Thread: first shave, only 4 cuts or so

Originally Posted by FiReSTaRT

I didn't listen to that advice originally and I've got the scars to prove it.

yea but now that you have the scars don't you feel like you have a badge of courage for all the world to see?

Originally Posted by thebigspendur

yea but now that you have the scars don't you feel like you have a badge of courage for all the world to see?

I'd prefer if I didn't...
-Why don't you go straight buddy? You'll look like me, look at the clean shave!
-Yeah, but what about these scars?

Originally Posted by shaver47

i think i probably didnt pull the strop tight enough, is this a usual problem?

The strop must be kept taut while stropping.

Second, what do you mean that the strop removed metal? That should never happen. Are you sure it was metal and not just the burnishing of the leather strop?

By the way, the leather should be smooth but not necessarily glossy.

The founder of this group, Lynn Abrams has just released the best video available. 3 1/2 hours worth. Go to the Buy/Sell/Trade forum and read the sticky called World Of Shaving.

i just finished my hone, now its smooth as a models a$$. i also took the corners off. i used a spyderco triangle rod. i "shaved" off many many particles from the hone, kinda strange since its been polished with diamonds (you can see the marks in the hone), this i did with a fine rod. today i will borrow a camera to show you guys the metal the strop removed (definetely some wear).

the shave was better than expected actually, i noticed today. yesterday it didnt feel that good really

this is how the spine looks. this is only wear from the strop. to the left you can see how it looks where the strop has´nt had much contact, i tried to file this down to even it out with a sharpmaker rod (the scratches). seems to me like the strop is more agressive than a fine SM rod??

the difference is about 0.1-0.15 millimeters (unaffected part/stroped part)

am i reading this and looking at this correctly here!@#?!?!?

is that the spine of your blade and is that ground away part that you are saying a STROP caused??? cuz if thats what you are saying that stop, just stop. put down the razor. go take your strop and throw it away.

you have a nice razor and you are destroying it. if it removes that much on the spine of the razor i'd hate to see what the bevel looks like or lack there of. your strop should tremble in fear of your razor. the slightest touch of the edge of my razor to my strop and SLICE the strop starts to bleed. you get what im saying here. soft leather vs. metal the spine shouldn't show any wear from the strop.

ok, here's what you do.

1 - Tony Miller on this site will sell you a fantastic REAL strop. infact you should actually send him your current strop so he can see what the hell it is you are using and why it is removing metal. thats just nuts. www.thewellshavedgentleman.com call him and talk to him, seriously. im sure he'll want too se this astonishing strop.

2 - if that strop removed metal then it destroyed your bevel and edge. you need to have it comptely rehoned. you need a new bevel put on. people were reading this board thinking that you only dulled your razor due to improper stropping but after lookin at those pictures, that is not the case. the razor is on life support and needs the feed tubes via a honemaster here. there are a few, try joe chandler, lynn abrams, robert williams, bill ellis ...oh theres a bunch. they will restore your bevel and then hone it to shaving sharp so you can start over.

3 - i don't know what grit you have or how you are trying to alter your hone to make it a finishing hone. no idea if that will work for you. if it does, awesome then you can do touch ups on the blade when it dulls. if not then pick up a pasted paddle from tony miller (strop guy) or buy a finishing hone which there is a discussion about in the honing section.

do you see the difference here..

TOUCH UP - fine grit hone to put the polished edge, extra sharpness back on an already created and maintained bevel. this is what you do when your razor goes from shaving like glass to pulling as you shave

NEW BEVEL - the edge of the blade which is ground(honed) to form the cutting edge. if you have removed that much metal from some kind of pakistani strop or something then you have ruined/destroyed your bevel. i don't know where you bought the razor so i don't even know if it came with a shaving sharp bevel in the first places (most don't unless they are shipped to a honemaster befor you OR you buy a restored blade off a honemasters website). New bevel creation is what you do when you buy ebay razors, when you have to do restoration work / sanding etc etc to a razor, when yo chip your blade OR when you destroy the previous bevel by cheese grating it on your pakistani strop.


if you continue to push yourself to shave with a dull or ruined edge you will HATE straight razor shaving. it will hurt you and cut you and give you terrible irritation and you won't enjoy the experience. SLOW DOWN and send your blade to someone that will help you, who will fix the edge and hone it to shaving sharpness. THEN you will enjoy your shave and see why we all truly love shaving.

~J

ps. buy a new strop from tony, send him your old one. send out your razor to get honed. save your face!!!

yeah thats from stropping only. i have a spyderco hone which ive heard from reliable sources it will work for honing. im going to try to clean the leather and when im done rub some olive oil into it and see how my other knives respond to it. otherwise ill just get me a dove strop from germany, its probably my cheapest alternative, just started a new job so im as close to broke as possible now for atleast another month. i tried to strop one of my kj eriksson moras (1095 @ 59-60hrc) and its seems to remove some material there too. however i only stropped the spine

i succesfully hones the razor to the point that it cuts some hair of my arm above the skin (but not all of them) have i honed enough?

NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO!
If it effortlessly pops the hair with every part of the blade (heel, middle, toe) without pulling or tugging, give it a few more passes on the 8k and try the HHT.