Thread: finally have guts enough

Long story as short as possible. My wife went to an AOS store a few months ago and picked up a DE Razor and gear for me. Started using it and liked it, then I remembered I had two of my Great Grandfathers straights stashed away. Well, polished one up, borrowed a strop and gave it a try. The first shave wasn't as smooth as I would've hoped, but no nicks or cuts just some minor irritation on my neck. Nothing a little cold water followed with witch hazel couldn't fix. I followed up with the DE, good day. I've used it a few more (maybe 3) times since, I've got a lot to learn and a long way to go before I get the BBS shave everybody searches for. But no nicks or cuts will always be my goal.

Now for the picture of my Great Grandfathers blades



one is a W.M. Elliot 268 and the other a W.M. Penn

I've cleaned and stropped the Elliot since the picture the Penn will probably need a buffing wheel before I try using it.

You more than likely need to send it out and get it honed to shave ready , but even at that it takes some time to learn the straight ,, but still get them honed by a pro to start then really learn how to use the strop ,, it will keep an edge going a long time , but a strop doesn't sharpen them. Good luck. Tc

Thanks for the advice TC. Oh, it's sharp, stropping was just to touch it up. It's the actual act of shaving with a straight I've got to get use to. Practice, practice and more practice, with minimal amount of blood loss as possible.

When I was in the Navy and short on cash for blades I would sharpen my pocket knife (various stones, then home made strops, fire hose and leather) and shave with it, people would always pay for me to sharpen theirs after witnessing this. Crowded bathrooms and rolling seas were my enemy.

Nice looking blades. We always reccomend new shavers get at least one blade pro honed so they have a benchmark for shave ready. You may have already achieved this but you don't really know and could be missing out on better shaves. Many coming from backgrounds sharpening have been suprised to find what they thought was shaving sharp was only half way there. Any thing below 8k and it will still need more work. Good luck with your shaves and any questions feel free to ask.

10-4 on that, no disrespect , but a razor is not even in the same category as a knife, I can lay an edge on a knife or chisel like you won't believe , and thought I could hone a razor too, that's why I gave up straight shaving in the 70, s , never got it shave ready. Enter 2013 I have o e done to see what shave ready is what a difference, not saying you won't pick it up , but until you have one done you,lol never know. I still don't hone after 2 years just because the edgeds that I get are perfect so I don't mess with it, I only refresh them which keeps them going for months or I should say indefinantly ,, just looking to set you up for the best experience you can have , and who knows maybe you got it there , but you won't know. Good luck. Tc

Hey Sean, Bravo for giving it a go.

The guys tell you right about getting an edge on the blades. That they're ancestor's blades means they can't be replaced - and are NOT the blades to learn on - including, if not especially w/ a buffer.

I appreciate being on a budget. 'Would be willing to hone for no cost beyond actual postage to get them back to you. PM me if you'd like. 'Not a pro. 'Only 482 blades done so far, but most find the edges quite pleasing. I'm sure there are others who would do likewise.

My first edges were by pinklather. I still hold those as the level I need to achieve in my own honing. His offer is one that all our good Mentors and Senior Members make to help and encourage new to the craft to have a solid base to expand on. You will not be disappointed. Only one other suggestion is make sure you pay the extra dollar for tracking on your package. Helps should there be a problem with the mails.

I have to agree with the gentlemen here who are recommending that you get your razor honed by an expert to have a benchmark for what true "shave ready" feels like. I'm still a rookie myself about a month into SR shaving. I used DE and SE razors for about a year and a half before making the jump. My first SR was a new Boker Arbolito that looked to me to have a decent factory edge. I honed it myself on a series of cheap waterstones that I bought to hone the wedge blades that came with my Wilkinson Empire SE razor. I did 3k, 8k, 12k, strop and thought I put a fine edge on the razor. I could get a good shave, but I kept getting considerable neck irritation. Then I bought a razor in the classifieds here that was sold by wolfpack34. Once I shaved with it, I immediately realized where my neck irritation was coming from when shaving with the Boker. The edge that wolfpack put on the razor he sold me was night and day compared to the edge I had put on the Boker. I subsequently bought a second razor from wolfpack that had the same incredible edge as the first I bought from him. I gave up shaving with the Boker until I send it to wolfpack to put a proper edge on it.

Good luck and enjoy your shaves!

Best advice I can give you is buy a cheap Ebay razor to practice on, a buffer will destroy the temper in the blink of an eye. If you are planning on mucking around with an heirloom it can go wrong quickly. I don’t have any but have read that it is best to keep them as a sometimes razor for special occasions.

Be very careful with the buffing wheel as others have said the wheel will generate some heat that will kill the temper. For what it's worth I've bought and sold 300+ razors and have only found one that was shave ready. If it will cut hair above the skin it is probably close to or shave ready.

I would send one of those out to get honed then you will have a benchmark to gauge your own work on the other one