Thread: New to straight saving, unsure of technique, straight razor won't cut.

The reason why there was marks was because of me accidentally tarnishing it. At least it didn't affect its cutting performance. And yes it was from a general knife shop. From where I live, we people don't grow much facial hair so straight razors aren't really popular.

http://straightrazorpalace.com/membe...sername&order=
There are a few members in Hong Kong. I know it is a dense area but you may want to contact someone in your area . Some hands on and a discussion about getting quality shaving stuff and honing might get you off on the right foot.

WSH is a Solingen based cutler that makes razors, pedicure sets, scissors, cooking knives, etc.
Here is their company website. Home - wsh cutlery

I've only sharpened one of their newer blades and I was not impressed. The metal was really soft. It honed up quickly, but it wouldn't hold an edge. It felt like it wasn't heat treated at all. The guy that owns it found that if he CrOx stropped it before every shave, then he could get a good, consistent shave with it.

His, also, had some issues with what I would call finishing quality. There were some imperfections in the grind on the tang, the pivot pin was loose, and the heads of the pin were not evenly round.

So, I've only worked with one WSH, and I was not impressed by it.

As for yours, I'd have it professionally honed and maintain it often with a CrOx strop, barber hone, or finishing hone.

Good luck.

Does this mean that my blade can't be used at all? I mean, I'm a college student so that costs me a few days of my work. As for shaving supplies, I have a friend who uses shaving brushes and soaps so I think I'm fine as to where to get them.

Originally Posted by Farbgast

Does this mean that my blade can't be used at all? I mean, I'm a college student so that costs me a few days of my work. As for shaving supplies, I have a friend who uses shaving brushes and soaps so I think I'm fine as to where to get them.

No it will still shave, but it might take a minute more of stropping than a harder blade.

A proper honing will sharpen it up.

Since you are new I'll go on and tell you, a brand new, top of the line, "shave ready" Dovo from Solingen has to be professionally honed as well before it will shave decent.

Your investment does suck , it's tough to find out by going cheap you've made a mistake even older fellows don't. But now you know , and from what Chris has said it might be better to move on and give yourself a chance of success , there are inexpensive razors in the classifieds that will be shave ready,mremenber that alwaysINEXPENSIVE. not CHEAP.
CHris knows a little about razors so it might be best to step back and reevaluate your priorities , do you want to learn to shave or mess around with something that might not get you to where you want to be. Good luck. Tc

Is it alright if I ask the person in the general knife shop to help sharpen for me though? As aforementioned, wet shaving is not really popular here as we don't grow as much facial hair.

Originally Posted by Farbgast

Is it alright if I ask the person in the general knife shop to help sharpen for me though? As aforementioned, wet shaving is not really popular here as we don't grow as much facial hair.

You actually answered your own question, they don't shave with one so chances are pretty good they don't know how to properly hone one, you can try , but remember the sefinition of insanity " doing the same thing expecting different results". They are the ones who told you it was shave ready, nuff said. We're not picking on you just giving you some good advise from guys who have been doing this long enough to know what your going thru. Tc

Originally Posted by Farbgast

Is it alright if I ask the person in the general knife shop to help sharpen for me though? As aforementioned, wet shaving is not really popular here as we don't grow as much facial hair.

I would keep in mind that knife sharpening and straight razor honing are two different things. Personally I would not trust in their ability to hone a straight razor. I would use the link supplied by RezDog and try and contact one of the members in HK for some hands on help if at all possible.

Bob

Hello, I am new to shaving as well. But I succesfully set the bevel and honed an old straight shaver. Perhaps you can use some of my posts:http://straightrazorpalace.com/begin...ml#post1523650

I bought a RVS Dovo shaver and they also said it was shave ready. That is true, but after setting the bevel and honing a blade, I find the new blade not soo smooth. I guess they did not hone the blade with a 8K stone at all. Because after honing a straight razor with 8K wet-stone I can say the shaving is smooth!

Tip: buy a cheap doubled edge shaver (DE) with cheap Derby blades. Then you can learn to use the open shaver and in the meanwhile you finish the rest with the DE shaver. thatś what I do. Learning to shave with a straight razor takes a long time to master. Some say 6 months. As a HK man myself, speed and time is important not =p