What should I do with new razor from ebay?

Hi everyone,

I've just started using a straight - 4 shaves so far - with a very cheap razor and strop set from amazon. Although I didn't have anything to compare it with, this blade was not as sharp as I expected (trying the HHT it cut in and then cut along the hair, not cutting it clean through.) Also the blade is very wide - 8/8 - and hard to use in the moustache area.

So I got an ERN Ator from ebay, which has just arrived. The seller described it as 'not shave ready, but can be made so by honing', but it is already sharper than the cheapo razor I started with - trying an HHT it catches for a moment and then cuts clean through, and it outperforms the cheapo at taking off arm hair.

The equipment available to me is a strop, which I've used a bit, and a Llyn Melynllyn barbers hone, which I haven't used at all yet. I don't know whether to
(1) Shave with the sharper Ator after only stropping it
(2) Try honing the Ator on the stone, as the seller recommends, then stropping
or
(3) Practice honing on the cheapo.

Most important to me is not damaging the blades, especially the new Ator, and having something which I can shave with. I guess some will say 'send the Ator to a professional for proper honing' but I've already spent more than I intended on shaving kit, and if possible I'd rather do it myself. Any advice gratefully received.

(PS thanks to all for the wealth of information already here - great site, and I've lurked for a while and picked up lots of useful tips!)

From the little I know, I would say try to send it to be professionally hone as soon as you can. If you don't have a shave ready razor, how can you know what you're shooting for with the barber hone you have?

In the mean time I would practice with your cheep blade to see how would it improve. Before you do this watch all the honing videos in the wiki and then go for it with your cheep blade. Good luck! Double O

There is a catch 22 with new straight razor users. They want to learn to hone, but in order to be good at honing you have to "shave test" the razor. But if you don't yet know how to shave with a straight, then you can't tell if it is sharp. So what ends up is perhaps it is sharp, perhaps not... The hanging hair test is not by any means a conclusive test.

Send your razor to be honed by someone that has experience. When you have experience, then learn to hone.

Enjoy!!!
Jeff.

Try it out and see would be my advice. I have a few eBay razors, none of which were described as shave ready, that are in use now. It seems to me that some sellers on eBay have gotten wise to the fact that there is a difference between shave ready and sharp, to make it easier on themselves they list things as not shave ready because they don't have a way to know since most don't shave with a straight anyhow.

I would sanitize it, then try it, if it seems to pull a lot, try ten or fifteen light passes on your barber hone(after reading through the wiki and familiarizing yourself with the process), if it still pulls try a few more passes, if in the end you see no improvement, send it of to a known razor honer, since it is more likely that the bevel is not set right due to the fact that you see no improvement, there is a huge difference between refreshing a properly set bevel and building a proper bevel from scratch. A refresh I think anyone can do, a bevel setting anyone can do also, however not right from the get go it take a lot of practice.

If after some tries, you find no succes and you send it off, but are still wanting to learn to hone you can always buy some homes and another eBay special and get to learning, by then you will have your shave ready razor to compare your tries against to let you know how you are doing.

I would say , strop it , and see if it shaves well . If it doesn't , then send it out to be honed . You really should have a properly honed razor , so you will know how a properly honed razor should feel .
You could also buy a shave ready razor from the SRP classifieds , and leave the ebay stuff alone , until you know what you're doing .

BTW , I see you live in the UK . You may want to contact Neil Miller . He's a member here , that lives in the UK . He sells strops , and razors , and I'm sure he could help you out .

Thanks, all. That sounds like good advice.

I probably do need to get it properly honed by someone who knows what they're doing, so I will do that in the near future. However, since the 'not shave ready' Ator is already sharper than the one I started with, I might as well use it for a shave this evening (after a good stropping) and see what happens.

I'll report back - thanks again!

Amazon does sell razors that will never take a shave-ready edge. New razors hardly ever are shave-ready even if the manufacturer says so.

I've just tried the Ator and I can't see myself going back to the cheap one. This must be the closest shave I've ever had. I'm feeling deeply relaxed.

After stropping, the Ator cut through the stubble very easily, without any of the tugging/scraping feeling that I had with the cheap razor. I only dared do WTG, but I did that twice and am very happy with the result. It's not perfect in the dip just between my jawbone and my throat proper, and I nicked myself a couple of times just under the chin, but all in all I'm well pleased with shave no. 5 and with the razor.

I'd be interested to know what it would be like if it was optimally honed, but then I might be too scared to use it. :/

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Matt69

I've just tried the Ator and I can't see myself going back to the cheap one. This must be the closest shave I've ever had. I'm feeling deeply relaxed.

After stropping, the Ator cut through the stubble very easily, without any of the tugging/scraping feeling that I had with the cheap razor. I only dared do WTG, but I did that twice and am very happy with the result. It's not perfect in the dip just between my jawbone and my throat proper, and I nicked myself a couple of times just under the chin, but all in all I'm well pleased with shave no. 5 and with the razor.

I'd be interested to know what it would be like if it was optimally honed, but then I might be too scared to use it. :/

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Actually the sharper blade is easier on your face, and the dull blade more likely to cut you.

Enjoy,
Jeff.

What brand is the one you got off Amazon? As was mentioned there are several that will never take a true shaving edge (B&B and Zeepk razors come to mind as pieces of crap) i bought a B&B off Ebay with a strop cheap and frankly all it's been good for is practicing honing strokes and as a cheese knife :) and the crap strop itself is more likely to dull the edge as naught... I now have a SRD strop that works great.

The ERN is likely a much better quality razor, but you should send it to be professionally honed that way you are starting with a known good razor


Another alternative is to go to Categories and get the sight unseen deal which includes a shave ready razor an strop kit that will work great while you learn.....

Good luck!

The amazon razor is from 'Ayat Precision Instruments', (here). I think I'll use it to practice on the barber hone, to try to get my strokes smooth and level, and then maybe use it for chopping garlic, like in "Goodfellas". :)

If the Ator is basically shaving OK, which it seems to be, does that mean that the bevel is set OK, and it only needs a go on the polishing stone?

Back when I started I bought a "Kentucky rattler" off ebay. It was worthless for shaving so I pitched it in the trash....

Live and learn.

:boohoo:

20 GBP for a razor and strop is too cheap. Use it to practice honing and cut butter.

I had a look at both blades with a geologist's hand lens (about x20 or x30, I think) and the difference is huge - on the Ator the cutting edge is nearly smooth, with very fine scratches from a very high grit or paste. The cheap razor's edge is made up of rows of distinct grooves and was obviously finished with a much coarser abrasive. I don't think that'll be going near my face again.

I used the cheap one for a practice hone, and when I thought I was getting the action right with the blade flat on the stone, I gave the Ator 10 very gentle laps. It made it noticeably sharper, I think. I stropped it and had a shave and it was the closest yet, and that was only 2 passes WTG. Unfortunately it was also the bloodiest so far - I caught my chin and needed the styptic. Not too bad, but I clearly need to work on the chin area. I think a contributory factor was that I was more than a little nervous about the sharpness of the blade.