Beginners Tips: August 2010

So another month has come and gone, as I tend to write these in the middle of each month...

Here are some things I have been noticing on the forums...

The obsession with BBS:
Might I suggest a close comfortable shave first, then after that becomes easy, and commonplace then try for the BBS shave..
Another hint to getting a BBS shave is "NO Pressure" when shaving, I know it sounds counterintuitive to what you would think, but honestly if you want to get all those little hairs, back off on the pressure Bub :) Also you might try a water only, last clean up pass...

Over-honing:
This one is cropping up again, when you first start honing it seems there is a fear of overhoning... Honestly it isn't that easy to do, be more concerned with under-honing, because most of the problems that beginners have come in the bevel setting stage.. Not in the Sharpening, Polishing and Finishing stages...

E-bay and "Shave Ready Razors"
In the last year the number of shave ready ads has skyrocketed, before that there were maybe 2 e-bay sellers that advertised shave ready in their listings... E-bay sellers are not stupid they see how much more money those words bring, and they don't mind using them..Beginners take warning here, e-bay is NOT for you, wait at least 6 months before you go near e-bay.. Basic rule is, if you have to ask us if it was a good buy, you probably shouldn't be buying there...
We are actually seeing E-bay sellers advertising honing services now, again take caution with doing things through e-bay...

Impatience:
Honestly this is not a good hobby, or way to shave if you are the impatient type of person...
Everything about this takes time and dedication to get it all clicking correctly...
The single best step you can ever take to speed up this process, is go to a meet..If there is one in you area, GO !!! seriously take the time and go have a great time...If you are an experienced straight shaver , GO and help teach, I swear you learn more by teaching, then you ever do by doing, ask any Martial Arts instructor :D
But for you beginners, the best advice we give on this forum is "Take Your Time"

Hope some of this helped, as always feel free to add comments to this thread, especially the senior members, as many of us see things from a different angle, and the more perspectives we present, the better these threads are for the New Guys....

Beautifully put Glen. Simple, true & to the point.

Michael

Very good post, Thank you! Especially with the Ebay topic.

All are excellent points Glen. Personally, I would LOVE to be able to teach some of my friends how to straight shave. I was actually a teacher for a while and have always thought of myself as a good one. However, not one of my acquaintances will even consider trying to shave the way a man or woman should shave. I'm really reluctant to proselytize either. That often alienates me when someone tries it with me regardless of the subject at hand. For now, I guess all that I can do is be a good example and hopefully maybe someday one or more of my friends will say, "Hey, your face looks great. I want to try that."

Quote:

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Originally Posted by gssixgun

Over-honing:
This one is cropping up again, when you first start honing it seems there is a fear of overhoning... Honestly it isn't that easy to do, be more concerned with under-honing, because most of the problems that beginners have come in the bevel setting stage.. Not in the Sharpening, Polishing and Finishing stages...

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However, it is worth noting, you shouldn't go into honing with a fear of overhoning... But you should realize it's possible... I know it's the minority, but I went in taking this too far, I viewed it as almost impossible to overhone (stupid, right?) and ended up making my bevel setting take hours because I would hone so furiously before testing the edge that I made things worse... Don't worry about over honing most of the time, but better to test it frequently as you go and know it's underhoned, then overdo it and start from less than scratch :)

Hopefully the majority of new guys are smarter than me though!

EDIT: What I said was in reference to bevel setting... With the 5k, 8k, 12k, etc, I usually do quite a few strokes (20? Sometimes 30 if I'm using rolling strokes). I keep the pressure very light and do extra laps on the higher grits

Cheers, and thanks, Glen!
Jeremy

Quote:

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Originally Posted by ShavedZombie

However, it is worth noting, you shouldn't go into honing with a fear of overhoning... But you should realize it's possible... I know it's the minority, but I went in taking this too far, I viewed it as almost impossible to overhone (stupid, right?) and ended up making my bevel setting take hours because I would hone so furiously before testing the edge that I made things worse... Don't worry about over honing most of the time, but better to test it frequently as you go and know it's underhoned, then overdo it and start from less than scratch :)

Hopefully the majority of new guys are smarter than me though!

EDIT: What I said was in reference to bevel setting... With the 5k, 8k, 12k, etc, I usually do quite a few strokes (20? Sometimes 30 if I'm using rolling strokes). I keep the pressure very light and do extra laps on the higher grits

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Hey, for 99.99% of people honing is going to be a dance of success and failure with sporadic moments of real learning. There will be big breakthroughs that help you make sense of what you're doing. So don't sweat the learning curve.

I don't want to put words in anyone's mouth, but when I hear someone talk about "overhoning" in my mind it usually deals with the idea of taking a razor up to optimal sharpness (at a higher grit level) and then continuing to hone well beyond that point. The idea, as i understand it, is that after some time of extra honing the edge will fail or become too weak to be sustainable.

Now... blitzing an edge on the 1k for ages after the bevel was set would definitely be overdoing it though.

Once your bevel is set, it's set... the rest is enhancing the sharpness, and finally the smoothness in the edge. And this is why there is such a learning curve in my mind. Setting a bevel can be an entirely different ballgame from razor to razor. Ditto for sharpening and finishing. Throughout each of these phases you'll need to learn when your razor is "ready" to move on. I almost consider it to be learning three different but related processes.

Anyway, I'm rambling.... good post Glen, hope I added something worthwhile.

Dave

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Del1r1um

Throughout each of these phases you'll need to learn when your razor is "ready" to move on. I almost consider it to be learning three different but related processes.

Anyway, I'm rambling.... good post Glen, hope I added something worthwhile.

Dave

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Wow very well put Dave, I like that a lot :)

Hey Glen,

Thank you for bringing up the Ebay sellers offering shave ready razors.

A few days ago, I saw a razor I was interested in listed as shave ready and decided to contact the seller.

He/She told me that he bought the razor at an estate sell and it was sold 'shave ready' him. He even claimed it would shave arm hairs. Obviously I told him to fix his listing. He got mad and told me he was going to report me for harassment. lol

Thank you sir.
I work as a auto tech at a dealership so I'm always on the move where it's hard for me to have much patience but my Traditional Archery & now me going back to Straight Razor shaving is forcing me to have patience & slow down so that I do things correctly & enjoy what I am doing.