A Humble Hello

Hello Everyone!

I am absolutely honored to be amongst such enthusiast! I do apologize though, this is the second time I've tried to post this thread after the first one was deleted from being timed out.

So let me start from the beginning. I have always had an interest in straight razors, but my enthusiasm was brought on by Tim Burton's 'Sweeney Todd'. As cliché as that might be, I became obsessed. I devoured the history of razors, I researched everything about them. I read website after website, blog after blog, following forum conversations about people using them and what they where using, watched all kinds of youtube video's about honing and stroping. I agonized every night on ebay, debating what to buy, should I buy. I didn't want to rush out and buy a blade only to find that I didn't know how to use it, that I didn't like it, that it was just another passing obsession. I decided to wait, be patient, keep watching, learning, obsessing, until one day my moment came. I was visiting a friend out of town when he surprised me with fathers antique blade. It wasn't much, but it was everything I had dreamed of. It had no nicks or visible damage, a little "corrosion" at the base between the joints of the handle and blade and obviously dull, but other wise perfect. I put it away dreaming of using it, patiently waiting on the perfect hone. Wondering if it was something I could actually see myself using. I decided to go for it and bought a 220/1000 grit Norton water stone and a vintage strop from ebay. Two separate auctions with a total around $100. My strop arrived first with the hone the following night. I was so excited, and nervous all at the same time. I had read all the material and seen enough of the "how-to" video's on youtube, I was ready...or so I thought. I honed for about 10 minutes on the 220 then flipped over and hone another few minutes on the 1000. I stropped about 10 strokes and the time finally came. My first though as I stroked for the first time was "I have a lot to learn". I could feel the hair being pulled out! I have never had razor burn so intense...

I have since shaved a few more times, that was about two to three weeks ago. I continue to learn, I continue to fall in love with my blade. I wanted to share my story, my routine, some troubles and ask a few questions. I love this site, I learned a lot by reading the posts and wanted to finally join in on the conversations. Hopefully I'll post some pictures later of my equipment that way you guys can get a better look at what some of the problems I might run into. As for now I'll share my routine...

I first start off with honing. I hone every time, before I shave. I set my stone on top of the plastic box it came in and place it right under the faucet with a very small stream of warm water always running to keep a thin layer on top. I hone for about five to seven minutes on the 1000 grit side. I know I need to buy a 4000/8000 grit stone, hopefully soon! I test the blade on my thumb nail. Once I feel a consistent sharpness I set the stone next to the sink to air out a bit. I then strop. I keep the strop very tight and run the blade with the spine leading for about 10 strokes. Now I do the hanging hair test, only I keep my hair very short and don't have any to pull, so what I've been doing is using a thread from my wash cloth, granted that is thicker and occasionally I'll use a cat hair (God knows its everywhere :) Most of the time the hair/thread splits after a moment running on the blade, I have yet to have a hair cut on impact. I think thats because I don't have a higher grit hone- yet. I moist my face with warm water and lather with canned foam for sensitive skin. I start the shave on my right side going down to the neck line all the way over to the left. I re-lather then shave from bottom of neck to jaw line. The chin and jaw are tricky and I haven't gotten that down yet. I also haven't been able to go against the grain on my cheeks yet because I don't have the skill or the treated skin. Once all that is done I moist with warm water again and run my schick razor just to clean up. Dry off apply Old Spice after-shave and jump in the shower. I know I should shower first, but thats just my O.C.D. :)

Once in a while I'll run the blade on the other side of the strop after I shave, but I'm not really sure what that is doing...I just read its a good thing to do? I have some questions about proper cleaning, the stone and blade, etc. And I didn't know if I should use some kind of oil to soften the strop. Also I don't have a brush right now either and was wondering who makes a quality brush-bowl set?


I think thats enough for right now, this post has gone on way to long! Thanks again for reading and I can't wait to hear from you!!

Welcome to SRP, Great to have you aboard the straight train....
I moved this to the Newbie Forum for you where you will get way more attention...
I gotta give credit where credit is do here first, the fact that you are getting even a shave at all off the 1k is a testament to foritude....
Trust me when I say this, it is going to be a lot better as you progress on this fun journey.....
You need to do some reading on here and watch some of the video's and I am sure you will have tons more questions....

Welcome to the site. Obsessed with razors? Really? ;) I can sympathize.

Don't take this the wrong way; you do need to read more and spend more time here on SRP. Unless a razor has chips to the blade or is so terribly pitted at the edge that a person feels they need to remove a serious amount of metal, the 220 grit Norton side shouldn't be used.

You should never ever need to hone a razor prior to each shave and most certainly not on an aggressive grit like 1K. I fear if you continued your current regimen, you'd quickly tire of shaving this way and abandon it all together. I easily shave with each razor I hone for 30+ days to several months using only pre and post shave stropping. And only then do they need a small number of passes on a very high grit stone.

I understand and can empathize with your excitement. But your current approach is not yielding a comfortable shaving edge. Ouch.

Very serviceable to high end brushes can run you anywhere from $15-hundreds of dollars. It depends on your budget.

Keep reading, keep posting and keep immersing yourself in this. Then it'll take hold of you like a monkey on your back and you'll find yourself past the point of no return.:o

Chris L

I think your next purchase should be for a Norton 4K/8K and a Chinese 12K. Sounds like you're doing a good job honing, but you need higher grits. As for the strop, if one side is linen, you can use it first, then the leather..the linen is like a micro hone. I usually strop 20 linen and 25 leather. But many do it lots of different #s of reps. Vulfix makes some nice inexpensive brushes, and I like the Georgetown pottery scuttle.

JDB, I commend and applaud your efforts!! The straight shaving bug has definitely bit, and I think that's great.

Your stone selection, however, is pretty bad off. the 220/1000 grit stone will be great for when you buy razors off of ebay with chips and nicks in the edge, but for shaving it's only the beginning of a sharpening regimen. I'm a frequent visitor of Knifeforums.com, and in the "Kitchen knife " section, we usually reccomend that a 1000 grit edge is a sufficient edge for a kitchen knife..... For a shaving edge you'll ahve to go much finer.

I only have the stones that I need, so I have no extra's, but if anyone has any spare hones (barber hones? medium and fine?), I'd like to nominate JDB for a "pay it forward" if you have anything suitable that you can easily part with.... His exuberance in attempt earns it, I would say!

Other than that, JDB, I'd be more than happy to hone your razor for you. I'll polish it on stones up to a 12000 grit stone, then micron papers followed by 0.5 micron chromium oxide. I'm not a pro like some of the guys on the forum, but I get fantastic shaves from the razors that I have, and the edge is long lasting, providing you strop correctly. PM me if you're game. I'll send your razor back to you with a chromium oxide loaded bench strop of some sort if you like. Actually, I'll give a hunk of a chromium oxide bar.... I've got a bar that I've been using for over a year and I've barely dented it... Or just buy some more hones and do it yourself!! :)

As far as a brush goes - for right now just go to walmart and buy the Van Der Hagen brush ($4.99) and the soap ($1.99). I'm still using that and I get fantastic shaves with it!

Here's a practically fail-safe recipe for decent lather from that set:

1. Put the soap puck in the bottom of a coffee mug.
2. Fill the mug with very hot water.
3. Put your brush bristle side down in the water.
4. Strop your razor (try more in the 30 - 50 range: it's easy to mess up your edge with poor stropping technique, but if you've watched a few videos on youtube you should have a decent idea of what good technique looks like. It's difficult to over strop. So, in your case, a bunch of strokes is better than too few, which I would say that 10 passes is too few for now...)
5. Dump the water out of the mug, and give your brush a good flick or two to get the excess water out. Just so it's not dripping a lot. A few drips is normal and fine.
6. Swirl the brush around on the soap, and pump it up and down a few times. For 20 seconds is more than plenty.
7. Wet your face.
8. swirl the brush around on your face, wipe it back and forth, jiggle it, whatever you need until the foam turns into a good thick lather. Finish off with "paintbrush" style strokes to make it even.


When I first started, I had a problem with my lather drying on me, because I wasn't a quick shaver. So, I broke it up into left cheek, right cheek, left neck, right neck, and upper lip/chin area. I would lather a section, then shave, then lather the next section, then shave, etc.

I recommend lathering on your face to start with because it's easy to feel what the lather is like, rather than just looking at it in your mug/bowl.

Good to have you @ the forum!

