Thread: Attempting the Unthinkable

A few weeks ago, I decided to take the plunge into straight razor shaving. Not having a lot of money, I went with the cheapest set I could afford: a Chinese 12k for touch-ups, the Filly strop, a shave-ready razor from the classifieds, and a cheap eBay razor so I could practice honing and stropping without worrying about ruining a good edge. The strop came first, and I went to the local Woodcraft to pick up my stone. All that was left was to eagerly await my razor. The anticipation was killing me. I even stopped shaving for two days just so I would have ample stubble to cut when my razor arrived. Then, tragedy struck: The razor never came.

I contacted the seller, I talked with my local post office, I called USPS on numerous occasions, all to no avail. I was absolutely dumbstruck. I had never lost a package in the mail before, but after dealing with USPS for what seemed like ages, I learned an important lesson: Always insure your packages.

But what I needed now wasn’t a lesson, it was a straight razor. I couldn’t go back to DE shaving, I just couldn’t, and I didn’t have enough money to buy another shave-ready straight. I had no idea what to do. But then I remembered that I wasn’t altogether straight-razor-less. The eBay razor had arrived just fine, and not knowing what else to do, I decided to attempt the unthinkable: I was going to take that eBay razor, get it shave-ready, and shave with it as my first straight ever.

Now I’ll admit I didn’t have the best tools to work with: the Chinese finishing stone, a 20-year-old, 2-sided, mystery hone I found in one of my mother’s kitchen cabinets, and 220 & 320 3M wet/dry sandpaper that I was planning to use to lap the hones. But what I lacked in the proper tools, I made up for with grim determination. With true purpose and yearning, I set to my task.

For 2 days straight, I rushed home from work and worked on the razor until I had to go to bed, stopping only to heat up some instant noodles for dinner. The razor came with a sizeable chip in the edge, so I had to breadknife that out before I started on the bevel-setting and honing. After reading, rereading, and reading again all the information in the wiki about restoring an edge, I did some experimenting with my equipment and decided to set the bevel on the sandpaper. Once I passed the thumb pad test, I did some pyramids on the 2 sides of the mystery hone, 100 laps on the Chinese 12k, and 100laps on the strop. Now I was ready to go!

I jumped into the shower and blasted through my normal routine. I even used some of my roommates expensive pre-shave moisturizer gel (don’t tell him). Then I lathered up my face as thickly as possible and began my shave. And I have to say that something truly amazing happened: Not a single hair got shaved! Not even a little bit! If I didn’t know better, I would say my stubble actually grew a little bit during the shave! It really was quite extraordinary.

Anyway, yea, I have no idea what I’m doing.

thats awesome! sucks to hear that but you def get points for the sheer motivation

Thats really annoying!

I'm guessing you are in the US? How about sending your razor out to be honed professionally? If you check the classifieds here, there are members offering honing services for great prices. Also Straight Razor Designs does it, and then you'll have yourself a Lynn honed razor, always good!

You definitely do not have the hones to get your razor shave ready. The hones you have are probably for knives and not razors. To begin with get your razor sharpened by one of our experts and wait on the honing until you are sure you are going to like shaving with a Straight. Sorry about losing your razor in the mail. Good old USPS. Good luck.

bj

A, sounds like a fellow college student. I feel your pain in the funds department, I basically picked up straight shaving through begging. Not that there is anything wrong with that.

I wish I could help you out though.

Sorry to hear about that it sounds like you either over honed or the razor is not able to hold a good edge, What razor do you have?

Originally Posted by Victor

The razor came with a sizeable chip in the edge, so I had to breadknife that out before I started on the bevel-setting and honing...

...set the bevel on the sandpaper...

...pyramids on the 2 sides of the mystery hone...

Not a single hair got shaved!

I shortened your post for you.

Send it out to a honemeister and then give it another go. It'll also give you a point of reference for future honing endeavors.

After trying (and succeding) in doing something similar, I can offer some tips:

Use the coarser stones up to the point the razor cuts like a very sharp knife then go to the chinese 12k and do enough laps to make the bevel polished (in my case, it took about 500 of them) then go to the strop for about 100 laps. After doing this I've got a nice shave.

Or, you can buy a set of diamond pastes HERE and make a
set of padle strops like THESE and get results that are a lot better.

Originally Posted by Victor

A few weeks ago, I decided to take the plunge into straight razor shaving. Not having a lot of money, I went with the cheapest set I could afford: a Chinese 12k for touch-ups, the Filly strop, a shave-ready razor from the classifieds, and a cheap eBay razor so I could practice honing and stropping without worrying about ruining a good edge. The strop came first, and I went to the local Woodcraft to pick up my stone. All that was left was to eagerly await my razor. The anticipation was killing me. I even stopped shaving for two days just so I would have ample stubble to cut when my razor arrived. Then, tragedy struck: The razor never came.

I contacted the seller, I talked with my local post office, I called USPS on numerous occasions, all to no avail. I was absolutely dumbstruck. I had never lost a package in the mail before, but after dealing with USPS for what seemed like ages, I learned an important lesson: Always insure your packages.

But what I needed now wasn’t a lesson, it was a straight razor. I couldn’t go back to DE shaving, I just couldn’t, and I didn’t have enough money to buy another shave-ready straight. I had no idea what to do. But then I remembered that I wasn’t altogether straight-razor-less. The eBay razor had arrived just fine, and not knowing what else to do, I decided to attempt the unthinkable: I was going to take that eBay razor, get it shave-ready, and shave with it as my first straight ever.

Now I’ll admit I didn’t have the best tools to work with: the Chinese finishing stone, a 20-year-old, 2-sided, mystery hone I found in one of my mother’s kitchen cabinets, and 220 & 320 3M wet/dry sandpaper that I was planning to use to lap the hones. But what I lacked in the proper tools, I made up for with grim determination. With true purpose and yearning, I set to my task.

For 2 days straight, I rushed home from work and worked on the razor until I had to go to bed, stopping only to heat up some instant noodles for dinner. The razor came with a sizeable chip in the edge, so I had to breadknife that out before I started on the bevel-setting and honing. After reading, rereading, and reading again all the information in the wiki about restoring an edge, I did some experimenting with my equipment and decided to set the bevel on the sandpaper. Once I passed the thumb pad test, I did some pyramids on the 2 sides of the mystery hone, 100 laps on the Chinese 12k, and 100laps on the strop. Now I was ready to go!

I jumped into the shower and blasted through my normal routine. I even used some of my roommates expensive pre-shave moisturizer gel (don’t tell him). Then I lathered up my face as thickly as possible and began my shave. And I have to say that something truly amazing happened: Not a single hair got shaved! Not even a little bit! If I didn’t know better, I would say my stubble actually grew a little bit during the shave! It really was quite extraordinary.

Anyway, yea, I have no idea what I’m doing.

Get it honed by someone with the right tools and the know how, you will come out ahead....eventually.

It happened to me with a razor sent by Gugi, A friend and moderator here. I was Pis*ed at the Post Office and I work there, Maintenance though...Lucky for me, and Gugi, the razor showed up, It was a Vintage Puma....Sometimes things just go around in a circle, fall behind someting, the Carrier slots it somewhere else, and if your in college, well, I can only imagine...Anyway, I cringed as I read your tale, thinking, God, He's not going to try to shave with that, is he....?

Anyway, I think eventually, your razor will show up. Have faith, and have your current razor honed professionally. Then, when it starts to dull, and only then, should you try to refresh it on the C12k....

BTW, Where are you in world...?