Another of those 'first shave' posts!

First and foremost, I have got to thank everybody here.

Not exactly my first shave with a straight -- I'd gotten one of those cheapo disposable blade straights (one of the ones with a full-length blade), and I worked my way though the box of blades it came with before I got the real deal.

Today I successfully honed and stropped my very first usable razor. The honing wasn't easy, since as an utter noob on the restoration I'd managed to hit the edge with a buffing pad spinning the wrong direction. It didn't cause huge damage but it took a couple of 0.1mm bites out.

I've only got a Norton 4k/8k, so getting the bevel reset ... took... a... lot... of... time.

But I did it. And the shave felt great! I'd guess I'm only about %75 of the way to what most folks would consider an ideal hone, but it was good enough to get the hair off without that dull-razor pull or any nicks. I couldn't have done this without the incredible information resources here. Watching the youtube video of Lynn working with stones, watching Undream's restoration videos, reading the wikis and the posts -- all of it -- was absolutely essential. Thank you everybody!

As soon as the cash reserves replenish a bit after my blade spree, I'll get a couple professionally honed so I can see just how badly I'm doing at this. :hmmm:

At the moment I'm feeling awful good about my hard work!

Great job on the your first honing. I had to hone my first razor on a Naniwa 3k and 8k after dinging it on the faucet. There is a great video by Glen - gssixgun, on honing with the Norton 4k/8k here's the link http://straightrazorpalace.com/video...-gssixgun.html. Good luck.

Grats! Both on your restoration and on your honing, and also on your quality shave. Well done :tu
Those buffing pads can be real dangerous when going the wrong way, good luck you did not hurt yourself.
Like you said, it is a good idea to get pro honed razors, both to have a benchmark to stretch for in honing,
and also to feel what a thoroughly sharp blade feels like during shaving.
Well done.

Waaaaahhooooooo.! Well done, it just keeps getting better and better!

Awesome to hear your on the right track. I'm kind of in the same boat as I just started learning to hone as well. Good luck with everything.

congratulations! keep at it and soon enough you'll be helping out other guys.

Nice start, congratulations!

So. Shave #2 was not so swimming. I'm chalking that up to %75 subpar honing and %25 crappy lathering technique.

Shave #3 I did with a different razor, also honed up from dull (I don't think this razor had ever been used and just sat around in a box for 80 years). It was a bit more challenge to hone since it had a very slight curvature to the spine, but as with most new things I learn, the early phase of honing gets better quick. I expect it get much slower as I get further along and have a better idea of what doesn't work. I'm finding that it's really useful to just dive in without letting too much trepidation into the muscle-memory.

The shave with that razor was revelatory, and I don't think I'd even gotten it to quite %95 of it's deal sharpness.

I gave myself razorburn without noticing because it was so comfortable to just 'work out' this or that patch of stubble. I'm cursed with a large swirled patch of beard on my neck, where the grain literally travels in a circle. Oddly, that's never the part I have problems with. It's always the other side of my neck.

Other things I did differently -- I watched some videos on using a brush to make foam. I shoulda known, having whipped up a few meringues in my day, but for some reason I didn't. The super el-cheapo Body Shop brush I got is manifestly not the world's best tool, but I'm finding that it serves my needs quite well. I'll need to get a lot better for it to make enough difference to me to bother investing in a nicer brush.

At the moment I'm just using Dr. Bronner's for soap, but I'm thinking it's likely something else will be better.

Any recc's or comparisons to?