Thread: The more I find out, the more questions I have...

Hello everyone!

I've just bought a new Cyril Salter straight edge which I gather won't arrive shave-ready, so I've also bought a Belgian BBW hone to set it up. I have a few questions about this:

As I have never honed before, what technique should I use? I was planning to do 5 strokes either way in the x pattern, then 20-30 on the strop, then test via hair and thumb pad (sticky blade) and then repeat if it didn't seem sharp enough. Does that sound reasonable? Also, can someone describe how much pressure to apply when honing? I imagine it to be similar to rolling something like a Rice Krispie without crushing it - does that seem about right, or should it be even less?

Also - does anyone here have any experience of the Salter razors? What do you think?

Plus - if I'm planning to (eventually!) shave this way every day, should I get another razor so the blades have time to recover?

Thanks very much in advance for your advice - it's greatly appreciated!

The Salter is a pretty good, middle of the road blade. Good weight and balance. They can rust if you blow on them though, so keep it dry and clean.

Your pressure idea is okay. Keep it light.

The technique/strategy might be a little too slow, but its a decent plan. It might take a while to get anywhere but eventually it could could work.

I don't think you'll have enough experience to discerne the thumbpad test. I'd just use a HHT and test shave small spots as you go. But, as you probably know, getting an example of shave ready is a good idea. "Just Sharp", razor wise, can cause lots of facial damage. Typically, razors are "wicked sharp". There is a big difference.

You should have two blades for daily shaving, but it has nothing to do with resting. More its about having atleast one blade that is always "tuned" right without having to mess with it pre-shave. "Tuned" is the idea that the razor is at a good spot in the honing cycle and lightly/properly stropped.

Thanks for that advice!

I have also been told that I shouldn't hone the new razor unless it's impossible to get it shave-ready with the strop. How much stropping do I need to do before I know it's time to get the hone out?

I can't wait to get started with this...

Omkin, a good recommendation would be to send your nice razor to one of our honemeisters to get it shave ready (see the classifieds). It will do a couple of things for you. First your razor will truly be shave ready when you start hacking away at your whiskers. Buy an inexpensive razor from ebay or antique shop/show to practice your honing skills. The other thing is that you will now have a proper shave ready edge to compare against the edge you developed with your hones.

As a newbie to straights you will have removed one of the two variables in trying to solve the eternal question of why I didn't get a good shave the first time. Since you will have a shave ready edge that leaves technique. Also, if you haven't already done so, get a copy of Lynn's CD (also in the classifieds). It is over 3 hours of great information for the beginner. It is a good investment.

If you tried to rationalize that one razor (or several) upfront cost will pale against the cost of disposables, you are fooling yourself...

Originally Posted by dward

If you tried to rationalize that one razor (or several) upfront cost will pale against the cost of disposables, you are fooling yourself...

Hear hear!

But my question for both omikin and our more senior members AFDavis and dward is to say this:

Omikin mentions he is getting a hone. Does the type of hone he is getting (which I have never used or dealt with before) require any form of preperation/lapping before he egins to hone? That was my mistake when I bought my Norton 4k/8k.

Just be aware of this, yeah?

Originally Posted by dward

If you tried to rationalize that one razor (or several) upfront cost will pale against the cost of disposables, you are fooling yourself...

Plus one to that. Unless you cancel your internet after you have received the essentials you're done for.

Seriously though, if you want to learn to hone I would get 2 razors and have one of them honed by a member here. Honing will either be easy or hard to pick up depending on your natural ability, you dont want the sharpness of your first razor to be left up to that.

Like AFDavis said, your honing idea is good but a bit slow. I would do more than 5 laps on the belgian before hitting the strop. You don't have to worry about an over honed edge on the belgians so there is no need to do such a low lap count. Just out of curiosity I've done hundreds of laps on the blue and hundreds on the coticule and never noticed a problem.

Originally Posted by sidneykidney

Does the type of hone he is getting (which I have never used or dealt with before) require any form of preperation/lapping before he egins to hone?

Good point, both the belgian blue and coticule will require lapping. You can do this on some wet/dry sandpaper on a flat surface or if you are getting it from the perfect edge Howard can do it for you for a small fee. I would recommend having him do it, it's well worth the small fee he charges.

Doesn't "BBW" stand for Belgian Blue Waterstone? If so, it's around 4000 grit and not a finishing stone. It might well make your Salter blade even less shave-ready! The Belgian Yellow coticule/waterstone is considered to be the finishing stone for a final edge. I didn't notice any mention of another stone in your post - apologies if I missed it!

Regards,
Neil

I would say send it to get honed by a professional. I know the first time I honed my blade I certainly didn't get it sharp enough to shave with for a first timer (though sharp enough to shave with 6 months experience with a straight).

The BBW is indeed 4000 grit - I knew this was low but I thought it might be okay. Does this mean that going forward the BBW will be okay for the first bit of honing, but I need something more like 12000 grit for finishing?

I think I have decided that I will get it professionally honed to start with, then see how I go from there.

I would really appreciate your opinions on the usefulness of the BBW for the future! And then in a few months time I'll be on the lookout for a finer hone, by the sounds of it...

Cheers!

Om