Thread: New guy trying to learn the ropes

In regards to honing, I started pretty early, and was lucky in that I didn't seem to do a lot wrong, that is, I didn't wreck my blades. I didn't want to be reliant on someone else to get my razors honed; one reason I got into straight razor shaving was the idea of Independence, the idea that if I was invited to a soirée during the Zombie Apocalypse of the Third millennium I could appear from the jungle after dispensing with several years of growth, transformed from Robinson Caruso to Humphrey Bogart. Of course I'd need to manufacture some shave cream from Aloe plants and animal fats (or some such stuff), and would have to remember exactly where in the jungle the Pimenta racemosa plant grew...but I digress...

I think you need maybe three razors to start honing. Two minimum. All starting off as shave ready. That way you have a benchmark to test your edge against. If you start honing with only one razor, I don't think it'll be long before you actually don't know if it's sharp or not ,as you won't have anything to measure it against, other than your memory. You may end up putting up with an inferior edge; thinking that it's sharp when in fact it's not. I'm no honemiester, so take that piece of advice with a pinch of salt!

Sounds like good advice to me,Carl! In fact i bought two razors from an antique store today.I admit I know very little about razors,but when the first one i picked up popped an arm hair i was amazed.I bought two Wade & Butcher Sheffield's for $40 so I figured i did okay.The second one is pretty rough but I figure it will give me something to aspire for at least.Wow.I have noticed on here about RAD...less than a month in and i own 4 SR's...pitiful.I actually shaved with the sharp one this evening-after much sterilizing!-and actually got my best shave yet.Best $20 i ever spent!

Thanks for all the kind words and welcomes guys.I believe im gonna like it here!

Of course you'll like it here; it's the coolest, most friendliest place on the 'net!

W&B's are nice, you can't go wrong with one of those, as long as there's no pitting on the edge. I'm no expert, but the W&B I have has the smoothest edge of all my razors.

Hey, a bit of advice, hone the roughest razor first, for practice. Use a pyramid. I can't remember if you said what hones you had, I have a Norton 4/8 and a Shapton 16k; they are enough for me to keep shaving. I don't really want to offer too much more advice about honing, apart from 'get in the zone', I'm really new to honing; I'm still only a grasshopper...

I think that you are too new at this to have W&B's so please send them to me for proper disposal...hehehe
Alright - I'm joking.
Good score from the sounds of it.
Don't forget we're all here to help.
FWIW I had one of my best shaves today, with a blade I honed myself (testing a new hone), and it was veeerry satisfying.
Hang on and enjoy the ride

The only hone i have is an old Raven.pmburk directed me here: http://straightrazorpalace.com/hones...hone-info.html
I beleive this is the same as what i have.I stropped one of the W&B for a good while and it seemed to shave pretty well.The other is so rough it will definitely need serious work.Scales are bit rough,too.I would put up some pics,but I keep getting the "File too large" message.Oh well,ya'll know what they look like

Edit:Havachat,Ive been meaning to ask: what kind of bike you ride?

Here we go.Lowered the pic quality on the camera.Excuse the flash on the first pic,i was trying to emphasize how haggard the edge was on that one razor.What should I do about the scales on that one.Put a pin in it,or just re-glue them?The bottom razor actually pops arm hairs and shaves nicely,but the box I found it in,though cool,doesn't seem to match the razor.Any opinions?Oh,the bottom one has wooden scales which i really like.They are little heavier compared to the other razors and it feels more secure in my hand than my slippery plastic handled razors.I am so glad I stumbled across this razor.I may be selling my brand new Dovo now that I have this one!