Ben

I applaud your enthusiasm! However, your post made my face hurt. Shaving off of a 1K hone even after a strop is the mark of a real man. However, you are not going to have much metal left after a time and your shaves will not be as comfortable as they could be. As others have suggested, you really need to get a different selection of finer hones. I have blades that have not seen a more coarse hone than a yellow coticule about once every 3-6 months for over two years. There are some great tutorials here on the forum and elsewhere on how to hone and maintain your blades.

WOW!

Thank you all so much for your advice and support! I have never been on a forums board that has been this welcoming! I do apologize for the delay in response. I was away from home this weekend and couldn't get on a computer.

First off, Chris, thanks for the metaphor of a monkey on my back, that made me laugh. I'll be sure not to remember that when I'm actually shaving! Ditch doc, thank you for the advice about the brush. I'll definitely be looking in to that. And Ben, thanks again for willingness to help me out. I don't know if I'm able to part with the blade just yet, but I will most surely keep you in mind!

While I was away this weekend, I had time to think about some questions to ask you guys. When- why- and how did you get into straight razors? For me it was the fact that a pack of razors cost around $10-$15! I didn't want to keep throwing my money away. Not to mention Gillette and Schick are monopolizing this generation with advertising. I didn't want to be dependent on the latest and greatest vibrating blade they have to offer!

But I digress...

I couldn't wait to get back home so I could share with you some decisions I've made. One, I'm looking on ebay at a Norton 4000/8000 grit water stone for $89. What do you guys think? Is this REALLY going to change my shave? Is it really worth almost a hundred dollars?! I just graduated college and I'm getting by okay, I just want to know how much of a difference its going to be...Two, I am going to stop honing before every shave. I can completely see why I shouldn't hone each time, I was just uneducated. Thank you for putting a stop to that! And three, I've decided to stick with my foam for right now as my shaving cream. Reason is that I don't really have a problem with it, so why fix what's not broken?

Now, I do have a surprise! I spent awhile this morning taking pictures of my equipment! They are not the best pictures ever, but I think they get the job done.

http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i3...g/DSC_0828.jpg

This is the box the blade came in, however I'm not sure if its the right box...

http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i3...g/DSC_0829.jpg

And this is my blade!

http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i3...g/DSC_0831.jpg

This is the "corrosion" I was talking about. The bottom of the blade say's "CNTARIO CUTLERY CO. GENEVA, NY"

http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i3...g/DSC_0834.jpg

It was hard to actually get a shot of JUST the razors edge, but I thought this would suffice.

http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i3...g/DSC_0836.jpg

My Norton 220/1000 grit stone, with box.

http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i3...g/DSC_0837.jpg

The top of my strop.

http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i3...g/DSC_0839.jpg

The bottom. I'm not sure if this is the proper "toughness" of a strop. It's a bit stiff, and I haven't used any kind of oil or anything to loosen it up. What do you guys recommend?

**SORRY**

The forums rules say I can only have 7 pictures posted. So I have to post another reply to show the remaining two...

The rest...

http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i3...g/DSC_0840.jpg

And the back. Now again, I don't haven't been using this side but a few times, so thank you doc for the advice on using it as a fine hone before and after a shave.

http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i3...g/DSC_0842.jpg

Then the cream and clean up. Sorry for the blurriness, photographers error.


So thats all I have for right now, I hope you guys are doing okay and I can't wait to hear back!!

Welcome and congratulations! You appear to have the crazed stubbornness necessary to shave with a straight razor for many years to come

You can find finer hones and finishing pastes (and brushes!) here in the Classifieds and Vendors sections of SRP and many soaps and creams that will spoil you.

The 1K Norton is a fine hone to establish the bevel on a razor. Once that is done, you should not have to come back to that hone for a very long time; you may never have to come back to it if you keep it tuned up on a finer grit hone.
I have a 4K/8K Norton but have not used it on my razors that are tuned up where I want them because I use even finer hones to keep them just where I want them on the sharpness scale.
While I could shave off of the 8K, I never found it really comfortable. I have a yellow coticule that I use that provides a nice polish. When you add some stropping with green CrO before actually hitting the plain leather strop, you can get a very nice shave.
I have other polishing hones but you don't really need them unless you have had an attack of the hone acquisition disorder (HAD) like I have HAD.

Steve is right. Put that stone away until you get an ebay horror. You might also consider getting a 4 sided paddle strop to sharpen it. Take a look on www.thewellshavedgentleman.com. He has great strops and a four sided paddle is easier than a stone.

First off, welcome.

