Practicing with a straight - a few questions

Hello, everyone. Thanks for helping out a guy looking to enhance his shaving experience.
A little background – I’ve been using a DE for about 7 years now and love it, but want to take it to the next level. My stepfather gave me an old straight that wasn’t high quality just to play around with. He also gave me a strop, but I have no idea how to gauge the quality of a strop yet. I took the razor to a knife sharpening place thinking that since they sell straight razors they might hone them too. He took it in the back and ran it through a sharpening machine. I know it’s not quite the same, but at least it gives me something to experiment with. The razor will easily remove any hair from my arm, but not my face. I am eventually going to invest in a nicer razor that has been honed by someone who knows what they’re doing. Right now I use that straight for every shave’s first pass, then finish with a DE. This at least makes me feel more comfortable with the razor, even though it’s not really taking off any hair.

I have a few questions.

1. When using my DE I go against the grain almost exclusively. Without doing so I can’t get a really smooth shave. Do most people go against the grain with a straight or is with the grain still going to give a smooth shave? With my current straight, going against the grain feels like it’s grabbing my face. I’m hoping that a better razor will allow me to slide through that.

2. How important is stretching the skin? Never did it with the DE, but I keep seeing people do it in straight razor videos.

3. How often does a razor that’s used every day need to be honed? This will determine whether or not I buy a set of stones right away or wait.

4. How much should I expect to spend on a razor? I’m guessing around $70 for a restored one just to get a feel for what I want in my next razor.

Thanks for the help. I really appreciate it.

Tony

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Originally Posted by McNutt

Hello, everyone. Thanks for helping out a guy looking to enhance his shaving experience.
A little background – I’ve been using a DE for about 7 years now and love it, but want to take it to the next level. My stepfather gave me an old straight that wasn’t high quality just to play around with. He also gave me a strop, but I have no idea how to gauge the quality of a strop yet. I took the razor to a knife sharpening place thinking that since they sell straight razors they might hone them too. He took it in the back and ran it through a sharpening machine. I know it’s not quite the same, but at least it gives me something to experiment with. The razor will easily remove any hair from my arm, but not my face. I am eventually going to invest in a nicer razor that has been honed by someone who knows what they’re doing. Right now I use that straight for every shave’s first pass, then finish with a DE. This at least makes me feel more comfortable with the razor, even though it’s not really taking off any hair.

I have a few questions.

1. When using my DE I go against the grain almost exclusively. Without doing so I can’t get a really smooth shave. Do most people go against the grain with a straight or is with the grain still going to give a smooth shave? With my current straight, going against the grain feels like it’s grabbing my face. I’m hoping that a better razor will allow me to slide through that.

2. How important is stretching the skin? Never did it with the DE, but I keep seeing people do it in straight razor videos.

3. How often does a razor that’s used every day need to be honed? This will determine whether or not I buy a set of stones right away or wait.

4. How much should I expect to spend on a razor? I’m guessing around $70 for a restored one just to get a feel for what I want in my next razor.

Thanks for the help. I really appreciate it.

Tony

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1) Its probably a good idea to do a reduction pass or two WTG and XTG before you go ATG. This works best for me, and helps reduce that tugging feeling. Yes, you can go ATG with a straight razor. I'll post a good video at the end of my post that shows how.
2) Skin stretching is critical. I never use it with my DE either, but it makes all the difference when using a straight.
3) This on is tough. It depends on a lot of factors, such as coarseness of the beard, stropping technique, etc... I'd check the wiki on this one, but it all depends on if you want to take the time to learn how to hone. I don't hone my own razors, so maybe somebody else can chime in here.
If maintenance is an issue, I'd check out the Feather Artist Club. Its available from a number of sites, but here is an example.
4) Larry Andro sells really good razors (newer and vintage) for about $25-$35. He also sells a basic strop kit to maintain the blade. His site is Whipped Dog Straight Razor Sales.
My first razor was a Dovo Best Quality for about $70, very good razor.

Here are some good wiki articles.
http://straightrazorpalace.com/srpwi...eginners_Guide
http://straightrazorpalace.com/srpwi...ht_razor_shave

And the wiki its self.
http://straightrazorpalace.com/srpwi...zor_Place_Wiki

Let me know if I can be of any help. Happy Shaving!!
YouTube - STRAIGHT RAZOR SHAVE BOKER EDELWEISS SHAVING WITH, ACROSS, & AGAINST THE GRAIN. BADGER BRUSH & CREAM

I'm not going to answer any of your questions. I stopped reading when I got to the part where you had a razor guy hone your razor on a honing machine. I'm sorry to say that the guy trashed your razor. I realize that this is blanket statement that you may not trust, but we have seen this many times before. Knife guys cannot sharpen razors on a machine. Period.

Try shaving with that edge. Then send me, or someone, the razor and you will feel the extreme difference. In order to convince you, I will gladly do it for free as long as you pay return postage. PM me if you are interested. Trust me, others will agree with me that you cannot get a decent edge on a razor from someone who only sharpens knives.

Thanks for the replies.

Utopian, I appreciate the offer, but I think I'm going to eventually buy my own hones and use this razor to practice honing. Trust me, I would never have handed over my razor if I knew he was going to sharpen it on a machine. I thought he was going into the back to show it to somebody who could hone it. That's when I heard the sharpening machine kick on. I was fooled by their collection of straight razors for sale. Live and learn.

Well assuming you're using a brush to generate your lather and some preparation before the shave you've already got some of the learning curve behind you. I go with the grain for the first pass and across or against, depending on the location, on the second pass. I don't do more passes but maybe a touch up. Here is an explanation of the "multiple pass shaving technique." Good for shaving with any tool whether DE, straight or whatever. Stretching the skin is imperative to a good shave AFAIC. That and a pro honed razor. :gl: