My learning curve

I`ll try keep this short so others can learn from my experience.

When I wanted to start shaving, before I found this place. I didnt want to spend a lot of money, just wanted to start shaving with a straight the quickest easiest way I could so I bought a cheap "starter set" off E-bay.

My first mistake.
http://i39.tinypic.com/w8sxmx.jpg
This was the image, a razor, diamond paste, and a strop. great I thought. all I need, I can sharpen the razor with the diamond paste on the strop.
I pay my £15, wait, it comes. open it up. and it looked nothing like the picture. The razor was so light, and cheap feeling, the handle wasnt even black. I just felt like Id bought crap.
The strop was a raw piece of leather, this was not like the movies.
The razor wasnt shave ready, so okay, I got the diamond paste out, smeared lots on, tried to sharpen the razor.

I tried it flat on the strop. nothing happened.
I raised it to about 15 degrees. and higher.
made huge cuts in the strop.
wasnt sharp enough to shave.

So back to google.

found out I needed a sharpening stone. okay, found one on ebay for £1 +p&p

It arrived. I put it in water. for an hour. took it out, all the water drained off. (it wasnt even a water stone)it was two sided, so I just started honing.

tried it flat, didnt feel like it was doing anything.
raised it up to about 15/30 degrees.
spent about an hour, this stone could have only have been 150/220 qrit.

tried stropping again. cut the strop even more.

Now to my first shave.

This was not like the movies at all. it pulled every hair, didnt cut at all, this didnt feel good. I managed to scrape hard enough to make a bald patch. I literally just used the raw edge to pull the hairs out. was left with a very red, bloody bald patch.

I gave up, in pain, with wrinkly fingers, disillusioned.

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I picked up a shavette inbetween, to learn, but thats another post
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The second attempt.

Googled, found out I had totally the wrong equipment. found this place, didnt read the wiki.
bought a slightly more expensive razor.

http://i41.tinypic.com/16c8c92.jpg

This one, didnt say the name, couldnt really see from looking at the picture. looked better than the last one. it was also 2 for £10

I also bought myself a 10,000k yellow stone. for quite a bit on money >.O
But it was the only stone on E-bay that said it was 10,000k. they looked reputable, I figured it would be a one off so I paid.

http://i41.tinypic.com/f38ac7.jpg

This one, it came with a "nagura stone" to create a slurry.

razor said it was shave ready, and I figured I could touch it up on the 10k.

(had everything gone to plan, this wouldnt technically have been wrong, you can maintain a shave ready razor on a 10k stone)

So I got my razors, and my 10k stone.

The razors felt heavy, a lot better quality than the first one, they were popping hairs on my arm, but werent really sharp enough to shave with. they still pulled hairs.

So I took it to my stone. soaked the stone, created a slurry, felt like a pro. laid the razor flat, nothing happened. just didnt feel like it was grinding ir getting sharper, didnt even feel like the edge was making contact.

Which really went against the little Id been bothered reading.

So I raised it up slightly, ended up at 15 degrees. but atleast at this angle it felt like it was grinding and getting sharper.
It wasnt really getting any sharper, so I figured Id do it harder.

by the end, my razor was blunter than when Id started.
So I was really confused. didnt know if it was the razor, or the hone or the angle. so I made a thread here.

Asking about the angle I should hone my blade. it was then I found out about taping the spine. (putting one or two layers of electrical tape on the spine, can alter the angle slightly, so if a razor has been honed with electrical tape, you need to do it too, unless you re set the bevel flat)

I also discovered my razor was a piece of crap. it was "best brand" and was on the list (Id actually read the wiki) of brands to avoid.

It was then one of the mods, Glen, offered to send me a razor from america, that he had pre honed. the intention being I could maintain it on my 10k hone.

So the razor came, which was very nice of him btw. I had my first proper shave, and it was just like the movies, about 5 strokes and the hair was gone, best shave ever =)

It lasted about 3 or 4 shaves. at which time it was time to hone.

So I laid it flat on my 10k, taped the spine.

did it gently, X shapes, was trying to be careful not to screw it up. still didnt feel rite. it didnt feel to be getting sharp. and I applied to much pressure, kinda blunted the blade. so now it needed to go back to probably an 8k or 4k, which I didnt have and couldnt do.

So Im stuck with a 10k, in need of an 4/8k, and would like a 16k which I knew Glen had used.

Between then and now, not really having a razor. I had nothing to loose practicing my stropping and honing.

I practiced on all sorts. leather, canvas, newspaper.
Didnt know what the hell I was doing wrong, or what "right" was.

I was kind of out of ways to try, couldnt use any more pressure, and couldnt really do it any lighter, because I knew it didnt do anything.

But I carried on... eventually, I got it right.

I had the razor open, not straight as in fully open, and not L shaped, just slightly less than a boomerang. at was the the point at which the razor felt balanced on my finger.

Using absolutely NO pressure, just letting the blade skim the top of the newspaper, it started to feel like it was grinding. it was making a loud tearing sound. just like the videos. it just "felt" right.

I was really out of other ways to strop. Id tried every angle and weight combination. I cant explain how light a light touch really is.
It took about 50 strops to get relaxed and "in the zone" but you`ll just know when you feel it, that youre there.

So I was happy that Id actually stropped right for once.

I took my slightly blunt razor to my hone, I figured Id do the same thing.
Now my stones probably different from everyone else's. not everyone uses slurry,and then theres shaptons etc.

So I made a slurry, it was really watery, laid the blade flat, using no weight, took it across, no X shapes, just straight across.
All the slurry just dripped off the other side. so now I was left with no slurry.

I figured this couldnt be right.

so instead off going off the edge with my blade, I stopped a few millimeters just before the edge, and lifted my blade up and off.
Even tho my stone had rounded edges, I didnt feel confident enough that I wasnt going to "round" the blade as I lifted off.

So I just moved the slurry from one side of the hone to the other, no pressure. 50 strokes, and the slurry was drying.
But for once it actually felt like it was being sharpened. there wasnt just a layer of water underneath the cutting edge, it felt gritty or muddy, it was making contact this time.

So I made another slurry, no water, just very muddy. did about 100 laps, just moving the slurry from one side of the hone to the other, lifting off at the end.

It just felt right. at the end, I had a beautifully shiny blade, which I stropped correctly. I felt like Id done everything rite.

It still wasnt sharp enough to shave, because It needed to be taken back to a lower stone.

so this is basically where I am today. cant afford any new stones atm. but I feel confident in what im doing, and felt the need to share my experience just so it may help somebody else.

Ive decided I want to sell my 10k and get a shapton 8k and 16k and maybe the whole set. theyre cheaper, and the edge when I got it off glen was something I cant wait to get again.

I think I failed at keeping it short >.O Hope that wasnt too difficult to read. I`m not claiming to be a pro or to know how to hone or strop a razor. but maybe I can prevent others from buying crap.

do some searching on this sight, ask a lot of ?'s and start over. The past is past. good luck.

Don't feel like your alone I also made first bad buys. Where abouts in England? I have a cousin in Coventry.

It's good news you got some mistakes out of the way on some cheaper gear. I think you might still benefit from watching some videos on this site and YouTube.

Sounds like you have already worked this out, but never lift the spine when you are honing or stropping. If the blade edge is touching, the spine must be touching too. Razors aren't simple knives and you can't sharpen them as if they were.

There's no need to use the whole length of the hone. Going up to the last few mm is just too risky, and certainly doesn't help you relax and get into the flow.

Well done on the progress, keep it up.:gl: