Thread: 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.

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.

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.