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

Hello everyone,

The salesman told me that the blade is shave ready. It is made in Solingen so I'm pretty sure it is shave ready. I looked at the blade and there are no pockets of reflections indicating the blade is perfectly sharp. I tried using the blade at all angles especially with the grain but it appears to me that only some will cut while other hairs within the blade's range would not cut. I know I am a beginner so my technique has an area for improvement. But with all angles and after shaving the same area several times, shouldn't the hair come off?

More than likely the salesman's definition of shave-ready is not really "shave ready". Given where you are, I'm not sure what to suggest, except adding a few pictures of the razor would help, as would any description of the make, etc. A lot of steel in made in Solingen, but doesn't mean the razor was made there.

Thank you for the quick reply. Here are some pics.

Attachment 207592
Attachment 207595

any identifying marks re: the maker/brand? any clues would help.

The company is WSH

Well, now we'll wait for someone who knows more than me about brands.

I think that lots of members are looking at this thread and trying to let you down nice and easy. I don't know who sold you the razor, or even what kind of razor it is, but "shave-ready" means different things to someone selling a razor and someone actually applying it to his face. I'm hoping that someone near you will offer some advice and/or assistance. In the meantime, could you post a pic or two showing the razor full-on with the manufacturer's name visible?

Obviously it's not shave ready ,, read up in the library , as a guy who's not shaved with a straight razor for some time you really don't know, I wish we could get everyone to read here first, unless from a reputable dealer of shave ready razors by folks who shave with them it's just a salesman telling you what you want to hear, if it's good steel , hard to tell from your pics I can't see who made it, it needs to be sent to someone who does this , you,lol have to search for vendors on the classifieds to see who you would like to help or maybe buy a new one from, the services here, always good razors in our classifieds , also stropping is another issue if you want maybe try out a decent shavette or a feather artist club replaceable blade razor to see if you can learn to shave, You know take away the technique variable. Any way keep asking questions and read a lot! And get the razor pro honed . Best advise you,ll ever receive on straight shaving. Tc

Here are some more pics with manufacturer. Sorry if it is a bit unclear.

Attachment 207598Attachment 207599

Haroldg48 is absolutely correct in that being marked "Solingen" is not itself a guarantee of quality. And looking at the first pic it would appear to be a lower-quality razor. For example see the tang near the pivot. On a well-made razor there would not be any marks like can be seen there. At least not without heavy (mis)use.

But beyond that, even if a razor was made from the best steel in the world by a master craftsman, it will not cut properly unless it is honed properly. That would be my first guess: it isn't cutting because it simply is not sharp enough. Does the vendor specialize in straight razors? Or is it a more general shop (knife shop for example) where staff may not appreciate that true razor sharpness is a whole other level from knife sharpness?

It sounds like it has been unevenly honed as well. The edge should cut equally well along the entire length of the bevel. But it sounds from your description that this is not the case. So suggestion #1 would be to have it properly honed by a specialist in razor honing.

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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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

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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.

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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

Hello, thank you for replying. Where did you buy the whetstone? In HK or you have it ordered overseas? And what would the price for it be? I heard from some people saying that they don't need any water solution or mineral oil. They could just hone the blade on the whetstone and it would cut perfectly fine. I chuckled a bit at your last sentence because HK people are always very busy haha. But if it takes time to understand the art of straight shaving, I guess it is worth the wait.

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Originally Posted by chihwahli

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

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Or even just use whatever you currently use to shave with to finish off your shaves, that way you are only learning one skill.

As to time, the general consensus is around 100 shaves to be reasonable and another couple of hundred to get your technique down so based on daily shaving; around 3 months to not be rubbish and then another 3-6 months to get consistent acceptable results. However you will continue to refine your technique for some time after, this will be exacerbated if you have multiple different razors in my opinion as weight of grind, Blade size and blade profile will all require slightly different techniques.

Sounds like you started where many of us did buying cheap before knowing better then spending more to fix the issues of buying cheap. As Chris said it may not hold an edge well and will need constant maintenance honing. Instead of hones and trying to learn honing on top of shaving you can probably get a decent shave ready razor and a barbers hone for a similar cost. You can also practice honing with the razor you have and still be able to shave. Good luck and if you can find someone local that is your best bet for starting well.

I am just a greenhorn, just learning the trade, perhaps a step further in the process than you , my advice should be tested by the other forum members.
Living in the Netherlands at this moment. So I cannot recommend about buying stones in Hong Kong. Forgive me.

The experts at this website do have a list of stones that can be used:
Hones - comparison table - Straight Razor Place Library

The stones I bought are not reviewed online so far as I can tell. Maybe I was lucky and got a set of 4K and 8K stone that was good enough for straight razors. Or these Zanmai 4K and 8K are an unknown brand (re-brand?) that are good for Razors as well, I cannot tell. If anyone is willing to test them out also and give a more definitive answer, until then it might be a risky chance to buy the Zanmai. I will send an e-mail to the seller about the Zanmai honing stones, if they know more about the quality of these stones. Will report back.
There are just many good brand, and tested stones that are well suited for your straight razor.
Look at the list and try to buy them in Hong kong.

