Thread: My accidental discovery of straight razors

I hear a lot of stories on this site about knife shops sharpening straight razors incorrecty. If you don't get a good shave after getting it back, you should check out the various "honemeisters" on this site that will hone your razor for a nominal fee.

Welcome to the site!

-Chief

I've decided to make a strop. (Hey - the start of this adventure was to save money! Plus it's satisfying using something you've made).

The one I quickly made was a very basic strap around 1 1/2 inches wide.

I've since found that I had some better leather lying around, so I'm using that - 2 & 3/4 inches wide and 5mm thick (1/8 inch???). It seems to be smooth enough - and I might practice stropping with a butter knife while I wait for my razor to return. (Hopefully this will also help prep the strop).

I'll put up a post with pics in the workshop forum as I get it done.

Thanks for the messages!

Originally Posted by onimaru55

G'day & welcome. Sounds like a bit of a rough start with the oilstone.
Knife sharpening services are usually a bad idea for razors. Hopefully they don't take it to their grinder
I do the razors for my local Shaver Shop so if you get stuck PM me.
Still have my original Black Beauty from 25 years ago. Good strop.

Thanks for the offer. I'll let you know how they go. (My local Shaver shop pointed me towards the King of Knives and "Cut throat" sharpening was one of the sharpening services offered - here's hoping!)

Welcome aboard and to the right way to shave...

As others have said, this is just the beginning.

X

I also started because I was looking for a cheaper alternative. It didn't stay cheap for long, before I new it there were razors, soaps, shaving creams, and after shave lotions that I just had to try. I finally got my self out of that phase, and now two years later I'm starting to see an actual dent in my supplies.

I just made my first strop - here's the link:

http://straightrazorpalace.com/strop...tml#post411637

The 2nd shave - tools
Used Body Shop shaving cream, which seems good.

Used my home-made strop (almost wide enough to fit whole blade). (see another post)

Razor - Cadman and Sons Bengall - made for Melbourne, Australia.

Well - probably lots of different factors to go wrong!!

I'm not sure if blade is sharp enough yet - seemed ok on back of my hand (with lather applied) both before and after stropping. Couldn't do the Hanging Hair test.

The 2nd Shave -the shave!
Still went a bit ambitious and did whole face (but only wtg this time - I finished with the DE).

Used both hands which was interesting - tried to work out best angles for different places.

Cheeks went ok - a couple of passes.
1st pass with short strokes, light pressure.
2nd pass, longer smoother strokes and more pressure (the blade feels light compared to DE).

Above lips - slight pressure seemed to improve smoothness and cut.

Razor burn?? - Bottom of lip area (either side) - but this has always been challenging place with disposables and DE.

Nicks - 1 scratch on side of chin. (and couple of blood spots on other side)

From here- plan to experiment over weekend, mainly on cheeks. If still an issue will follow up with local honing offer (see above).

Thanks for reading,
Michael.