Thread: Complete Newbie is lost

Hello.
I'm new to both this site and using a straight razor and as such, I'm a bit overwhelmed and would appreciate it you help could be provided.
I think a little intro would be in order first considering this is my first post here. I'm a guy, I'm 19 and I live in Australia. I was attracted to start using a straight razor for several reasons. One I like the tradition behind it, and would like to be apart of that history and tradition. Two I like the idea of a crafted object, that I take care of and cherish that lasts me a long time. I don't mind taking longer to shave because I feel slowing down, and taking your care with something whatever it may be, is almost therapeutic, like a meditation. Obviously the inherant benefit of not contributing to the waste that comes with disposing of safety razor heads if attractive too, as is the closest shave possible.

So I went to a shaver shop in my vicinity an inquired about a straight razor, and everything I'd need. The man there sold me a Dovo 5/8t" straight razor with a plastic tortoise shell handle. I also got a leather strop, this one to be precise Black Beauty Leather Razor Strop - Men's Biz

So with the introduction aside, I have some questions I would greatly appreciate being answered. Now be warned, some of these questions are probably annoyingly stupid to some of you.

I gather from what I've taken in so far reading some posts, I need to hone my razor, even though it's new.
I don't plan I buying old razors that need extensive restoration for the interim, so these questions just apply to the razor I have at the moment.

What sort/type of stone do I need to get? Will I need more than one? This is where I'm most clueless as lost of the conversations about hones seem to be about old second hand razors, unless I'm mistaken (which is most likely)

When and how often will I need to hone the razor? I gather when it's blunt, but if I do everything correctly and strop before every use, etc, how often should I be between needing to be honed?

So I've gathered I should be stopping before every shave. Do I do the Hanging Hair Test after stropping to see if I've stropped correctly or for long enough?
(Currently the razor cannot pass the Hanging Hair Test)

The strop I have I'm fairly certain if leather both sides, do I need a canvas or linen side?
When and how often do you use the canvas or linen side if you have one?

Do I strop after shaving too?

Finally the guy at the store mentioned something about needing pastes or oils or something for the strop although he didn't have any in at the time.
What are pastes or oils? What do they do, and do I need them?

Sorry for so many questions and sorry if this stuff has been asked before or if it's infuriatingly stupid, as I said I'm lost and clueless.
I can see now I may have jumped the gun on actually procuring the straight razor, although to be positive my enthusiasm hasn't waned.

Thank-you in advance to anyone who has the patience to put up and answer my questions.

Originally Posted by GuybrushThreewood

I gather from what I've taken in so far reading some posts, I need to hone my razor, even though it's new. I don't plan I buying old razors that need extensive restoration for the interim, so these questions just apply to the razor I have at the moment.

A warm welcome. Just managed a BBS shave with a EUR 5 ePay piece of junk that is up to speed again, courtesy of gugi's Escher and a pair of scales generously donated by gssixgun, as well as endless hours of spoon feeding by the guys from the #srp IRC channel.

Now then, while the Wiki is still a bit of a moving target due to its being new and material being added all the time, you most certainly want to peruse this article at the very minimum: What Every Beginner Should Know - Straight Razor Place Wiki

Originally Posted by GuybrushThreewood

What sort/type of stone do I need to get? Will I need more than one? This is where I'm most clueless as lost of the conversations about hones seem to be about old second hand razors, unless I'm mistaken (which is most likely)

You will not necessarily need a polishing stone at this stage, provided that your razor is indeed shave ready. Which it most likely is not. To answer your question: The Shave Ready Razor - Straight Razor Place Wiki

Originally Posted by GuybrushThreewood

When and how often will I need to hone the razor? I gather when it's blunt, but if I do everything correctly and strop before every use, etc, how often should I be between needing to be honed?

Honing for Dummies - Straight Razor Place Wiki should have answers to most of your questions.

Originally Posted by GuybrushThreewood

So I've gathered I should be stopping before every shave. Do I do the Hanging Hair Test after stropping to see if I've stropped correctly or for long enough?

The hanging hair test (explained in more detail here: Sharpness tests explained - Straight Razor Place Wiki) can be misleading.

Common consensus seems to be that a razor that passes the HHT is by all means shave ready. The reverse, however, need not necessarily be true.The ultimate test is the shave test, also explained in that article.

