Thread: Newbie Questions

Hi guys,

A year or so ago I bought an Art of Shaving Horn Razor and Dovo strop along with all the goodies needed for a good shave including a brush, bowl, yellow paste, etc.

I never really committed and gave up far to quickly eventually giving my AOS Horn Razor away to a friend of mine who seemed more adamant about the hobby than I did. I had trouble getting the blade back to its as-new sharpness.

Move forward a year and I find myself buying another AOS Razor, this time the AOS Dovo - Blackwood Grenadille. Since I already had the strop and everything, I was eager to give straight razor shaving another try, this time, hopefully with more success.

With your guidance maybe I will have an easier go at it this go around.

1) When stropping, how many strokes on each side (canvas / leather) is recommended for the ideal sharpening.
2) What's the appropriate speed in which to strop? I feel like I may be going to slowly. Maybe in measure of how many strokes per minute?
3) When will my new razor require honing and what type of stone would be best recommended for this razor. I saw a lot of videos and information but they all seem to be "use the stone that is appropriate for you" which, being a newbie doesn't really compute to me since I don't know what I am after / need.
4) Is getting the razor sharpened at a knife place like Williams Sonoma or Sur La Table recommended in place of honing?

Thanks, sorry of these questions seem incredibly newbish in nature.

Also, do is there a place where the meanings for abbreviations used on this forum can be found? I just saw a thread and "DE" was mentioned, however, I have no clue what that means. Thanks!

Appardado, you razor most likely wasn't even shave ready when you bought it.

1) 25/50 or 30/60 seems to be a typical pre shave stropping.

2) Around 1 lap (back and fourth) pr second.

3) I think your razor needs to be honed right now, send it out for professional honing. But later get a Norton 4/8k stone and learn to hone.

4) Never ever send a straight razor to a knife place! Period!

DE = Double Edge. Aka safety razor.

Hello and welcome to SRP!

A lot of your questions have quite subjective answers - perhaps the best answer to all of them is to do what works best for you. However, the best answer is not always the most useful one, so let me try to tackle a few of them for you in a more prescriptive manner:

1. There is no set figure on how many times you need to strop each side of the razor. However, I would think at least 20-30 laps (up and back) would be a good start;

2. Speed comes with time and practice. There is nothing wrong with going slowly until you get the feel for it. Many is the time that a new user ends up damaging both strop and razor edge by trying to run before they can walk. Practice good stropping technique and the speed will come. As a reference, we did a stropping speed experiment once, and found that really really slow stropping isn't much chop, but that a surprisingly slow rate still worked. I cannot remember the exact timings now, but perhaps one stroke (up or back, not both) per second sufficed.

3. When a razor needs honing is yet another subjective thing. It depends on things like your shaving technique, your stropping, your beard type, how often you shave, etc etc. So it is quite difficult to give a timing. However, without a doubt a razor needs to be rehoned once it starts to go dull. I realise that is not a particularly useful answer, but you can tell a razor is going dull when it starts to pull instead of cut, and you find yourself fighting with it to get through your beard. The problem when you are new is that most of the time even a well-honed razor feels like it is pulling due to various factors, such as inexperience and poor technique. It is one of those things, unfortunately - you need a well-honed edge, but you need experience to know what that is and when to rehone. Don't worry, it comes to all of us with time, but can be frustrating when beginning. But then, that is why we are here - to help along the way!

As for a stone, that is perhaps something best left for down the track a bit. I would strongly recommend minimising the learning curve slope as much as possible at this early stage. Focus on stropping and shaving technique first, and then add honing into the mix later. However, if you really want a recommendation for a stone, I would say, again, that at this early stage probably a touch-up stone would be the most appropriate for you - something like perhaps a Barber's hone or >10K, or perhaps a pasted strop may be easier initially.

4. I have no experience of the knife sharpening places you mention, but as a general rule the methods used to sharpen knives do not lend themselves well to honing razors. Therefore I would be very hesitant to send a razor to a knife sharpening establishment. There are many people here who will professionally hone a razor for you - take a look in the classifieds section of the forum under razor honing.

You've made a good first step with your questions here. I hope you find SRP an enjoyable and informative resource, and I sincerely hope that this time around, with our help and support, you successfully step into the world of straight razor shaving!

