with Pictures)

Originally Posted by Blunt

I realise you are specialists, and what I am trying to achieve is relatively low level quality.

Therefore I appreciate you humouring me and taking the time to reply.

I will definitely attempt the homemade face soap at a later date. MattCB: your level of investigation and experimentation evidenced in that link is inspiring.

I wish you all, all the best.