New To Shaving and a lil frustrated

Hey, so I'm new to the whole Straight Razor community and everything and I was super excited about owning straight razor and getting a close shave but now its causing me to be frustrated at my straight razor and asking myself why didn't i stick with the disposable razors instead of wasting money. Ive been reading on a good amount of threads that would relate to my razor, strop, and hone,and watched every possible video on proper techniques and everything. and still it has made me frustrated. I'm thinking its possible the sharpness of my razor and i understand that most razors don't come shave ready. i feel like the hone i got which is a Hard Arkansas Razor Hone may not be doing the job for me even though it cuts slowly( if i remember that correctly)

so I just wondering from you guys did I get cheap quality products... or do i just suck lol

So i got all my razor equipment at a place in Harvard Square called Leavitt & Peirce (great place, sells a lot of cool things and tobacco lots of it)

** also i got everything around late July early August...Also Sorry for the Large Size of the pictures

The razor i got is called a Mehaz Razor said to be made in Solingen Germany( I read a thread on this razor posted by str8razor and has been said to be a made out of good steel and not pakistan)

http://i394.photobucket.com/albums/p...r/IMG_3138.jpg
http://i394.photobucket.com/albums/p...r/IMG_3143.jpg

The handle originally said Solingen in Silver(painted) but got scratched off...

The Strop I have is a Illinois Razor Strop (has a canvas)
http://i394.photobucket.com/albums/p...r/IMG_3145.jpg
http://i394.photobucket.com/albums/p...r/IMG_3148.jpg

And my stone which i feel like is the problem
http://i394.photobucket.com/albums/p...r/IMG_3144.jpg

Welcome to SRP.

My first reaction would be to read the stickies on the top of this section. We generally recommend that people tackle one thing at the time, start with shaving and move on to honing only later - there is enough of a learning curve on both on their own.

Your strop looks good and if an experienced member has posted that these razors are of good quality, there is no reason to believe yours is an exception.
Your hone does sound rather iffy - from what I remember the ones that could work for razors are almost impossible to lap...
In any case the bevel on your razor seems rather uneven. I would suggest getting it honed by somebody who knows what they're doing (they will also have the right tools).

Good luck and keep us posted on it

I purchased by first straight razor at Leavitt & Peirce in 2000. It's a very nice place. As for your problem... I'm willing to bet that razor sharpness is in fact the culprit. Looking at the photo of the razor it appears that there is some uneven wear on the blade. (it's possible it's just the light though) I've used arkansas stones like that one before and found them terrible hones. They were not anywhere near fine enough for me and I had terrible shaves after using them. I'd recommend doing the following. 1) find a honemeister in your area and have him hone the blade up for you. If possible meet him somewhere so you can observe. Next get yourself a Norton 4K/8K wetstone and something to help you lap it. The honemeister will be able to show you how to lap a stone. It's really not hard. Either get a lapping stone or just a piece of wet/dry sandpaper (very fine grit) and a KNOWN flat surface. There are many good hone options out there, but I'd really recommend the Norton wetstone. They are easy to learn on and offer very good feedback.


Hope this helps.


Patrick

Every Mehaz razor that I have ever looked at appeared to be extremely poorly ground! All had something of a frown and all were brand new! I have seen three of these razors!
Assuming that yours is not poorly ground then that leaves your hone and your honing abilities in question, not to mention your technique and prep!

Get your blade sharpened by a honemeister who can also tell you if your blade was poorly ground from the factory, and then reread everything on prep, technique, and stropping! Leave the honing for later!

There is quite a learning curve to using a straight, so take your time and practice! It will all come together eventually!

The brand and "solingen" both look as if it's printed on the tang instead of stamped. There are Solingen based sellers who import Eastern produced razors and knives merely to put the Solingen trademark on them. That doesn't mean that those tools are unusable by definition, but I definitely advice you to have someone who knows how to assess a razor, take a shot at properly honing it, to find out if it actually takes a keen edge and is able to keep it for at least a couple of shaves.
That Str8razor has a decent one, doesn't mean that yours is of the same batch. It only means that you might be fine. Something to rule out first.

I'm sure the strop is good.

A good strop and a good sharp razor is all you need to learn how to shave with a straight. Without a sharp razor you can't learn how to shave.

Learning how to hone is nearly impossible without at least the ability to perform a decent shave with a sharp razor. You can't assess honing results when you have to second guess your shaving skills.

Trying to learn both skills simultaneously is a recipe for frustration.

Hope this helps,
Bart.

I agree with Bart--I'd be willing to bet that razor isn't made anywhere near Germany! The Germans are much more meticulous and take much more pride in their products than to simply print like that on a blade----even at their LOWEST price point! "Mehaz" certainly has an Indian "ring" to it!! I'd feel better ordering a new blade from a reputable dealer. Even the lowest priced Dovo will probably serve you better than a knock-off. Good Luck!

Although it isn't a good close up photo the edge of that blade would concern me. I doesn't appear uniform.Don't get frustrated. You can't learn the proper technique without a properly honed razor.Once you feel the ease at which a good shaver takes off the stubble you'll be a believer.

thank i wll deff take it to take it to a honemeister and see what happens from there hopefully i can i shave from it and i 'll look into getting a norton stone... ha the funny thing is only the tip of the razor actaully gave me a shave either i'm holding it wrong or only the tip is sharp..and i ment to post sooner but i'm suupper busy with work and thanks i'll keep you guys posted on the whole razor issue