Originally Posted by GuybrushThreewood

The strop I have I'm fairly certain if leather both sides, do I need a canvas or linen side? When and how often do you use the canvas or linen side if you have one?

Opinions vary wildly. Personally, I have applied Dovo black paste to the canvas side of my strop, and it helps maintain a sharp edge. You may find the information found in this article helpful, too: Razor stropping - Straight Razor Place Wiki

Originally Posted by GuybrushThreewood

Do I strop after shaving too?

Not necessarily, but at least it is a good way to dry the blade.

Originally Posted by GuybrushThreewood

Finally the guy at the store mentioned something about needing pastes or oils or something for the strop although he didn't have any in at the time. What are pastes or oils? What do they do, and do I need them?

Take a look at this: Finishing Pastes - Straight Razor Place Wiki While the guy at the store is not necessarily wrong, he is not necessarily right, either.

Well, BeBerlin's just about covered it!
Unless you're asking questions that can be easily answered by a search the guys here are always very ready to share knowledge & encourage new blood into straight shaving (Pun intended!)
Your razor is good quality & once shave ready will be great.
Enjoy the experience & keep at it.

Thank you, Ben. The following tips and tools might make life on SRP a bit easier, too: http://straightrazorpalace.com/gener...ful-stuff.html

The google search tip has helped me a lot, as the forum's search function is, well, a bit spotty at times.

Originally Posted by BeBerlin

You will not necessarily need a polishing stone at this stage, provided that your razor is indeed shave ready. Which it most likely is not.

Opinions vary wildly. Personally, I have applied Dovo black paste to the canvas side of my strop, and it helps maintain a sharp edge.

Okay having read those things I feel a bit silly for the some of the question I bombarded you with.
Just few things I still need clearing up.

The razor I have isn't really shave ready, but it isn't very unsharp either. So what sort of hone would I need? With you info about paste, so do paste work to sharpen a blade that needs more than a strop, but probably doesn't need to honed, is this thinking correct?
I'm still a bit confused about canvas, does that sharpen the blade a bit more than just leather?
Considering I don't have a canvas side, would adding a paste to a leather work to sharpen?
Do you think I could just do with a paste in the mean time instead of a hone, considering the blade is fairly sharp?
Finally, with the strop, just to sure, I can just strop with it like I got it from the store?

Thank you once again.

Originally Posted by GuybrushThreewood

Okay having read those things I feel a bit silly for the some of the question I bombarded you with.
Just few things I still need clearing up.

The razor I have isn't really shave ready, but it isn't very unsharp either. So what sort of hone would I need? With you info about paste, so do paste work to sharpen a blade that needs more than a strop, but probably doesn't need to honed, is this thinking correct?
I'm still a bit confused about canvas, does that sharpen the blade a bit more than just leather?
Considering I don't have a canvas side, would adding a paste to a leather work to sharpen?
Do you think I could just do with a paste in the mean time instead of a hone, considering the blade is fairly sharp?
Finally, with the strop, just to sure, I can just strop with it like I got it from the store?

Thank you once again.

I will add my welcome to the SRP. Learning to use a str8 and learning to hone at the same time is a very daunting objective. It can be done, however, it is a very common opinion that is better to have your razor professionally honed first, learn to use it then learn to hone. Honing is not like knife sharpening at all. I often have beginners send me razors to hone that they first attempted to hone themselves. Some razors were even "sharpened" on kitchen knife electric sharpeners. If a razor is improperly sharpened at first. It may require extensive corrective measures to fix the edge. This can mean taking a lot of steal from the razor. Have somebody here hone your first razor. If you are determined to do the honing, I recommend researching the honing threads on the forum. Be prepared to spend a lot more money to get yourself setup to do the honing correctly.

Originally Posted by GuybrushThreewood

Okay having read those things I feel a bit silly for the some of the question I bombarded you with.

We all started out with those exact same questions. That's why they make good WIKI articles everyone will need the answers. I hope they helped out.

Originally Posted by GuybrushThreewood

The razor I have isn't really shave ready, but it isn't very unsharp either. So what sort of hone would I need?

Heres the rub, how sharp is it if it won't shave? Around here that's dull, it still might be the sharpest thing in your house but if it doesn't cut hair its dull. If you think of it as a dull razor that might help you in deciding wht the next step to take is.

Originally Posted by GuybrushThreewood

With you info about paste, so do paste work to sharpen a blade that needs more than a strop, but probably doesn't need to honed, is this thinking correct?

There are many pastes, some of them do essentially the same job as a hone, some of them are much finer and compliment the work the hone does.

Originally Posted by GuybrushThreewood

I'm still a bit confused about canvas, does that sharpen the blade a bit more than just leather?

This question I wouldn't worry about to much. We all still have it,, there hasn't been a conclusive answer yet.

Originally Posted by GuybrushThreewood

Considering I don't have a canvas side, would adding a paste to a leather work to sharpen?

Then you wouldn't have a daily use plain leather strop, and the one you have seems pretty nice. With your dull razor you will need more than one grit anyway.

Originally Posted by GuybrushThreewood

Do you think I could just do with a paste in the mean time instead of a hone, considering the blade is fairly sharp?

You can sharpen it using pastes, but I would recommend a progression of three different pastes to do it. So yes, you could use pastes instead of a hone, but you can't skip steps in the honing process by doing so.

Originally Posted by GuybrushThreewood

Finally, with the strop, just to sure, I can just strop with it like I got it from the store?

Thank you once again.

As long as it didn't sit on the store shelf for a huge amount of time and isn't cracked, or curled, and all dried out, yes you can use it as it is. Once the leather begins to dry out your strop will need a little care but until then you are good to go. For that care there are dozens of good leather care products out there you might already have a suitable one in the house.


Welcome to the world of the Straight Razor There is a ton of stuff to pick up along the way as far as knowledge and well... stuff, but its a lot of fun

The next thin to do is get your razor sharpened. As you might have already guessed there are many different ways for you to do that but this being your first blade it would be my recommendation that you send it out. By sending it out for sharpening you will get it back knowing that the edge is good and ready for use. When just starting out you have honestly never seen a piece of steel as sharp as a straight razor ought to be, so it can be pretty hard to get something to that level without anything to compare it to. Not to say a lot of guys haven't done it but I think it makes life a little harder than it has to be. As far as where to send it, there I can't help to much Other than to say there are several members from down under on here and one of them can point you in the right direction.

Good luck!!

+1 on Kenrup. If you are not planning on buying any older razors and take care not to roll the edgepr damage the edge in any way a barber hone may be all you will need and probably no sooner than 2 months after starting daily shaves w/ your straight. As many here may suggest more expensive hone which will perform better you should consider the price of the hone to the usage you will get from it. When your collection of str8s expands consideration of the more expensive hones would be more appropriate. Of course if your budget allows buy what appeals to you based on your learnings here at SRP. If you are really anxious to learn honing get at least one professionally honed and buy another razor just to practice your honng skills on and compare your results to the Honemister's edge.

As I have recently found out, there is usually a *big* difference between what a new guy (like you or me) thinks is sharp, and what truly *is* sharp. I would find a honemeister there in Australia to sharpen that blade for you. Then all you really need is stuff to *maintain* the edge, instead of actually sharpening it. There are always multiple solutions to every situation, but here's a pretty good one for maintaining a sharp blade: get a four sided paddle strop. Paste it with 3.0, 1.0, and .75 diamond pastes, then CrOx on the fourth side. When stropping no longer provides you with a comfortably sharp edge, try a few laps on the CrOx, then strop it again. If that doesn't work, go to the .75 for a few laps, then strop it again. You get the idea. The nice thing about a pasted paddle strop is it's easier to use than a stone, and you can still get very good results with it. The hardest thing about a pasted paddle strop is making sure you don't apply too much paste. Other than that, it's easy enough for a ham fisted guy like me to use.

If you are using correct technique, using a straight WTG should be every bit as comfortable and irritation free as any other non-straight razor. If it's not, you probably haven't hit sharp yet.

Thanks for all the help.

I think I may try and find someone to hone it for me.
If I can't I'll try and get a hone.
I'm been looking at some videos around the place on how to hone, although I'm still lost on the kind on the kind of hone I'd need. I don't mind spending a bit of money if that helps for anyone who can offer advice on what hone(s) I should get. I'm thinking I might try and send it off to get honed, and then get another razor to try myself, so I have a comparison.
To be a bit more clear about the blade, I try a little patch on my hand, and it cuts the hairs, but not very proficiently.
Still confused about what hones to get? Other than that you guys have really helped me out.