Thread: A Minimalist and A Total Newbie

Buying a beginner's set on a budget - Straight Razor Place Wiki

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Originally Posted by Johnny J

I also have to disagree with those strop substitutes. Newspaper & your palm are not effective. Seatbelt webbing is brutal & is a good substitute for linen, but not for leather. You can't use paste as a substitute for a hone, either: in the long run paste convexes your edge, which at some point you will have to correct with a hone.

So here's my minimalist set:

-- Shave-ready razor from the classifieds $50
-- Strop, make from scrap Latigo or buy off eBay, or even use an old belt or guitar strap if it's flat & made from thick leather $0-$20
-- Swaty hone from eBay $15-$20
-- Boar brush from Walgreen's $8

Your palm, or more precisely the heal of you palm is a perfectly good strop, it's animal skin, just like leather, why wouldn't it work. The only problem is its size. Since it is so short, you need to do a number of strokes to properly strop your razor. You also need to be careful not to cut yourself. You can also use a smooth leather belt. Seat belt webbing is actually much smoother than most cloth strops. If you start with a shave ready razor, you will probably not need to hone it for at least a month, more likely two months. If you use two razors in rotation, then you can probably go for 4-5 months. The only hone you really need is the Norton 4/8K.

I'll never understand this fascination with stropping a razor sharp blade on ones hand...

Of all the disposables out there the best and only one to have rounded edge blades is the one by Feather. most of the others use a standard razor blade snapped in half. check out www.classicshaving.com under the "No Sharpen" section.

Originally Posted by Johnny J

I also have to disagree with those strop substitutes. Newspaper & your palm are not effective.

To the contrary, Newspaper is harsher than leather and requires less laps, as for the palm of your hand, if it's good enough for Maestro Livi I imagine it's good enough for the rest of us.

I would like to qualify, that I did advise to get a strop. However, I am disappointed that so many people are adverse to the idea of using something else based on little or no personal experience. I don't think you 'need' a strop, in the extreme sense of the word, if you want to straight shave. You can get by, very well, using every day items that you would either have or can be sourced for free or next to nothing.

I believe there is someone on this forum right now who uses the palm of his hand to strop exclusively, I know I did it many times when I was in a pinch camping on holiday, I have also used news paper, which I found to be quite difficult buy certainly do able.

Maybe your'e right gregg, the palm of one's hand could be a good substitute for a strop; I wouldn't do it because I wouldn't want to get it wrong and mess with two of my finest posessions: my hand and my blade!!!... on another thought, I wouldn't recommend a newbie to do this as it could become a tragedy instead of a prep.
Have to admit though that I'm a little intrigued about the palm technique, so would you recommend a link in which I can learn more about it???... thanks!!

Originally Posted by Johnny J

I also have to disagree with those strop substitutes. Newspaper & your palm are not effective. Seatbelt webbing is brutal & is a good substitute for linen, but not for leather. You can't use paste as a substitute for a hone, either: in the long run paste convexes your edge, which at some point you will have to correct with a hone.

So here's my minimalist set:

-- Shave-ready razor from the classifieds $50
-- Strop, make from scrap Latigo or buy off eBay, or even use an old belt or guitar strap if it's flat & made from thick leather $0-$20
-- Swaty hone from eBay $15-$20
-- Boar brush from Walgreen's $8

Earthwinge., go with this, dont forget the soap.

Maestro Livi strops on his hand so all newbs can safely do the same thing

I don't think so. Buy or make a strop.

I'm a minimalist.
Well, one with many options. I mean I could spring into a minimalist style.

It is ok to be a minimalist but it is often better to pare down after you have found what elements work best for you.

I have just over a dozen razors which many here would consider to be extreme minimalism. But I have pretty much settled on 4 two regular; 2 wakamisori. The minimum you need is one.

I am not 100% sure what I would do but I feel confident that a Belgian combo would make a fine choice as a single stone.

I won't say brush, but having a badger knot is helpful and nice to use. Soap or creme naturally.

I suppose you could get by w/o a strop, but having one will make learning a more steady, sure process. Making one is easy enough.
best of luck

Originally Posted by gregs656

However, I am disappointed that so many people are adverse to the idea of using something else based on little or no personal experience

No, sir. I never voice an opinion without personal experience. I tried all of these things when I first started (mainly because I was too much of a cheapskate to buy a strop). My palm was not effective because it is too small, and without having learned any stropping technique on a nice flat strop, there was no hope for a noob like I was to strop effectively on an irregular surface like my palm. Maybe you have gotten it to work, but I would never advise a noob to go that route.

Newspaper I found to be quite a bit less aggressive than leather, and hard to keep flat. Again, I would not recommend it to a noob even though some people have made it work. (Plus, if I'm not mistaken, honemeisters who use it, use it as a final finish AFTER the leather, which is consistent with my experience).

I bought an old strop on the Bay for $17 + shipping. IMO this is an infinitely better thing for a noob to do than try any of these substitutes. So there's my opinion. If you still disagree, well, we'll have to agree to disagree.