Thread: Not shave ready!

I sent my first razor out to be honed to a guy that was referred to me by the Art of Shaving, unfortunately I don't think it is ready to shave. I am not sure what to do here. I have tried the hanging hair test which it failed, and the thumb pad test seemed to fail too. I am not experienced enough with the thumb test so I cannot be sure enough. Also, the razor barely cuts the hair off my arm even if I wet it a bit. It shaved most of the hair but not very well wet, and that was full skin contact. I have not stropped it yet, and I do have a barbers hone. I really don't want to spend another $25 bucks to get this thing honed. Should I try honing it up on a barbers hone, strop, and then try again? I really wish I had just gone the safe route and sent it to someone through here, that won't happen again. Any advice would be great.

Question?? did you try shaving with it first before all these tests????

No I did not. I actually just got it in the mail about two hours ago. Also I think i was just pm'd but my browser blocked it but its fixed now.

OK a few things
One: $25!!! damn I need to up my prices
Two: Those tests you performed are for people that hone razors, the shave test is really the only one that counts for you..
Three: Strop the razor carefully and try shaving..
Four: wait 2 days and try stropping and shaving again
Five: This is all assuming the guy that honed it knows what he was doing in the first place...
Six: Go ahead and try the barbers hone, and see what happens...
Seven: Go to the Classifieds and send the razor out for a real honing for way less that $25

Oh yeah if the razor shaves well after any of these steps STOP there..... and enjoy the shave !!!!

PS: I think one of the honemiesters here actually lives in St Louis can't remember for sure...

Will do. Thanks glen! I am also curious about his process, I think that will tell me if he knows what he is doing. I might give him a call, he made it sound like he deals with a lot of razors too. He gave the manufacturing info and dates and was really interested in the razor. Maybe I should just have a little more faith. It was actually more like $20 with shipping, I was exaggerating! Thanks a lot, and I will give it a try later this afternoon!

That would be great if someone knows a honemiester here in St. Louis.

Hopefully its the guy I sent it too! I don't want to post his name in a potentially negative thread though if I'm not even sure yet.

I would not recommend the barber hone, but the stropping should not hurt. I am concerned that people still try every other test besides shaving and think a razor is not shave ready. You can always send it back to be re-honed at no additional fee from any of the people I know who are honing, so that should not be a worry. The other concern here is that most of the people I know who hone razors send them back to people coated with Camellia Oil or something similar. That needs to be wiped off before shaving. I don't think most razors will be passing hanging hair test after being oiled in this manner.

Most guys who hone razors test them by shaving and don't let them go until they shave.

If this is your first shave, I would also recommend only shaving from the sideburn down to the jaw for the first couple days to get the feeling of the razor and to ensure your angle is 30 degrees or less when shaving. Then move over to the cheek for a couple days and then over to the other side and then the neck. Once comfortable there, take on the chin and cross grain as you feel more comfortable.

Lynn

Just tried a shave test and it was terrible, painful tugging, and would not cut the hair at base. hi_bud_gl is gonna hone it up for me. I would rather send it to him so that I can be sure its me and not the razor! Thanks for the help guys!

Also since there are a couple of people from missouri here, I am curious to ask something. It seems like every antique mall I go to that tell me they have razors, I get there one day too late. I'm not sure if its the same guy but literaly like 4 or 5 places told me I was a day too late. I am just wondering if its someone here on SRP is picking over all of the razors in saint louis before I get to them!

Thanks again!

Michael

I seem to encounter the same thing, its probably Tim/Oldblades scouring the country filling his razor rolls and plastic tubs. When you get your razor back from Sham/hi bud you wont be able to blame the razor. be ready and be careful!

You could try stropping the razor. You could be amazed at how much a little stropping can improve a razor.

Glad to read you finally tried shaving. Sorry the shave was terrible!

I'll say this about those tests (and I'm an advocate of them) they are really useful as indicators of your progress during honing and stropping. But until you've actually tried shaving, you'll never know if you've achieved what you were attempting.

In this particular case, the shaving test seems to confirm the others.

Keep trying. Stropping may be the answer here.

It's very difficult to learn this on your own, even with good advice. It just takes a lot of trial and error.



Scott