Introducing me!

Why am I here?

When I was around 20 a mate had a straight razor and I shaved with it a few times, though obviously doing it regularly is a different thing.

In recent years I've got a bit tired of endlessly throwing away safety razors, because I'm a bit of a greenie and anyway it just seems pointless when you could use just the same one for years. And I figured that since I'm a chef sharpening blades is a natural thing for me to do. It would be a bit strange for a chef to buy a cheap knife and throw it away and buy another after a few days or week, that's what I think of each time I bin another safety razor.

So anyway I did a bit of research and based on brand recommendations from your site scored myself an old Bengall from ebay.

http://i17.ebayimg.com/01/i/001/3f/9f/6aee_1.JPG

http://i.ebayimg.com/05/!BP59sj!!mk~...(n,Qkw~~_1.JPG

I don't know who H. Raphael of the Novelty Depot was, but he seems to have taken care of his blade.

I still need a fine stone and a strop, but I think this is the start of a beautiful friendship.

WELCOME to SRP!

keep us posted on how that razor treats you, and how it hones up. :gl:

What hones do you have?
Do you have any more pictures, it almost looks like the blade has a taper to it, getting thinner at the toe:shrug:

The only stuff I've got right now is for these kinds of blades:-

http://www.chefdepot.com/graphics9/future_set_41984.jpg

and the sharpest thing in that sort of set is the filleting knife - but that's still short of what we want in a razor.

The major difference is the finishing. When we sharpen, that little burr on the edge is alright for cutting vegetables and meat, it actually helps somewhat, making the blade effectively serrated, but when it comes to a shave, well... you guys know better than me, but I can guess :D

So I need a finer stone or two, and of course the strop.

Sorry, no more pictures, those are just the ones from ebay. Raphael - as I shall call my blade from now on - doesn't have a taper as such. It's just that over the years he's been sharpened as people sharpen knives - the tip is sharpened the most, near the handle much less so. Previous owners probably used mostly the far third of the blade, and the back two-thirds very little.

yes you will need a strop and some stones or at least somebody over your way to put a decent edge on it we have several members is oz and some in NZ .... Jimbo might have ideas ... but he is a gormless twit :D in Brisbane or thereabout

Quote:

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Originally Posted by KyleAaron

The only stuff I've got right now is for these kinds of blades:-
(picture edited)
and the sharpest thing in that sort of set is the filleting knife - but that's still short of what we want in a razor.

The major difference is the finishing. When we sharpen, that little burr on the edge is alright for cutting vegetables and meat, it actually helps somewhat, making the blade effectively serrated, but when it comes to a shave, well... you guys know better than me, but I can guess :D

So I need a finer stone or two, and of course the strop.

Sorry, no more pictures, those are just the ones from ebay. Raphael - as I shall call my blade from now on - doesn't have a taper as such. It's just that over the years he's been sharpened as people sharpen knives - the tip is sharpened the most, near the handle much less so. Previous owners probably used mostly the far third of the blade, and the back two-thirds very little.

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actually he probably used most of the blade but used too much pressure when he was honing. as for honing razors most of what you do with a knife is something to forget. as the two methods are very dissimilar. read some more watch the videos and you will see.

and BTW... welcome to SRP!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by syslight

actually he probably used most of the blade but used too much pressure when he was honing.

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It doesn't look like that. It looks like he sharpened the far end, then when he came to shave found the other end blunt and so didn't shave with it, and so when he came to sharpen it again focused on the far end, and so on.

I've seen similar things happen with cooking knives so it doesn't surprise me. Commonly a tip will be violently sharp, then halfway down the blade it's blunt as a butter knife. This goes on until someone breaks off the tip and then they buy a new one. Unfortunately many tradespeople don't take care of their tools, and chefs and cooks are no exception.

Quote:

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as for honing razors most of what you do with a knife is something to forget. as the two methods are very dissimilar. read some more watch the videos and you will see.

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From what I've seen [for example here], they're quite similar. Perhaps you're thinking of the traditional and wrong way people sharpen knives, with a circular back-and-forth motion keeping the edge on the stone the whole time.

I grew up with something of a handyman for a dad, so I learned the proper way :D

Of course I will keep my eyes and ears open, but from what I've seen so far, the initial sharpening is the same, just with a finer stone - what's different is the finishing with the strop and so on.

Thanks for the welcomes!

as it may be but please keep the spine and edge of the razor on the hone no need to freehand and angle and i never thought circular honing was good for anything except edge repair

Hmmm... I've seen a few like this that had good edges the whole length of the blade but much more hone wear at the toe. Generally I think this is because the honer was applying pressure to try to keep the toe down. Do you have the razor now, or are you waiting for it?

If so, how is the razor on the TNT?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by KyleAaron

doesn't have a taper as such

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if a taper is something that diminishes gradually, that has a taper!

I'm sure it will still make a great shaver though, good luck.

G'day & Welcome to SRP. Looks like the toe end has a had a lot of love.

You're right, you will need to hone it to a higher level of polish than a working knife but it should hone up & shave well.

As Syslight said make sure the spine & edge are in contact with the hones unlike a knife :gl: