Thread: Shaving on the cheap.....

Now then folks,

I'll start by telling you what I have, and then hopefully some people will chime in and tell me what I need. Please bear in mind I am in england and you yanks get quality stuff so much cheaper than here.

2 x Sanguine razors, for months all I had was these and pasted balsa strops and it pulled but it worked.

1 x Wapi, if anyone can tell me what SFK means or the significance of the stamp please do.

1 x Homemade leather strop

1 x Dovo Strop

1 x Set of homemade pasted balsa strops, 0.5, 1.0 and 5.0 micron.




I want a good shave with no frills, for as cheap as possible.

I think the only thing I am missing at present is a sharpening stone, how far can stropping compensate for this? Is there any way round getting a norton 4k/8k + flattening stone?

I also have what Norton call a fine india stone (grit estimations anyone), is this any use anywhere along the line.




Please all input would be appreciated.


Cheers

David

Sounds like you're good to go. Of course, you'll strop before every shave. That should keep you for a while. Once you feel it start to tug/pull, run it over the pasted strop a few times, and you should be back to shaving sharp. You shouldn't need to HONE the razor with that setup and proper stropping for 9-12 months, as that pasted strop will refresh your edge pretty well.

Good luck

I couldn't tell from your post if your razors have been honed and made "shave ready". The 1 micron paste may or may not get a factory edge there. I would have your razors honed by a pro. The pastes should keep you going for a bit then. I would think a small yellow coticule would be all you need then for some time to come. Anyone more experienced please correct me if I'm wrong.

Jordan

None of my razors have been bought shave ready so its all factory edges i am working with.

I was thinking this is why getting a stone might be unavoidable, I don't want to send it away to be honed, it feels like cheating.

Originally Posted by jnich67

I couldn't tell from your post if your razors have been honed and made "shave ready". The 1 micron paste may or may not get a factory edge there. I would have your razors honed by a pro. The pastes should keep you going for a bit then. I would think a small yellow coticule would be all you need then for some time to come. Anyone more experienced please correct me if I'm wrong.

Jordan

I am coming to a conclusion that one can shave on the cheap, but cannot sharpen on the cheap. I hope I am wrong!

Originally Posted by davidcarr3

... I don't want to send it away to be honed, it feels like cheating.

Ah!--that was what I was going to suggest. I figure on sending mine out for honing, at least the first few times. You might think of it as an interim measure ... get the initial hone out of the way, concentrate on the daily stropping and shaving techniques at first, and then learn to hone once you've got those down. That's how I'm looking at it, anyway.

Well then you probably will need a stone. I'll let others make suggestions on more economical stones. There are some here who do everything with a small Yellow Belgian. You may want to send one of your razors out just so you have a benchmark and know what to shoot for. Either way, have fun with the process!

Jordan

Originally Posted by hoglahoo

I am coming to a conclusion that one can shave on the cheap, but cannot sharpen on the cheap. I hope I am wrong!

I agree. If you want to shave on the cheap, send the wapi out for honing. You can use your pasted strops to maintain it. It takes a lot of honing to learn to hone well - and buying razor fodder for your hones is what gets expensive. Learn to hone if you want to do it for it's own sake, not to save.

Originally Posted by davidcarr3

I don't want to send it away to be honed, it feels like cheating.

This is the second time I've seen this in two days. Especially for the first time around, it can't be cheating. Not only will it help you learn what shave-ready truly is, the other "tests" that go along with maintaining the edge are brought into better perspective.

You know, before Gillette came along and straights were the main shavers, people used to take their razors to barber's to have them professionally honed.

I would suggest making use of what you have. My guess is the 2 Sanguine razors are shaving about the same. So...take one of them and work on it with the pasted strops.

1 Perform the TPT to establish a base of reference
2 perform 20 laps on the 5.0
3 perform 30 laps on the 1.0
4 perform the TPT again, notice any change?
Some change but not enough?
5 perform 10 laps on the 5.0
6 perform 20 laps on the 1.0
7 perform the TPT again, any change?
yes?
perform a shave test
not good enough
perform #5 & #6 again
shave test

What you are learning is the rate of change that occurs with each of the pastes. Notice that I suggest a gradually decreasing number of laps as the edge gets sharper.

When your razor is shaving OK then perform 30 laps with the 0.5 micron

Always strop on a plain leather hanging strop for 30-50 laps just before each shave.

Hope this helps,