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.

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.

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.

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?