Beginners Tips: June 2010

Another month has come and gone, I try and write these right about the middle of the month. For those of you just joining in, I read most of the posts that come up on the forum, and write about any topics that I notice a trend in... As always if any of the senior members care to add another viewpoint to these, please do so, sometimes we see things from a different angle and the more viewpoints the more we help each other out...


Some things this past month that I noticed

On honing:

Stainless Steel is not harder nor more difficult to hone, I am really not sure where that got started, possibly with some of the super steels the custom makers use, but even those are not "harder" to hone...
The only difference I have ever found on Stainless Steel honing-vs-carbon steel is that SS likes the higher grits better, so you just have to take that into account when you hone... You might have 5-10 more laps per stone in the 8k and above range to get the razors to where you want it, over your CS razors...

What is the best hone?? we see that along with what is the best razor a lot :)

Honest there isn't one, we can only tell you what the best is on our face, you need to tell us what is the best for yours,, BTW most of the Honemeisters on the forum really do have, and know how to use, multiple finishers, so when you send razors to be honed, just ASK, what they can do for you, so you can experience more finishes....Then later when you get ready to buy your first hone you have a good idea of what direction you want to go...

On Stropping:

Here are a few tips take them for what they are worth I don't have many..

First, many people will tell you to rub the leather with the palm of your hand to let the oils help keep the strop in shape... Great tip, but absolutely useless if you shower, then strop, because you have no oils on your hand after the shower :)
Regardless of this you should always rub the leather vigorously right before you strop use the edge of the hand and make sure it heats up a bit you want the leather "supple"
The real word that you want to describe the Hanging strop is "Taut" not so tight as to fatigue your arm, or curl the strop... The real problem with learning to strop is keeping the spine on the strop, not how tight you are holding it...
That is my one true stropping tip also, "Watch the spine" pay, attention to the spine, it has to stay in contact with the strop, it stays on the strop all the time,,, Think about the spine being pushed and pulled, not the edge being dragged, trust me the edge will do just fine.. During the flip, during the stroke, the whole time, make sure you have complete control of the spine of the razor... During the stoke make sure the spine stays flat and moves evenly along the strop...
I heard this tip over the last month and loved it,, (TY to Kevint) so I am adding it in here, the question is asked often about speed in stropping and also sometimes in honing, "How fast should I go" the best answer I have heard is this one :)
"You should go just slow enough to do it correctly" chew on that a bit LOL

On Pinning:

For re-pinning and for tightening your razors,
Is my razor too loose????
Easy enough to test, now this is my standard, it is not a rule written someplace, it is just how I test my personal razors...

Hold at the pivot end but do not squeeze the scales, turn the razor upside down, if the razor opens it is too loose IMHO...

Keep in mind many razors especially the new ones have a blind pin on the front of the razor so tapping on that does NOTHING, except crack the scales.. Be careful and actually look close, just because it is supposed to go on the front doesn't mean that they don't make a mistake now and then :)
Anyway back to tightening, you need two things, a hard surface and a hard rounded surface to tighten pins... These can be many things, from a counter top and a tablespoon, to a jeweler's block and a 4oz ball-peen hammer... Many gentle taps work well, a few hard bangs cracks scales and bends pins...
DO NOT use the Factory videos as a guide to pinning, you are not that good, nor do you have the striking plate that is set up exactly for the chore...
Tapping around the peen, to develop the peen, is good, tapping straight down to squish the peen, and bend the pin is bad...
When learning to pin for restores the best practice scales made, are Popsicle sticks, then will crack in a heart beat if you tap wrong... My favorite weight hammer is a 4oz but I have used 2oz -6oz so what ever works for you best...

On Shaving:

"I dinged my razor on the Faucet"

Why ??? you have a washcloth right there don't you????
It can solve the problem of ever doing that two ways..

#1 You wipe the lather with a stropping motion on the washcloth and never get the razor anywhere near the faucet... ( Other things can be used for this too, fingers, sponges, towels, etc: )

#2 My favorite because I love a nice warm razor, so I like swishing the razor in the hot water, to clear it, and to wet, and warm it, for the next shaving stroke...
Hang the washcloth over the tap, very simple easy solution to never smacking the faucet...
If you are a "razor swisher" you need to make sure the sink has enough water in it so you don't smack the razor on the bottom... :(

Those are all the tips I came up with for this past month, now go embrace the challenge of Straight Razor shaving....

Very nice Glen!!

The Stainless controversy has been around forever and I totally agree that it is hard to feel any difference in the shave and also agree that a few extra strokes, when needed, will normally bring one around. To me the Stainless has a more grainy type feel on the stone, but with honing so many razors over the years, my sensitivity to that kind of thing is high.

I think new guys should go for a razor that looks the best to them in their price range and then ask some questions regarding that razor. The 5/8 or 6/8 blade width question is a popular one and this leads to the beginning of the personal preference thought process. The main thing for the new guy is just to try to make a decision that is best for them and give it a go. You really cannot go wrong with either razor width and learning to use the 30 degree or less angle when shaving is still the lesson.

The funny thing about finishers is that when you use .5 diamond or chromium oxide or cerium or alumina, you really are not feeling the differences in the finisher as much. The reason for the media after the stone has always been the final improvement in the edge for shaving and I find that different razors will actually create more of a different feel than the stones sometimes. I like to try shaving just off the stones now and then to feel the differences, but the main thing here is that the finishers that we talk about the most produce the best edges and that is key. You do have to try them to be able to compare them..........:)

Another really nice tip for stropping is to try to keep the strop at around a 45 degree incline from your hanging source. This along with the great tips provided, makes the process go a lot smoother so to speak.

One final tip for the new guys is to try NOT to over analyze every little thing when getting ready for your first attempt. Do the best you can from the information available and go for it. In the overwhelming majority of cases, you will be glad you did. Confidence is key but don't over do that either.

Have fun,

Lynn