Good luck.

James.

Edit: There is a thread somewhere of abbreviations. A search should find it.

Here you go, Acronyms and Abbreviations - Straight Razor Place Wiki

Good Luck!!,

Howard

When I strop I do 20 on my webbing (this is my equivalent of canvas) and 50 on leather. The right speed is what you are comfortable doing. It is about becoming comfortable with the process and not rolling the edge or nicking your strop. Speed will come but only with a lot of practice.

For a first hone I would recommend that you hold off until you are more comfortable with the razor. But when you do get one I would get the Norton 4k/8k combo. This hone will give you a good shaving edge. As for when it needs honing your face will tell you when the razor starts to pull and not shave as smoothly as you would like. This being said if your razor is shave ready and it is pulling it is more than likely technique that is the cause and not the razor.

Everything that I have heard about knife sharpening places is that they know knives and not razors. Unless they use a straight themselves they probably don't know how to sharpen a razor to give a smooth shave. I would send it out to one of the guys in the classifieds that hone and you should have a great edge when you get it back.

I don't know if your razor will come shave ready from AOS so it might need to be sent out when you get it. This will take some of the guess work out of what you need to improve on as you become proficient.

The acronyms are here: Acronyms and Abbreviations - Straight Razor Place Wiki

Good luck and ask a lot of questions.

Thanks for the info guys. The Art of Shaving razor came shave ready. The box said the razor required no prep work and was ready to use immediately, which I did. It has a very sharp edge and managed to get through a shave yesterday. The process was long and I was very nervous using the blade. As I got more comfortable, the process got easier. I assume in time I should be able to make it through it more easily. I still had uneven patches here and there, mostly my chin which was quite difficult to do. I touched these areas up with a conventional 5 blade razor.

I'll take your advice and hold off on purchasing a honing stone for the moment. I assume stropping alone should get me a few months or so without problem. I'll send it off for to a honing place versus taking to a knife sharpening place once it needs it until I am very comfortable with my stropping technique. Hopefully by the second honing I will have enough experience with it and with stropping that I might give honing a shot on my own.

Wish me luck!

Originally Posted by aparrado

Hi guys,

A year or so ago I bought an Art of Shaving Horn Razor and Dovo strop along with all the goodies needed for a good shave including a brush, bowl, yellow paste, etc.

I never really committed and gave up far to quickly eventually giving my AOS Horn Razor away to a friend of mine who seemed more adamant about the hobby than I did. I had trouble getting the blade back to its as-new sharpness.

Move forward a year and I find myself buying another AOS Razor, this time the AOS Dovo - Blackwood Grenadille. Since I already had the strop and everything, I was eager to give straight razor shaving another try, this time, hopefully with more success.

With your guidance maybe I will have an easier go at it this go around.

1) When stropping, how many strokes on each side (canvas / leather) is recommended for the ideal sharpening.
2) What's the appropriate speed in which to strop? I feel like I may be going to slowly. Maybe in measure of how many strokes per minute?
3) When will my new razor require honing and what type of stone would be best recommended for this razor. I saw a lot of videos and information but they all seem to be "use the stone that is appropriate for you" which, being a newbie doesn't really compute to me since I don't know what I am after / need.
4) Is getting the razor sharpened at a knife place like Williams Sonoma or Sur La Table recommended in place of honing?

Thanks, sorry of these questions seem incredibly newbish in nature.

1. Get your blade pro-honed until you know how to shave with a straight. Until you have perfected your technique, you will never know if your razor is dull, or your technique is poor. If you really want to practice your honing, get a cheap razor with quality steel on ebay, but shave with one that was pro-honed.....
2. Start out slow with your stropping. Better to take your time than to crap up your strop or injure yourself. Slow is smooth, and smooth is fast. Learn to strop smoothly, then learn fast later. Be patient, it will come. Just like the shaving, it will take 30 or 40 minutes at first to finish your face. Later about 10 minutes....
3. Honing time seems to be more or less depending on the razor. If your stopping is good you should get 6 months to a year before a light touch up.
4. Never send your blade to a knife sharpening service unless they specifically know how to sharpen a straight razor. Best is sending it to one of the guys that advertise here.

Good luck,
Jeff.