Thread: Magical Thinking

WARNING: Content May Not Be Suitable For Adult Straight Razor Users!
The long winding road ended one night with me in front of the computer sitting with a combination of poor posture and crazy tension. EBAY and I was bidding on what was to become my first straight razor: A Red Imp, red like a fire engine, red like some favorite toy from years past, red like the face of an embarrassed straight razor enthusiast starting out bidding low on his way to the high road. I was the 'winner' at sixty some dollars. The razor was 'shave ready.' There were excellent pics proving that the seller had nothing to hide. Sure there were some dark areas, tiny spots here and there. Opening the razor I thought it was beautiful, not other worldly beautiful like a NOS Filarmonica or one of Max Sprecher's razors not other worldly beautiful like so many of the Shave of the Day razors that have hypnotized me.
I do not own a strop yet but have something in the works. I could not wait to shave so I shaved. It was fun and surprisingly bloodless. I have noted that I did whack the edge off of a mustache which I had to get rid of.
Still no strop but I wanted to shave again.....and again. Now 3 shaves in and face sending some signals regarding comfort, read discomfort.
Yesterday I read somewhere on SRP a thread regarding pitting, particularly along the edge. The words which come from a member with plenty of chops read something like, I stay away from anything with pitting, discoloration...my words....along an edge. That seems pretty common sense. I missed it the first go around.
This morning I decide to have a look at the bevel with a jewelers loupe that I have had so long I forgot the magnification.
I didn't cry out loud for fear of being tossed out of the SRP altogether. I see something very different from anything I saw in a photograph or (more importantly) in my mind. This razor looks beautiful to me, but the Red Imp is ugly and quite possibly trash. I know, I was warned. And why did I wait over a week to open the loupe and have a look?
I've learned lessons that have been harder than this one and more expensive, but...
OK fellow Aspirants, don't be like WW243. Listen to your Elders, they want you to make good choices, they want you to have a solid foundation and systematically acquire knowledge and skills to change an act of drudgery into a joyous celebration. Stay with your SRP vendors and member sellers if possible, they have some concern for your dream, not exclusively their own.

Strop it, you might be surprised.

Wow, it sure is a nice razor!! Im sure its not a total loss. It looks like its never seen a hone!!! Send it out to someone with some experience and I bet that thing will end up being a beauty!!!

First off, very nice looking razor. You also haven't said if the razor was sold as shave ready and even if it was it may not have been entirely up to snuff. You have not stropped it but are 3shaves in on the blade. I would not despair at this point.

If the edge looks a little rough maybe it is time for a honing. Get it honed by a pro and shave as it comes back with no stropping. There should be a marked improvement in comfort. Also if this is your first straight and you have only done 3 shaves your technique or lack of it may also contribute to the discomfort. There are so many variables when first starting out.

No I think it is all just part of the growing pains when first starting out. I'd almost be willing to bet that if you had it tuned up it would become a fine shaver.

Bob

You could always send it to me for proper disposal......

Try using some folded newspaper on a bench top to strop on and see if it helps.

Apparently it can be quite effective

In the picture I see no issues. I can't see the bevel but with honing that could be a fine razor.

Roger that, nothing in the picture. In one of the other pictures you could see some dark spots in the center of the razor and the seller pointed these out. The seller also said the bevel was reset and the razor was shave ready. I had not reason to not believe this and I think he was right, mostly. I have been shaving with a Parker razor (single edged blade type) for 4 months or so and I did not feel any real anxiety about my first shave with a straight. Now saying I shaved with a Parker razor is a little like, 'I'm not a doctor, but I play on on TV.' I realize that. The point at which I felt like something might be wrong was when I looked at the bevel under magnification after 3 shaves without stropping. Under magnification I found light pitting near and in the bevel. At one spot in the bevel, at a place where there is pitting, the bevel had become ragged.
My plan now it to send this razor out to one of the members for evaluation/honing. If I had the razor in front of me right now I could be more descriptive about the extent of pitting along the bevel. This i what concerns me now. I hope this razor can be put into top shaving condition as I really like it.

Originally Posted by thebigspendur

In the picture I see no issues. I can't see the bevel but with honing that could be a fine razor.

Hi WW243,

I bought a batch of razors and blades years ago; it was a good way to get a bunch of old stuff to play with as the antique stores where I live are pretty lean for razors. And that's when I too learned about micropitting. The seller had included a lot of stuff that wasn't too good after all, but I couldn't use a hand lense on the computer pictures. So I believe what you're saying. And the seller may have acted in perfectly good faith; I have blades that honed and looked fine; no sign of anything untoward until I thought to check them at 10x and found pitting along the edge.

Still, I think you've got a very fine razor and, judging from the nearly nonexistant honing wear on the spine, I think there's a good chance someone can hone past the bad steel and make this into the very fine shaver it should be. I've got a Red Imp from Case (there were at least three different Red Imp manufacturers over time; I don't know the story) that is one of my best shavers. It was in that dodgy batch I bought, and didn't have scales.

Merely shaving does introduce a lot of wear and tear on the edge. If you had a microscope instead of a hand lense then you'd be experiencing some REAL horror, especially with three shaves and no stropping in between. It's pretty standard to do about 20 laps after the shave, before you put your blade away, to be sure there's no soap crud, whiskers, or other moist residue left along the edge. As you now know, there's a lot that can go unseen there, and significant corrosion damage can happen at the near-microscopic level.

So at least strop on some denim, or folded newspaper, until you get a leather one. Anthing is better than nothing. And the stropping will help repair the shaving dings so your blade won't look quite so scary after a couple of uses.

Good luck with it, and best wishes.