Thread: Another Newbie Checking In

I am ultra jealous of your fromm red head fifty! If it has a small nick in it, I lost to you on ebay cus of my f'in pc! No worries though, I've lost three of em on ebay... Looks like you have a good set up. My suggestion: If you want a canvas strop cheap, try an old pair of broken in levi's! Works wonders for me.

Fritz, I was actually considering taking Utopian up on his offer for the Red Head because it looks like it is in really good shape in the photos (I haven't got it yet) and I don't want to ruin it. I tend to like going to the school of hard knocks for some reason.....I do have to ask what path did you take and how did it work out for you?

Khaos thanks for the suggestion on the levi's. That ebay auction is actually kind of a funny story. I was at work and had asked my wife to watch if for me but I had already set the amount that I had planned on spending (trying to stay out of trouble with the wife) and she got auction fever and ended up bidding it up higher! It looks like a nice one we will see.

Originally Posted by Bandaid

Fritz, I was actually considering taking Utopian up on his offer for the Red Head because it looks like it is in really good shape in the photos (I haven't got it yet) and I don't want to ruin it. I tend to like going to the school of hard knocks for some reason.....I do have to ask what path did you take and how did it work out for you?

I've sorta had the opportunity to try both paths. In 1960 I asked my regular barber on how to get closer shaves that lasted longer. He sold me a new Hess straight for a bargain price, and honed it to shave-ready for me. Also a strop, and taught me how to strop. Well, I was hooked. For about the next 6 years I would bring it in when it needed a touch-up. When he died, I re-evaluated and what with rushing to work, traveling a lot, and having kids that could hurt themselves with it, I put it away and went back to DEs. When I retired in 1998, started over with it. Again, got my local barber to keep it sharp for me.

But after a while I really wanted to do it all myself. So I collected some ebay cheap (but good) razors that needed some work, got them cleaned up, and got some stones and had at it. But with no real direction/help (and mainly no forum like SRP) I just never could get it right.

Now, the important thing here is that I already knew what a good shave I could get when the razor was right. With the help of some from the shaving forums, I at least found out what I needed to learn, and what tools I needed. I really needed to look at a professionally honed edge under magnification, so that as I honed my own razors I could compare them to it, and see what effect various honing techniques had on getting it closer to right, or making it worse.

So in summary you need to (1) know what a good edge looks like (2) shave enough times with that good edge until you are getting good, close, comfortable shaves; thus eliminating the variables of technique, lather, prep, etc. (3) then you hone other razors yourself until the edge looks the same as (1) and the shaves are as good as (2), and you're done!

Hey Bandaid, welcome to the forums! I'm still newb myself but I have to say this forum is the best source for all things straight razor (B&B being a close second).

I've gone a similar route to yours and am kinda learning as I go. I've now honed both of the razors I have, but honestly I have no idea how good of a job I've done. I'm gonna go with Fritz and say do get your razor done for you or buy another that's shave ready (one can never have too many razors, amirite?) so you can compare... not having a benchmark kinda sucks.

That being said, being somewhat like minded I'm sure you'll love and learn from every mistake and epiphany just like I do, so again, have fun and welcome!

Originally Posted by khaos

... My suggestion: If you want a canvas strop cheap, try an old pair of broken in levi's! Works wonders for me.

+1 to that! I got an old leather strop that was in bad shape as part of an ebay razor lot. I cut strips from two different pairs of old Levi's. One was super butter soft, just a light blue. The other was still pretty hard finish and darker blue. Used contact cement to glue the cloth to the leather sides. And they work really well for me.

Originally Posted by fritz

+1 to that! I got an old leather strop that was in bad shape as part of an ebay razor lot. I cut strips from two different pairs of old Levi's. One was super butter soft, just a light blue. The other was still pretty hard finish and darker blue. Used contact cement to glue the cloth to the leather sides. And they work really well for me.

Here's my strop routine (it'll change when I get a better strop I think but I'm sold on the levi's-
(1) If it needs it or I have a few extra mins, I cover one of my text books with the morning paper and storp about 40 or 50 laps on this. I read somewhere that the paper particles have some grit to them and I'm not sure if its true but it seems to polish the edge and in my limited knowledge seems to touch it up some how. The shave feels better and thats what matters I guess.
(2) Go to my closet and strop 10 strokes on either my newer pair of Levi's (still kinda dark) or my Carhartt Khakis (kinda canvas-y).
(3) Strop ~20 strokes on the "linen" part of my Illinois
(4)Strop ~20 strokes on the leather part (which I think is ****ed but I use it cus I guess I'm supposed to and maybe it helps?)
(5) Strop 2 strokes on the "linen" (dunno why, seems to help)
(6) Put on my old favourite Levi's. So buttery smooth. They're so old and so favourite and so worn in that the back pocket has holes and an outline of my wallet, the crotch seem is ripped from the zipper to my @$$, and one of the leg seams is ruined. 30 laps on my thigh.
I swear, step (6) for me is CRUCIAL. I don't know why, maybe a TM strop or kenrup strop will achieve the same effect, but those Levi's outclass my strop any day. ANY DAY.