Practice Razor

In one of the threads someone suggested practicing with a butter knife to get used to the angles and stuff. I thought this was a great idea and promptly tried it out. I got much more comfortable with the blade near my face. My biggest problem has been that my glasses get in the way and I thought this would be a great way to figure it out. Well it was at first, in no time I had figured out how to hold the knife and get near my hairline without difficulty. Only problem was when I got near my face the scales got in the way, apparently I had forgotten my butter knife doesn't have scales.
So then I thought Why not just buy a really cheap razor to practice on. 2 mins later I had purchased a Pakistani blade from amazon for 7$ shipping included. Now my original intention was to try shaving with it once then dull the blade to practice on. However upon inspection of it I decided not to bother trying to shave with it at all and just dull the blade.
In the pics below you should be able to see the bend in the spine and other well lets just call them failures of quality control. Attachment 212304Attachment 212303Attachment 212302Attachment 212301Attachment 212300Attachment 212299

yep, that's why Pakistan razors are on the list of razors not to buy! should be good for practicing stropping and angle if you choose.BTW i hold my razor with the scales in line with the blade for the same reason you mentioned, they always seem in the way. no law saying they have to be held at 90 degrees.

That is exactly what they are good for, and letter openers. I agree with your logic. It will have the feel and balance of a "real straight razor".

So far it seems to be helping me. I`m really having trouble using my left hand (actually I`m not using it at all). Eventually with this practice razor I hope to get the technique down. It has helped me with my hairline near my ear that seems to get easier with each shave.
One thing I did find upon using it was that my feeble attempts to blunt and smooth the edges were not that succesful. however a bit fo electrical tape over the edge has made it work great. Still glad I dulled it though as I dont want the edge to cut throught the tape. Not that it was very likely based on how dull it was when I got it, but better safe than sorry.
When I'm done with it I guess I'll just store it away until my son gets old enough then use it to teach him how to shave liek a man :)

It will also work as a letter opener!

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Originally Posted by RezDog

It will also work as a letter opener!

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Perhaps that will be its use when i'm done and before my son is ready to learn (he's only 10 yrs old).
I do think for the pittance I paid it was a great deal for what I'm using it for.

I'll bet it's still sharp enough to give you a nice cut, watch out. In their favor, some Pakistani razors use half-way decent scales, and if you're careful you can remove the crap blades and re-use the scales.

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Originally Posted by stimpy52

I'll bet it's still sharp enough to give you a nice cut, watch out. In their favor, some Pakistani razors use half-way decent scales, and if you're careful you can remove the crap blades and re-use the scales.

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I was going to say this also, please be careful! It can also still cut your strop so treat it as a fully sharpened blade.

I taped the edge so its quite safe to practice on. I never thought of practicing my stropping on it so thanx for that idea. Ill probably gove that a go as well