unsatisfied customer, am I wrong?

Hi,
I bought a Thiers Issard 5/8 razor from classicshaving.com

I also bought a strop.

I was surprised at the first shave, how painful it was. I put it down to lack of experience.

the next shave was not much better.

I felt that the blade was not as sharp as I had expected, so i read some things about sharpnes testing, like the hanging hair trick.

The blade i have does not feel sharp when you cross it with your thumb (as you would any other sort of blade).

To cut a hair I have to hold both ends of the hair and apply a small pressure.

As far as I can see I have been stropping correctly (not expertly, but correctly at least), i have taken care of the razor.

I emailed classicshaving about it and they replied that Razors come with a factory edge, so there is no guarantee that it is shave ready, and the only way to be sure is stropping AND honing.

I just wanted to get some impartial advice on this matter.

what should I do?

Cheers,
Gavin.

Hone it. Classicshaving is correct.

ok, where is the best place to buy a which one would you recommend?

Also, what level of pressure should be applied when stropping?

i wonder if i did something wrong in that department, maybe pressing too hard....

cheers,
Gavin.

Probably not pressing too hard. A TI razor comes from the factory just as you have described. Some actually shave, it depends on what day you buy it and how much wine the craftsman had to drink the night before. For a TI in the shape you describe, I say and only I say, that I would buy a fine grit barber hone from Tilly, she is Redtrader99 on Ebay.

A Norton 4/8k from classicshaving is a highly recommended hone, but its also a tad expensive and maybe more hone than you need.

Another good option is to send the razor out to Lynn, he is a master honer and he does the honing for classicshaving.com, which if you buy another razor from them you can send it through their honing service so that it is shave ready (or really close) when it arrives.

Most recommend very light pressure on the strop, but I don't think you've ruined it yet.

Definetly read up though as many people have rolled a sharp edged razor with a few swipes on a strop.

everybody says that straight razors won't really shave well right away and that you need to hone them further. I think if you would've read up on it a bit you'd have found it somewhere.

I am not trying to say that you are wrong or unjustified for being unhappy/disappointed, but if you would've read that most razors need to be honed first you would've sent it to lynn or bought a hone and then we'd be having a discussion about how to hone a razor instead.

all razors will need to be honed within a month or so from purchase, so it is something that you will have to do eventually.

When I got my first, and so far only, razor (Dovo) from Classic Shaving I chatted with them on the phone for a short bit first. They told me it was unlikely the razor would be "shave ready", and they suggested I pick up a paddle strop and some of their diamond paste (.25 micron and 1 micron I believe it was), then use that on the razor before shaving with it for the first time.

This seemed to have done the trick for me. While definitley not a true hone like the rest of the guys are saying, it did seem to help and get the job done at the beginning.

I wouldn't use a new razor from the factory without honing it. Most times, it will take hair off your face, but you'll need to have a pretty high pain-tolerance-threshold in order to consider it a "satisfactory" shave.

A well-honed razor will shave as good or better than a double-edge. My best razors shave better. The razor blade factories do a good job of machine sharpening their very thin blades, but once you've mastered the hone and strop, a good straight razor can have a better edge than that from commerically sold factory blades of any type that I know of, including feather blades, which are arguably about as sharp as a blade can get.

The great thing about straight razors is that your razor is always as sharp as you can get it and keep it. That's also the challenging thing about straight razors for those new to this. :)

Gavin,

I agree with Alan about sending the razor to Lynn, his
user name is adjustme69 on this forum. Send him a PM
and ask if he can hone it for you. Lynn is a master at
honing.


Terry

I'm new at this as well and would and did not consider getting a straight from anyone other than Lynn or Bill Ellis (Urleebird).
I had read that so many guys give up due to their first painful and unsuccessful attempt. I thought, well start with perfection so you know roughly how good it can be (will get better with practice) and go from there.

Gary

I would go with the abrasive pasted paddle strop. It is a tool that you will find useful in the future. Talk to Tony Miller at the www.thewellshavedgentleman.com about his pre-pasted paddle strops. They are well worth the money.

I have never purchased a new razr that was shave ready...I agree with everybody on this thread...but a suggestion purchase a shave ready razor from bill or lynn or tony or john at shaving shop so you have something to shave with until you get your razr back