Well...Isn't this just a special little exchange of ideas..........................?:cry:
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Well...Isn't this just a special little exchange of ideas..........................?:cry:
I thought I was gonna save money, but I came up with that idea all on my own. Then I decided I had to sharpen in order to save more money. Then I decided the only way to do it right was keep buying stones until something worked. Then I found out that's not the right way at all. But, well...It's too late now isn't it? lol. I should be clear that nobody told me any of these things..I just kinda developed these ideas on my own. Which explains why they were all flawed.
Hah! When I first started making beer, I knew I could make two cases for a little over $10. OTOH, the reason I did it was because I like good beer. My beer is to Budweiser what a barber's shave is to a bic razor shave. Hense, the extra money I've spent on razors and stuff.
I had an equivalent analogy on deck about my metalic cartridge reloading, but how many analogies does one post need? :)
I've saved a TON of money doing this, but only if you consider that the 2 most expensive items (Norton hone, Boker razor) were gifts. Otherwise, I've spent the equivalent of 5 months worth of cartridges. I'm 8 months into this, so I'm playing with house money.
I don't consider myself typical, though. I don't have the space to store or use a bunch of hones. I don't have the money for more razors, unless I pick one up for under $10 on ebay and rehab it myself. I don't have the money for fancy creams, so the only cream I buy for myself is real shaving co at $4 a tube. Any other creams I have I found under the christmas tree.
Would I have a bunch of different stuff had I the money? Probably. But I think at worst I'd be breaking even compared to the cartridges and foams.
Well, I shopped around a little. I got my first Straight for $15, honing for first 15, another straight and a DE in an antique store for 5, brush and soap for 18, bowl was free, and the strop was 12. So, $65 my estimate was a little off. I'm a notorious mooch and haggler, I have a reputation for never paying full price for anything that I can get for less. But even then I got good starting equipment. As my skills improve, I'll upgrade my things with better versions. But for starting out I didn't want to spend a lot on something I wasn't sure about.
I looked up what I spent on shaving last year, it was well over $100, not counting what I paid in cash. Add that up for several years and it's fairly substantial. So, I either keep spending hundreds on my old things or try out something that my last me a lifetime for little cost. If you don't go overboard it could pay for itself.
BTW, I don't mind fixing up old things. I already had all the tools I needed to restore those antiques anyways.