frustrated with every aspect

It's been a few months since I re-started using the straights and I have to say,that after three or four months all I have learned is that I have a very long way to go with this. Whether I'm shaving, stropping, or honing am still getting mixed success at best. And it's tough to stay positive about the hobby I love when things keep going wrong. I constantly get nicks, and am definately nowhere near where I want to be with the hones. It's pretty uncommon for any of my honing to come out the way I want it to, and have only a few razors that I am willing to even risk trying on for fear of ruining them. I just figured out that probably ALL of the stropping I had been doing to this point was seriously flawed and I am just now starting to do it right.

So that's all. I had to vent a little bit.

-----Michael

You know, it's not easy at all to pull off straight razor shaving. If you're trying to do it all at the same time,
it is even more difficult and certainly can be frustrating. I didn't get it right at all until someone on this
forum met with me and helped me. Luckily, there are plenty of people on here willing to do that. I would
find someone near you and ask for help. You don't have to attempt this alone.

I often find that one of the hidden frustrations of this hobby is that you are stuck reading textual descriptions of what other people believe. If you'd like to chat, either by phone or in the chat room, let me know. Sometimes what you need is someone willing to talk you through the process and significantly re-direct your thoughts about how things should be accomplished.

How did you learn about the stropping variance?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by mjsorkin

It's been a few months since I re-started using the straights and I have to say,that after three or four months all I have learned is that I have a very long way to go with this. Whether I'm shaving, stropping, or honing am still getting mixed success at best. And it's tough to stay positive about the hobby I love when things keep going wrong. I constantly get nicks, and am definately nowhere near where I want to be with the hones. It's pretty uncommon for any of my honing to come out the way I want it to, and have only a few razors that I am willing to even risk trying on for fear of ruining them. I just figured out that probably ALL of the stropping I had been doing to this point was seriously flawed and I am just now starting to do it right.

So that's all. I had to vent a little bit.

-----Michael

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Michael,

If I may, I'll be quite frank:

1. Put the hones away, don't touch them until your shaving is going well
2. Send the razors to a person who will be able to hone them properly. Take the sharpness variable out of your equation
3. Practice your stropping, with a butter knife if need be, or a dull razor. Keep the strop taught and the spine of the razor on the leather.
4. Build a good lather. I have nicked myself on occasion when my lather has dried out, because the razor trudges and bumps its way through. Good lather will help with a smooth shave.

When you're getting fairly decent shaves, and you'd like to learn how to touch up a razor, pull out your highest grit stone. It will do the least damage.

If you want to go from the bevel - up, pull out an almost dead razor and sharpen it.

It is a long learning process, as many will admit, however....successful learning comes from manageable tasks, not insurmountable ones. Learning to hone, strop, and shave in the same time frame would be considered quite difficult. Give yourself a break, and some time to relax and enjoy this. Hobbies are supposed to be just that, enjoyable. Learn one thing at a time.

My suggestion would be to contact the above poster as soon as possible. Other suggestions include putting the hones away until you have mastered shaving. Getting one or two blades professionally honed so that you have a constant to work with while learning to shave. Dont give up.

Don't feel like the Lone Ranger. I think we've all had to walk that lonesome valley for a time. For some it is longer than for others but if you keep at it one day, just like with your new found stropping technique, you'll find the shaves are suddenly closer, smoother and eventually done more quickly. The honing is a skill that just takes practice and if you're lucky enough to find a mentor close enough to visit with, or at least to speak with on the phone. Lynn and Randy were mine and still are sometimes. Take Alan (AFDavis) up on his offer of telephone mentoring. You'll no doubt benefit from his experience.

Michael, I agree with everybody, even more since i was in the same boat like yourself, put the hones away,
get razors professionally honed, and learn to strop!!!!!!!!! stropping is king!!!!
here a great video to learn how to strop, go slow speed doesnt matter!!!
http://straightrazorpalace.com/strop...ing-video.html

Like some others said, try to contact someone who is knowledgeable in your region, I had the luck to meet some people of a straight razor club after I just started out and they where a really big help, I got a real good start from the beginning. It's very difficult to see your own faults. Don't be discouraged, it takes some time.

Not much to add to the great advice you got here.

There are many skill-sets to be mastered from shaving to honing and in-between and you need to learn them one at a time. There are some who are lucky and pick this stuff up really fast and some who do it very slowly so you have to pace yourself. Remember, at one time this was the only way to shave so everyone had to learn.

I have a saying that I've impressed on my 12 year old son. "If you try to do too many things at once, none of them get done right." This is very true when it comes to straight shaving. This is a hobby made up of many detailed steps, so you need to at least be comfortable with one, before moving on to the next. It's been my experience (though I've only been SR shaving a year) that many guys try to do everything at once, have a bad experience, and drop the hobby. I would focus on stropping and technique. Honing isn't anything to concern yourself with right now. The only honing I do is with my barber's hone for quick touch ups. As I've said to others, things will get better.

Michael,
I was in your shoes for years. Started almost 16 years ago and went back and forth with straights for ages. Finally one day everything clicked stropping, honing, and shaving. Step back relax and just let it happen if you force it, it will take you back a step. The key as others have pointed out is is to Stick with 1 razor, one strop, and the basics don't worry about what you have, what you want that can come later on after you have a grasp on the important points. Just concentrate on that one razor and your shave every morning. There are tons of gents in jersey, and they have meet-ups every so often get together with some guys so they can help you with tenique etc. Once you get past the hurdle the other side is positively delightful but some times it's like climbing a snow covered mountain you just need to make it to the summit.

One of the awesome things to see is how much great spirit there is here at SRP!

I'm betting that if you do get to meet up with one of the guys who have volunteered to help you, that you will be enlightened in every aspect of straight razor shaving, including stropping and honing.

Have fun.

I can't offer any advice that hasn't already been listed. It will come with time...be patient, and like Lynn says, probably the most important thing...HAVE FUN! :)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Maxi

successful learning comes from manageable tasks, not insurmountable ones.

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That's a truism for anything. I won't read wiser words all week.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Maxi

Michael,

If I may, I'll be quite frank:

1. Put the hones away, don't touch them until your shaving is going well
2. Send the razors to a person who will be able to hone them properly. Take the sharpness variable out of your equation
3. Practice your stropping, with a butter knife if need be, or a dull razor. Keep the strop taught and the spine of the razor on the leather.
4. Build a good lather. I have nicked myself on occasion when my lather has dried out, because the razor trudges and bumps its way through. Good lather will help with a smooth shave.

When you're getting fairly decent shaves, and you'd like to learn how to touch up a razor, pull out your highest grit stone. It will do the least damage.

If you want to go from the bevel - up, pull out an almost dead razor and sharpen it.

It is a long learning process, as many will admit, however....successful learning comes from manageable tasks, not insurmountable ones. Learning to hone, strop, and shave in the same time frame would be considered quite difficult. Give yourself a break, and some time to relax and enjoy this. Hobbies are supposed to be just that, enjoyable. Learn one thing at a time.

---

9 thousand plus ones here!
I got so frustrated I sold everything, bought a feather and shaved solely with that for a bout 3 years. Now I am back to conventional straights and they are still a learning curved instrument! Simplify and use 1 razor all the time and the success will come!

Totally agree, have your razor's honed by a pro for now, once you get proficent at shaving then you can start to mess with sharpening... (I sent mine to Lynn to be honed, and then bought another one that was already honed by Lynn) This will give you a baseline so you know what sharp is before you start honing...

The only other thing I can suggest is...Slow down. I found that before it started to "Click" for me that I would shave too fast and make mistakes, once I forced myself to take an extra 10 min shaving, slow down and really be methodical that it got better. The speed comes in time :)

Special thanks to Alan for reaching out to me like this, and I will be contacting you. To answer your question, I was able to hear different noises while I was stropping, and feel different sensations. There was a slapping noise when I flipped the razor over, then higher pitched sounds as I brought the razor down the strop. Also my strokes were kind of all over the place. If I concentrate now, my stropping becomes more even sounding and looking plus better results.

I will definately be laying off the hones for a little bit. I am sending out one or two razors to Lynn for honing. So that will be pretty good. And I am going to be getting into the mindset of consistency and sticking with one thing at a time. One razor, one cream, one routine etc. I am also trying to break away from shaving my whole face with the straight every time. Do The easier parts then finish with my gold tech, which I find to be a very gentle and forgiving DE. Thanks so much to everyone for allyour replies and wisdom.

-----------Michael

+1 to all of the advise here. I only have one thing to add:

Put some classical music on the next time you strop and shave... relax... and enjoy yourself my friend.

In fact... put on this song!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UHuPd83uyzQ

Just got around to this thread (looking for advice on honing) and I want to say the advice it great. im new, and have started with reflectively cheap equipment (some seems alright and other bits will need work) such as a hone i baught that did not even list the grit... but i like the idea of sending off my blade to have it fixed/honed by someone experienced, getting used to how it feels, and eventually honing myself.

a short question is though, i bought a pseudo-cheap blade, (because i did plan to hone myself and did not want to ruin a 100$ razor) i did try to hone it myself, and had results similer to the original poster, will this have ruined the blade? I was a bit giddy, and did rush in a bit.

Your experience is shared by many! One of the best things I ever did to improve honing on a stone was to start using a Radio Shack Illuminated Microscope (about $12 with an internal light that shines down through the target hole). Check out both sides of the blade from heel to toe before you put it to stone and then check it after about 10 strokes on both sides. Wipe off the swarf so you can see what you've done to the bevel. This will SHOW you EXACTLY what you're doing to that bevel. You'll be able to clearly see things like the "dazzle" (excess edge metal caused by honing pressure), micro-chips not visible to the naked eye, color changes caused by dips or rises in the bevel, etc. I sharpen about 6 blades per week and each one is different under the microscope so its a constant checking. I also check the bevel after each stone in the progression (Shaptons). This does take more time but the bevel and edge end up being much more perfect than ad hoc, seat of the pants honing sans magnification.

I'm in awe of this place! What great folks!
I'm also quite new to this and found starting with a (Lynn) honed first blade really helped set a baseline. ALL of the prior advice sounds great. To add to Howard's comment on seeing your honing work I found a $20 flip-down magnifier extremely helpful. I DO use reading glasses, so that may be part of it, but seeing what you're doing is key. I also use a jeweler's loupe (sp?) when I hone.

I also don't hear so good any more...

Huh?

kingping