I bought my zaimai from this Dutch shop:
http://www.japansemessen.nl/c-162739...n-slijpstaven/


Water or oil not needed?
Hmm, the stones I see straight razor users use are 99.9% water stones?? The reason is that they remove metal from your razor much quicker than the oil based stones. Water is really required with wet-stones like Naniwa. I tried making my Zanmai stones more flat with a 220 grit Naniwa stone and under the
220 grit stone was build-up of scraped off wet-stone particles. They kept sticking to my 220 grit stone. But when I used water everything was flat. On top of that, as others masters of honing have mentioned, water makes you see how good the honing process is going. You will see and even spread of metal particles with water over your naniwa stone, this means all is ok. Or you see a line without metal particles, that means your razor blade has some imperfections. You can read from the dirty water how the honing process is going.

But Farbgast? I think straight razors will be very good for you. You will need to learn to slow down and do it carefully. I guess you will enjoy these moments of peace. As if Hong kong is going forward with high speed and in your moment of shaving, time just became slow and peaceful. God bless you.

Edit: Remember something.
I bought a leather thing that can be tightened (forgot the name), on it you put a abrasive paste. These pastes have very small grit sizes. But I when I looked at it's leather, the surface was not straight and even!
The paste (red and black) are not cheap either. I conclude that honing stones are cheaper and are more consistent and will last you a life time. A canvas/leather strop is required (I guess), but for bevel setting and honing use
wet-stones. (I wasted about 40 euro on honing material)

Any Dovo straight razor is of highest quality. Here you can see some cheaper versions made by Dovo and the more expensive ones: www.messenwinkel.eu/DOVO-klassieke-scheermessen/

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Originally Posted by Farbgast

Hello, thank you for replying. Where did you buy the whetstone? In HK or you have it ordered overseas? And what would the price for it be? I heard from some people saying that they don't need any water solution or mineral oil. They could just hone the blade on the whetstone and it would cut perfectly fine. I chuckled a bit at your last sentence because HK people are always very busy haha. But if it takes time to understand the art of straight shaving, I guess it is worth the wait.

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Farbgast -- If you haven't, go to his link and read it and everything it cross-references. Buying a beginner's set on a budget - Straight Razor Place Library.

Then think about it. You had mentioned being a student and implied that money is tight. I assume you don't want to waste money, so going slowly into buying things is the best path.

I think others are trying to be kind. The razor you bought from a "salesman" is probably going to be money wasted for a primary razor. It does not appear to be high quality. While it may prove usable, it likely will not. The root word of "salesman" is "sales"....not expert on razors :(

So my advice would be while you read and ask some questions here about equipment and sources, explore the internet to see vendors who will ship reasonably to Hong Kong. There are a lot of SR users in Japan, it seems, so there may be a quality Asian source...and also don't give up looking for someone nearby who can give you razor advice that is oriented to you, not a salesman who is trying to move the products they have.

Most of all enjoy the exploration which will prepare you for enjoying the shaving experience.

Thank you all for your constructive comments. I am afraid I will have to postpone my straight shaving as I'm certain I will need a whetstone. But I need to ensure my finances are secure first before purchasing it. I do hope that I will be able to use it in the near future.

Wish you the best. See you shaving soon! (thumbs up)

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Originally Posted by Farbgast

Thank you all for your constructive comments. I am afraid I will have to postpone my straight shaving as I'm certain I will need a whetstone. But I need to ensure my finances are secure first before purchasing it. I do hope that I will be able to use it in the near future.

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Originally Posted by Farbgast

Thank you all for your constructive comments. I am afraid I will have to postpone my straight shaving...

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Maybe not. I suggest you find a kind old barber and ask if he will instruct you in correct sharpening and use of your razor. It is always good to have a teacher if that is convenient. Many old barbers are willing to help, already have correct sharpening materials in a drawer and the correct techniques you need inside their heads.

It would help....if I was in Shanghai. Shanghai is known for retaining some of these 20th century practices. This is why we call them 'Shanghai shops' here. But, they are virtually non-existent anymore here. Also, if by chance I do find one, the price can be pretty expensive.

The problem is that buying hones that will be enough to get it sharp is going to be more costly than a good razor...

Even going the completely and utterly cheap way of sharpening... 1000-4000 grit sand paper, a flat surface surface some tape and a loaded homemade strop is going to cost you more time to get a sub-optimal result... i sharpen knives very well, better than most knifemakers i know and better than most stores i know. I am barely getting to grips with a straight razor in the two weeks of playing...