When I first read your post I thought to myself "he forgot a 0 on the hone number." Then I read the description of your shave and thought "nope, he didn't forget the 0 - he really did just go to 1000." As has been mentioned, you do not hone before every shave- your razor will wear very quickly (especially on a 1000 hone.) You will also get an over honed edge that will be- well, I have to stop thinking of it- these thoughts have cause my face to start bleeding.

I understand your being hesitant to part with your razor just yet. If you post where you are from perhaps one of the members will be near and can put a good edge on that straight for you. It has to hurt. Failing that please do look on the classified section of this board and pick up one of the cheap razors that is shave ready (they will say if they are or not.) After one shave with the new razor the other will be off to a honemeister.

I would recommend this route even over just buying a new norton as you will still not get it as sharp as it needs to be and will have nothing to use as an example of what it should feel like.

JDB, it might be worth the investment to purchase an initial honing by one of the many honemeisters you can find in the classifieds. They will give your razor a proper edge while you practice your honing skills with inexpensive razors you can buy on eBay or at local antique shops/swaps. Just a thought.. :D

It's probably been said elsewhere in this post but for heaven's sake get that blade off to a pro honer, pay the money and then you will have an edge to compare with when it gets back. You will also have a lot more skin left! :bow to anyone who can scrape off (cos it ain't shaving!) the stubble from a 1k hone-and-strop session - I can see the tramlines in the blade edge from the photo! Get the hone recommended by the guys and I would also suggest a 12k chinese polishing hone too, and, when finances allow, a good strop - yours has seen better days.

I really admire your enthusiasm but SR shaving simply doesn't have to be so intense an experience!

Welcome to the SRP club. :tu You have more patients than I do. When I got bit by the str8 bug I jumped right in. If you really want to get a good shave you have to pay attention to details in honing. This site is great and helped me a lot! Using a 1000k stone as your final hone will be like using a saw on your face. The object of honing is to get as smooth and continuous edge as possible on a microscopic scale. Honing cuts the metal like scratching it off. The coarser stones leave larger scratches hence a jagged edge. The minimum grit stone should be an 8000k water stone. Use a very light touch when running the blade on the hone. This is hard because we all have different concepts of a light touch. Best way to think about it is that you are always using too much pressure. Use lots of water on your hones. Put your hone on a something to collect the excess water, like several paper towels. Look for the water to go up the blade from the edge to the spine across the whole length of the blade. Then move to the next finest grit hone. The edge may not come to sharpness all at once. My learning have shown that if I do more than 20 strokes and the blade is not running water up the entire length of the blade I do several strokes spine first to break off any wire edge that may be forming and give you s false sense of sharp/correct edge. When think you have a good edge try to shave the hare on your arm dry with several locations on the blade. If all parts do not shave go back to the same or lower grit hone until you can shave arm hair with all parts of the blade. If you move to a finer hone too soon you will be wasting a lot of time. The finer hones remove metal a lot slower that the preceding grit. Lynn Abrams has a great video on YouTube on honing. They are worth watching several times. Everything he says is important for a good edge and should be studied well. Good luck! Let me know how you make out. After you get the hang of honing and later shaving you will enjoy it and be sorry you didn't start sooner. I did.

I think maybe you and I might have that OCD thing in common I read that part of your post with a smile...
To answer some of yer questions... Yes the 4/8 Norton is worth the money but I would just get it off Amazon there is a set on there for $120 that includes the lapping stone the 220/1k and the 4k/8k I know you already have the 220/1k but I'll buy that off of you, if you don't want the extra one, I was planning on getting another anyway and cutting it down, PM me if you are interested in that...
You are going to hear all about higher grit stones and I agree that sooner or later you will probably get one, but there are tricks with the Norton 8k that will give you a fine shaving edge, and with the OCD I bet you can work that stone to it's fullest potential.... A simple balsa bench strop and .50 Cr paste will take you to the next step for pennies....
Many people add the higher grit stone 12k-40k in between the 8k and the paste, some add 2 or 3, that is a personal preference.... and for comfort...

Your strop needs to be conditioned, Neets foot oil, available at most shoe shops does a great (inexpensive) job on the leather.... (any good leather conditioner works)
The linen could improve from a stiff nylon brush...

Most of what I have recommended I would have said beside that fact that you want to keep the budget down........ You can always add more as you progress.....