Thread: Some thoughts

Finally got around to using proraso preshave cream and then proraso shaving cream for my shave. Man, that stuff was amazing! Cant wait to shave again just so that I can use it again.
On a side note, I've, gotten better under the neck area but still having trouble. Cant seem to get a close shave there no matter what I try. Stretching the skin in all different directions, changing the angles Im using, using different strokes, but its still stubborn and normally have to go back with the DE to finish up.

It's likely a combination of technique and razor sharpness. It can be quite frustrating, but until you have stropping down pat your razor is possibly not quite as keen as it could be. Coupled with the fact that the neck area is quite challenging on its own, issues are bound to pop up. Keep at it, I'm sure you'll nail it. Have you considered touching up your razor?

BTW - I'm a Proraso fan too. If you don't have the aftershave you should definitely pick some up for the ultimate menthol kick. When used with the other products I call it the "All Proraso System"...

Just started looking into touching up the razor but not sure exactly where to start. At the moment I dont have the budget to buy any stones and not sure what my other options are. I read about barber hones but im not sure where to find one of those. Looking through the forum I also read about green CrOx paste but I have my doubts about this and would much rather prefer a stone or a barbers hone. Any chance you can point me in the right direction?

Originally Posted by pwm5024

Just started looking into touching up the razor but not sure exactly where to start. At the moment I dont have the budget to buy any stones and not sure what my other options are. I read about barber hones but im not sure where to find one of those. Looking through the forum I also read about green CrOx paste but I have my doubts about this and would much rather prefer a stone or a barbers hone. Any chance you can point me in the right direction?

It would help to know your budget, but it doesn't matter. The cheapest hone would be the barber's variety. They can generally be found in antique shops and flea bay for decent prices (as in under $50, sometimes well under that). They also appear in the SRP classifieds and some of our vendors carry them occasionally as well.

But don't discount using pastes too. They are the most economical route and can put a wicked sharp edge on a razor. Your best bet would be to make a balsa wood bench strop, which is a strip of balsa, impregnated with a paste such as chromium oxide, diamond spray or Dovo paste, glued to a board. Costs very little and is very effective. You can also paste a hanging strop, but it is much easier to bugger the edge with sub par stropping. The other disadvantage is that you need a dedicated strop for pasting since you can`t remove the paste once it's applied and it should be used sparingly.

Some of us have a really tough beard, esp the neck hairs. Go with different angle approaches and find out about a "scything stroke". To touch up a shave-worthy razor, you cannot go wrong with a good barber's hone (a Swaty comes to mind) and tons of strop! Realize that some of us never get BBS on our neck. A fact!

Budget wise around $50 give or take, I'm a student so I don't have too much to spend. I also have two strops from straight razor designs, one in the 3" latigo leather and again in the 2" version. I use the 3" most and almost never the 2" so I thought about pasting the 2" strop with the green CrOx. At the moment I dont have any of my tools with at school to make a balsa strop. I think I would be more satisfied with a barbers hone though, not sure why but it just is more appealing to me. Where should I look for barber hones? Not a big fan of ebay and since I dont know too much about them not sure what I should be looking for.

Lots come up on Ebay. Some bring big prices due to the name on them, not that they are any better than one with, say, Standard on it. To avoid buying one from a seller with no knowledge of them, I could suggest the classifieds here will yield barber's hones from sellers who know the characteristics and condition from experience. With a 50 dollar budget, you should be able to score 2 different ones to try.

There is an Aloxite on the classifieds now for 25.00. I can't say anything about the hone as I don't really use barber hones.

Michael

Thanks for all the help. Spent some time looking though the classifieds and settled on this: Message - Straight Razor Place Classifieds

I was really drawn to the razor and the hone so pulled the trigger. Can't wait till they get here!

I think you will be very happy with that set

jim