"Hello" and "Help!" from northern California

I was sending some questions to Larry at whippeddog.com when I realized that this would make a good introduction as well.

Hello, my name is Daniel. I've been researching and absorbing large chunks of information from SRP almost daily for a couple weeks now. Thank you for (hopefully) reading my wall of text.

I got excited about straight shaving about a year ago but decided to take the dive a month ago. I went to a well-reviewed (on yelp) local cutlery shop to purchase my straight. $130 later I had a strop and a brand new solingen. When I got home the blade closed off center and visibly chipped the edge. I shaved with it anyway and did fine except for some serious razor burn on my lower neck. I took the blade back and the owner of the shop had the blade re-honed on the spot, fixed the crooked scales, and apologized. Two days later the blade was not centering properly again. I have yet to let the blade hit the scales though. I know to pay attention now.

The bigger problem however is that the blade feels less sharp than when I first shaved with it. I don't know if its because of my stropping or the shop's 5 minute chip removal+honing, but I am not happy with my shaves. Not even as happy as I was with my first shave. I've stropped on newspaper, the inside of the cereal box, linen, and leather to no end in an attempt to bring back the edge.

I was going to but a beautiful SR from Mastershake here on the forum when my stupid car broke down again and sucked up a good chunk of cash. My plan now is to buy the sight-unseen flawed razor (whippeddog.com), as well as the balsa and pastes from his poor mans kit. This way I will have something to shave with, stuff to "sharpen" with, and sharpness to compare to.


my questions are:
-Am I better off with a barber's hone than the pastes? I don't have a sense of where barber's hones fall in terms or aggressiveness compared to linen, pastes, and high-grit hones.
-when searching SRP for threads about whippeddog.com I heard customers mention his razor rolls. what are razor rolls?
-What I can do about the blade not closing in the center?
-is there anything else that I missed? is my plan completely useless and I just dont know it yet?


I really wish someone had told me about whippeddog.com before I made my other purchase. I had no idea it was even possible to get started in SR shaving without spending over $100. I would have started months earlier had I known I could get a blade for as little as $25!

Morning Daniel, Welcome to SRP.

My opinion and this is my only my opinion is you can maintain a decent edge on pastes alone for a pretty long time. I have had 3 Barber hones in the past year and really have not found a huge use for them. As Far as grit rating goes it varies. I have a Zanol Barber hone that seems to fall in the 6k-8k range, I just got a "Strop Back Hone" that feels far smoother and is probably in the 10k range. At this stage in your journey try the pasted strops and then as you figure what you need/want add a barbers hone or a finisher or some other combination of stones.

A razor role is a way of storing multiple razors. Larry's role is made from felt material allows you to insert 7 razors then role it up.

I will let someone more qualified talk on the blade not centering. I have my suspicions but have not played enough with restoration to give you an answer that is valuable.

I think your plan is a good one. Having 2 razors is a good thing. It gives you that fallback if your main is losing an edge or is damaged in some way. It also give you a baseline to work from. As we use a razor on a daily basis we may not notice it degrading until it is at the pulling stage. Having that spare razor that is sharpened properly it will allow you to compare the two. As well using a razor every other day versus everyday should allow you to go longer without honing or touch ups.

You will be warned that unless the person in the Cutlery shop shaves with a straight razor himself he is probably not one to trust with your razors. I know it is a pain having to send out your razor to a competent honer but really it is the only way in this day in age to ensure you're getting a truly shave ready edge.

I am sure there will be lots of other helping with advice but that is what I can offer this early in the am when the coffee has yet to kick in.

I would assume the shop probably did more damage to your razor than good. Straight honing is best left to those who specialize in it.

As far as honing goes there are many roads that lead to Rome you know. Pastes are easier and will keep a razor sharp for a long time but eventually you will need a hone. Barbers hones are mostly finishing grade though some are coarser.

As far as the centering thing possibly the razor wasn't pinned correctly. Sometimes scales can warp but that usually is not the case with a new razor. it would have to be examined to tell what's going on.

PM me,I may be able to help,am in San Jose.

thank you guys for your help! I made my order with whipped dog this afternoon.

barber's hones
sounds like I am making the right choice by going with pastes. I'll wait a few months before I look into purchasing hones again. I'm curious though: if barber's hones are like finishing hones then whats the difference between a barbers hone and a regular 10k or 12k hone? is it just a matter of materials?

the shop that "fixed" my edge
soon after I bought the razor I found SRP and learned that my razor wasn't up to the sharpness standards of this forum with its factory edge. the fact that the edge was damaged only made that fact more apparent. I more or less expected that the shop wouldn't do an adequate job of honing. But being a part of a local business myself, I wanted to give this family-run shop a chance to earn my future business. They wont be honing any razors for me, but I may buy a pocketknife there some time.

finally: pixelfixed

THANK YOU!

This man invited me to his home to help me with my current razor. we spent about an hour together. He fixed my centering problem and gave me tips to prevent it from happening again. He also spent some time trying to refresh my edge with CrOx. With a big smile on his face, I believe his words were "It'll shave. It wont be smooth, but it'll shave." He was right.

Ill be sending it out for honing as soon as I receive my sight unseen razor.
Thank you for your help today, Bill

Your wellcome,sorry about the edge,as said above,more harm than good happend to it,pro can fix it no problem.
Nice to meet you.
Regards,Bill