I'm sure i'm not the first to ask this...

...so i'll try to keep it brief. i ordered a razor from classicshaving.com (a no-frills dovo 5/8), a linen/leather hanging strop (i forget which, it was also a pretty basic one), and a brush and some soap. I know i'll need a hone eventually, but i don't have a lot of money, so i figured i could get it down the road a bit when the thing needed more than the strop could provide. i'm a little worried, though, about whether it will be sharp enough at all and whether or not most people find they need to hone it before they shave with it for the first time. any thoughts, anecdotes, caveats?

Chances are that it won't be shave ready.

These two guys may be an option on getting
your razor honed.

Lynn Abrams adjustme69@yahoo.com

Joe Chandler agentjac0069@yahoo.com

To be honest having one of these guys hone
your razor will be the diffrence between success
and failure. It will be money well spent.

Oh, and welcome to the forum.


Terry

Cyrano,

The conventional wisdom is that most razors out of the box are not shave ready and typically the strop is not enough to make them so. Once properly honed, you can expect to get a fair amount of use from a razor.

Classic Shaving offers to hone your new razor for around $20. Some of the folks on this board will charge similarly.

Someone will undoubtedly suggest pasted strops as a way of getting your razor up to speed. When they do, listen to them.

Good Shaving to you,

LG Roy

i'm a little surprised that no one is suggesting i do it myself. to be honest, the whole straightrazor thing appealed to me as something motivated by the spirit of independence--not something i'll accomplish sending my razor to someone several times per year. but i do appreciate the advice. since everyone seems to agree that it won't be ready to shave, and that the strop won't suffice to make it so, can you folks recommend the least expensive, yet effective, hone for a beginner? i'm sure i can figure out how to do it if i'm willing to put enough research and effort into it. thanks again...

I asked nearly the same question and did my research before I made my purchase. Nearly all hands pointed to teh pasted strop route. ....just don't ask me how to use it yet :shrug:

http://shop.thewellshavedgentleman.c...g?categoryId=4

really? i've read a few things posted here in the help files section, if i'm not mistaken, that advised people to stay away from pastes, with the exception of yellow. from what i could gather, i decided to use an unpasted strop (i'll use yellow or olive oil to keep it smooth) and occasional honing.

A plain unpasted strop is needed for daily shaves, but a pasted strop can be used in addition to that for refreshing the edge and extending the time the edge will last between honings. (As pasted strops go, the multi-sided paddle strops seem to be quite popular, and do a fantastic job)

It's possible to do it yourself.

I did. It works. All you'd need is a good hone and a LOT of patience with torn up faces when your razor isn't sharp enough yet.

I ordered a shave ready razor from a member here (Xman you're a hero) but by the time it had gotten here I'd also gotten a hone and a razor that was just about nearly sharp enough to shave with.

It's good to have a razor to compare your own one (that you're making shave ready yourself) to. You might be able to buy one cheaply or simply get one for a loan for a while. I'm sure there's someone in your area that's send you one to use for a while.

that's more like it!!
i agree; i can do it myself. so, what hone should i order? i'd like to order one as soon as possible because i'll be really tempted to shave with my new razor as soon as i get it, and i'm sure that wouldn't be too smart if you guys are right about the 'out of box' sharpness.

: )

I would recommend the Norton 4000/8000 and 3" wide. That I think works the best at first. However might a recommend a pasted paddle strop from Tony Miller. I bought one from him about 2 months ago and I really love it. Also easier at first than a hone. Someone earlier recommend him too.

Welcome.