I put the feather in the drawer

Got Tony's strops in the mail and had a go at stropping up my three (three? What the heck) razors. I put the feather in the drawer and did a proper shave today.

I decided to try the W&B I bought from eBay. I could tell it wasn't as sharp as the dovo Tony sent me in the starter kit but I wanted to try it. Damn thing wasn't sharp enough at ALL, kept tugging and pulling and on my 2nd pass I still had stubble standing.

So I pulled out the little 4/8 kronpunkt I traded from Gary. Wow, that thing is like a little ferarri compared to the feather. It zipped all over my face snip snip snipping away. Got a nice smooth shave (not as close as the feather, though) with it.

I have to say shaving with the feather has helped me learn to be careful and to learn the correct motions but a proper straight does feel different. I had to use a LOT more pressure on the blade, with the feather if you press down you're going to cut yourself pretty much... so I'd almost actually "lift" the blade a little as I was using it. With the regular straight I had to unlearn that habit.

My question is this... I have a pasted paddle strop from Tony with .5, 1 and 3 micron grits (his recommendations). I'm working on the Wade and Butcher to get it to be comfortably sharp instead of the condition it's currently in, so how much and how many passes would you guys recommend on the different grits? I tried about 10 passes on the 3 micron, then 15 on the 1 and 20 on the .5 (then stropped it on the leather for 30) and it made a marked improvement, but the toe and heel areas are still a bit duller than the center part (so I've been concentrating on those).

BTW Gary, thanks for the kronpunkt, I honestly didn't think I'd like the size (it comes across as almost dainty and my fiancee called it "cute") but it works around my moustache and goatee really well and it is quite comfortable.

Oh, NO CUTS, NO NICKS. Woohoo!

-- Gary F.

Gary,
Dull razors, like many found on eBay can vary quite a bit I have had many that responded very will to a pasted strop but I do think the majority of well used, truely dull razors are better candidates for honing instead.

On an eBay find I may use 30-40 passes on either 9, 6 or 3 micron before going to the fine touch-up pastes. This is why I feel a variety of tools are needed is you are going to persue all aspects of this. For new, out of the box razors you need far less, for nicked projects you need an arsenal of stones. For most a hanging strop, a pasted paddle and a Norton will cover 95% of what's out there. A well chosen selection of barber hones will work too.

Tony

[QUOTE=gfoster] It zipped all over my face snip snip snipping away. Got a nice smooth shave (not as close as the feather, though) with it.

I have to say shaving with the Feather has helped me learn to be careful and to learn the correct motions but a proper straight does feel different. I had to use a LOT more pressure on the blade, with the feather if you press down you're going to cut yourself pretty much... so I'd almost actually "lift" the blade a little as I was using it. With the regular straight I had to unlearn that habit.[QUOTE=gfoster]



I couldn't agree with you more, Gary. The Feather does teach you to use a light touch. Nothing cuts my beard as close but then again, there are no nicks with my conventionals compared to the Feather. Yes, I'm an advocate for the Feather but I like to use all my razors. My Feather will always be special to me because before my Feather purchase, I spent a half hour on the phone with Ray Dupont and we talked about str8 shaving. He sold me my Feather, my first str8. I've been hooked on this hobby ever since.

-Rob

So you ready to swap that Feather, Gary?:D

Well I have to ask.......................
I have been looking at Feather razors on CS.com just for the sake of looking. The blade looks "similar" to a straight razor's blade. The blades look expensive? Do you strop and hone these blades or just remove them and replace them? Can they be stropped and honed? I understand that they are really sharpe and one must use light pressure while using one. The web site indicates that you can get 7 to 10 shaves from one blade, and then you throw it away????

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by str8razor

Well I have to ask.......................
I have been looking at Feather razors on CS.com just for the sake of looking. The blade looks "similar" to a straight razor's blade. The blades look expensive? Do you strop and hone these blades or just remove them and replace them? Can they be stropped and honed? I understand that they are really sharpe and one must use light pressure while using one. The web site indicates that you can get 7 to 10 shaves from one blade, and then you throw it away????

---

Bill,

Feathers use disposable blades. Chris Moss suggests that he gets about 2 weeks from each blade. I may break down and buy one someday, but having used one for a week, I prefer the traditional straight razor and my de razors to the Feather. YMMV!

RT

I'm kind of intrigued by the Feather str8s. But it seems a LOT of money for basically a handle and metal blade holder. Anyone know WHY they're so expensive? Is it just whatever the market will bear?

