Thread: Boy, man, I need help.

As with all of us, I am very interested in cut throat shaving. Im a little on the cheap side, though and decided a straight blade from the antique shop would do the trick. I also bought the strope there, too. So, seeing as this blade is very old, I have to assume that it needs tons of honing. Im not sure if I have overhoned, or if I need to do some more. I have it to the point where I can easily shave a patch of hair from my leg, but when I try to shave my face it just won't work. I have read Moss's Guide to straight razor shaving several times through, and Im just plain frustraited. Any advice would be helpful!

You may want to read up on the help files section, but I'll give you some basic info:
1) The strop is used to align the edge, not to remove metal.
2) If you want to sharpen the razor, you need hones in the grits of 4000 and 8000. Hones remove metal
3) You should snap some detailed pics of the razor and post them here for evaluation

Do you mean it just won't work as in it won't shave any stubble off your face or it pulls and hurts like the dickens? It could be that you haven't quite gotten it ready to shave yet, or it could be your stropping technique, or possibly the razor. What kind of hone are you using?
Teaching yourself to hone is kind of tricky, but a great learning experience when you figure it out, and stropping the razor makes a huge difference. There's a learning curve for honing, stropping, and shaving with the razor, so keep that in mind when you try shaving for the first month or so.

You might also want to ask in other forums for other members to sharpen the razor for you.

The hone I bought is from Leahmans, and Im not sure the grit. I know its doing some good because the blade was very dull prior to my honeing attempt. When I try to shave a small section of my face, I get a little stubble on the blade, it does feel a little like pulling though. I have some experience with honeing, but Im far from an expert. For now, it might be easier to send it out!!

I'll snap some shots and post them!! Thanks!

Razors generally need a higher grit hone to put a good edge on them. Most here use the Norton 4k/8k that Ilija mentioned, along with either a pasted paddle strop or higher grit stone to put a final polish on the blade. These higher grit stones are in the 12,000 grit range and are generally slow cutters, meaning it takes longer for it to take metal of the edge. This slowness paired with the higher grit helps to get a very fine cutting edge that makes for a comfortable shave. There are guys who can get a comfortable shaving edge off just the Norton 8k side, but that takes a lot of practice. I prefer my yellow coticule for final polishing, and then some Chromium oxide paste on a paddle strop just to top it off.

Matt

I have the same razor hone. It's perfect for getting a bevel on a razor and setting an initial edge, but it won't give you a sharp enough edge to shave with; you need something higher grit than that. That's about a 4000 grit or so. You can look on the forums for hone suggestions. I'd recommend a few barber's hones that can be bought cheap.

Here's more 411:
1) The hone's useless. Get the Norton 4k/8k or send out your razor for honing (going to set you back about $20. Joe Chandler (Joe Chandler) and Lynn Abrams (adjustme69) offer that service and trust me $20 doesn't really cover the trouble taken to hone a blade.
2) The razor itself looks alright, like it will make a good shaver. There is very little hone wear. You may want to get some polishing compound, a rag and clean off the rust.
3) In the future resize your pics to 640x480 for forum posting.

Thanks for all your help guys. I'll be sure to pick up a new hone really soon!