Thread: Beginners Tips: Feb 2010

Again I am just reading threads and trying to toss out some tips about some things I see each month

on Honing and Shaving:

1. Tests are for those of us that hone razors, period... You stand way more of a chance of wrecking the fine edge that one of us put on the razor than actually getting a feel for sharp...

2. The shave test should really be done from the side burn to the jaw line in as perfect conditions as possible..

3. Want to learn the Sharp tests?? Buy a 5 pack of DE blades and have at it, Learn the TPT the TNT the HHT and any other test you want that way...

4. There really is no way for any of us to know how long you are going to go between honings, Honest there just isn't,,, I can tell you this though, however long you go after your first one you should double that time after the second one as you learn how to Prep, Strop, and Shave correctly...

5. Buying a hone before you have shaved for 6 months is the fastest way to dull all your razors...

6. Learning to strop correctly is far more important then learning to hone...

on Restorations...

1. If possible try and preserve the original scales and etching

2. If you have several razors to restore always start with the easiest one first when you are new to this..

3. Restoration and Honing are two different things, Really they are...

4. Red rust usually has pitting under it, Black rust almost always does, and Black Devils spit is the worst..

5. If there is any question of whether the edge is pitted you really should put at least one layer of tape on the spine and run the edge down a low grit hone for about 5-10 laps with pressure to see if there is good steel BEFORE you restore the razor...

These are just a few I thought of so far this month
enjoy and I hope they help...

excellent tips as always Glen.

Hello, Glenn:

Your advice is sound and the tips most useful. Thanks for posting.

Regards,

Obie

Nice job Glen.

Glen,

Thanks for some very sound advice.

David

Glen, wonderful write up but I have one question. You mention devils spit, can you please describe that a little more or maybe a picture or two. The red and black stuff is pretty self explanatory but I just cant get my head around what devils spit is. I have seen it mentioned in a few threads as something to watch out for but havent seen a good description of what it is. Thanks.

Thanks for those tips!

Originally Posted by Jasongreat

Glen, wonderful write up but I have one question. You mention devils spit, can you please describe that a little more or maybe a picture or two. The red and black stuff is pretty self explanatory but I just cant get my head around what devils spit is. I have seen it mentioned in a few threads as something to watch out for but havent seen a good description of what it is. Thanks.

I will see if I have a razor in the restore queue with some on there..
Basically it looks like black rust, but slick to the touch, red and black rust you can hook a fingernail into and scratch at it, what we call Devil's Spit you can't... The stuff looks like you could just wipe it off, until you try, it then the fun (work) begins..

Thanks for posting those tips, particularly the ones on honing. Being new to this, I feel a bit of compulsion to get a honing stone, but I realize this is not advantageous at this stage in the game. As you said, I will inevitably do more harm then good.

I get the feeling that many newbies feel like learning to hone is an essential part in the beginning stages of straight shaving. I almost fell into that, but my better judgement told me that I would only undo the beautiful edge an experience professional put on my blade.