Yes, and they are good razors. Straight users are willing to pay for a good shave and high quality product. Most guys just get tired of honing. Its far better than most of the disposable alternatives. Personally though, I hated the thing.

Alan, Thanks for the input. After shaving w/ the Imperial I rec'vd from Lynn the other day, I can't imagine shaving w/ a sharper str8 than that one. It was an incredibly comfortable shave. The feathers sound so sharp as to be scary.

I agree with Alan that the Feathers are made very well and that the market does dictate price, which is the case with all products we purchase. The weight of the Feather is indicative of its quality. Even holding it and opening the blade tells you that this isn't a cheapie. I know I ramble a lot about my Feather, but I still haven't found anything that cuts through my beard as easily as the Feather. But there's a cost - nicks do occur more frequently than with my conventionals.

So why do I use both conventionals and the Feather? I really enjoy the stropping/honing aspect of the conventionals. It feels good to hone a blade, strop it, and get a great shave. I like the Feather because of its weight (although I do own two very heavy str8's) as well as it's insanely keen edge.

It's all good.

-Rob

How much are blades for these Feathers and can they be honed and stropped? Thinking about it though I suppose that they can be honed Lynn has said that he could hone a bayonnet so that it could shave. LOL LOL I seriously doubt that that is what they were bought for but was just curious.

You know curious minds bla bla bla

The cost is roughly 50 cents per blade. They cannot be stropped. The angle of the spine in relation to the edge doesn't lend itself to stropping. The blades give about 10 great shaves. Since I alternate between 5 other str8's, they last me forever.


-Rob

Like the other guys said... they aren't cheaply made. The feather is a quality instrument and I got about 2 weeks off each blade. The first shave or two on a new blade is... interesting... and until it dulls just a little bit it is indeed scary sharp. Shaving with one sort of requires a zen level of concentration and if your mind wanders you're liable to lose an interesting part of your face.

I won't be trading it off until I've convinced myself I can keep a str8 properly shave ready, though.

-- Gary F.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Joe Chandler

So you ready to swap that Feather, Gary?:D

---

Ok Joe, I think I might be ready. I have the Feather Artist Club RG Special (the wood handled one): http://www.classicshaving.com/catalo...646/795329.htm

and about 17 or so of the feather blades (the professional, not the professional super or the guard ones). I'll throw in the plastic "blade safe" for good measure :) but I don't have the original feather box anymore :(

What have you got for trading stock? PM me or email me and we'll work something out to get this feather out of my drawer and into yours.

After the shave I had this morning, I don't think I'm going back to the feather... I was going to wait and see if I could keep my blades shave-ready first but I changed my mind. I'll get honing down if it kills me or I'll just send the damn things out every six months until I *do* get it down.

-- Gary F.

I don't want to rain on Joe's parade, but you might want to give the Super Pro blades a chance before you trade the razor away. I've only used the Super Pro's, but all the advice I've seen says that this is a very different razor when you use these blades.

Scott, I've only used the pro blades. My rationale is that the super pros are probably much less forgiving than the already dangerously unforgiving pros. Do the super pros perform that much differently?

-Rob

Too late, I dropped the feather in the mail yesterday.

I was under the impression that the super pro blades were even sharper than the pro blades? If that's the case it's no longer a razor, it's a scalpel!

-- Gary F.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by robertlampo

Scott, I've only used the pro blades. My rationale is that the super pros are probably much less forgiving than the already dangerously unforgiving pros. Do the super pros perform that much differently?

-Rob

---

I've never used anything but the super pros, so I can only tell you what I've read. Most opinions I've seen are similar to This Post

I don't know about relative sharpness, but people say you get more feedback with the thicker blade-- the Pro Super. I find the Super Pro blade very sharp for the first shave or two (two passes each), and then it mellows nicely for the next ten shaves or so. Reports on the life of the pro blade say they don't last nearly so long.

I haven't used a traditional straight, but I think the feather might be easier to migrate to from a DE, where you need to be very concerned about blade pressure, than from a traditional straight.

Terms like "better" or "worse" are all relative, but I know I can get a very close and comfortable shave out of the feather AC with Pro Super blades, without having to worry about blade maintenance or my skill with strop and hone. If I screw up a blade on the sink tap or something, It takes seconds to change, no harm done. Can I get the same shave with a traditional straight?? Well, maybe I can get an even better shave-- if I buy one shave ready and learn to use it. Then I'd probably have some worse shaves until my honing skill came up to snuff, and I'd be stropping every shave. If the shave ceremony at this level is personally gratifying, then a traditional straight is probably the only thing that will fulfill you.