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What is the least amount of equipment I can use with a straight razor? I already have a badger brush and some good shaving soap. Do I NEED a hone? How many? I guess I do need a strop. Will strop paste work like a hone? The less I have to buy the better. Then again, I don't want to have to send my razor in for honing. I would rather do it myself. Thank you all. This is a great forum.
You don't really 'need' a strop, but, I would highly recommend it and so will just about every one else. You can just use the palm of your hand, or newspaper, but it's less than ideal really. You can get some good strops for not a lot of money, so, wait until you see a deal and go for it.
If you want to hone your own razors, you're gunna need a hone. If you just have the one or two (two is recommended) straight razors, and you bought them both shave ready, then you could pick up a barbers hone for $30 and it will serve you for some time. In that time, you could perhaps wait for a deal on a Norton 4/8k or a BBW/Coticule (or just a coticule) and you would likely never need to buy another hone in your life time.
Pasted strops don't really work like hones. They are more like coarse strops than fine hones in my humble opinion. I do have one, but I rarely use it, I don't think you need one.
Hope that is useful to you.
I'm a newbie on a budget, too, but I think I can answer your question. Obviously you need a shave ready razor. If you start with a good, sharp razor you will not only get better shaves, but you will also know what a sharp razor feels like on your face, so when it does need some service you'll know it.
You will need a strop, and hit the wiki's so you will know how to strop. Many newbies ruin the edge on their razors by improper stropping. Again, use your new, sharp razor before stropping, so if this happens to you you'll know it.
The leather strop should keep your razor sharp between honings, which may be about every 3 to 6 months or more.
You do not need any kind of paste or stone at this point in the game. Just use the plain leather on the strop, and work on proper stropping.
An inexpensive but good strop a lot of newbies get is the Rup Razor Filly. The idea is you want a quality strop, but because you may cut it up a bit you don't want an expensive one.
Down the road you will probably want to sharpen your own razor, and there are plenty of videos and experts around here to help you do that when the time comes.
Oh, yeah. To help keep your blade sharp watch your stropping and start slow. Speed will come later. And, don't bang the blade on the sink spiggot. Doesn't take much, and seems like that's a common goof. The edge is very fragile.
Good luck.
Yeah, I have to respectfully disagree with gregs. You'll need a strop, period. The reality of the matter is that we have alot of newbs around that mess up their edges on proper strops let alone on something not designed to maintain a razor.
As far as I know, leather was not designed to maintain a razor, it's just a happy coincidence that has been turned into a marketable product.Quote:
Originally Posted by red96ta
So yer, you don't need one, I recommend you get one but if you're short on cash then the palm of your hand or newspaper or a car seat belt or a normal run of the mill smooth leather belt will all do the job. It's not ideal, but what compromise ever is?
When I was investigating I found straight razors with disposable heads... if he doesn't want to bother with a strop, would that be a good option? (I'm asking, I have no experience with them).
I started with one of those, I completely forgot about them.
Certainly give a close shave. You do have the issue of two spike points to deal with, and they are a little harsher to shave with. However, if you can get good and comfortable with one, you will be able to shave with a straight razor very easily. Certainly a good alternative if you want to spread your costs a little.
I still have mine and take it traveling as a back up. I think it cost me about $15 with 10 blades.
I have to completely agree with red96ta, a strop is a necessary item as part of the basic set. The hone is another story as they very expensive. I'd only have to add some yellow strop paste. I think in the wiki here you can find some valuable prep info for your strop.
This is very helpful stuff. I have looked at looked at some of the wikis, and have done a lot of research about proper honing and stropping techniques. I think the disposable razor sounds like a great starter. What are some suggested brands?
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
Buying a beginner's set on a budget - Straight Razor Place Wiki
The wiki giveth, now drink from its fountain of knowledge.
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.Quote:
Originally Posted by Johnny J
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.
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.Quote:
Originally Posted by Johnny J
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!!
Earthwinge., go with this, dont forget the soap.Quote:
Originally Posted by Johnny J
Maestro Livi strops on his hand so all newbs can safely do the same thing :thinking:
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
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.Quote:
Originally Posted by gregs656
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.
I'm not disagreeing with you that it's infinitly better, once again if you refer to some of my above posts I recommend a strop, I am just of the opinion that it's not, strictly speaking, needed and you can get by with other things.Quote:
Originally Posted by Johnny J
I also bought a cheap vintage strop of the bay, and I think I recommended that in my first post as well!
See here, the first paragraph of my first post:
'You don't really 'need' a strop, but, I would highly recommend it and so will just about every one else. You can just use the palm of your hand, or newspaper, but it's less than ideal really. You can get some good strops for not a lot of money, so, wait until you see a deal and go for it.'