Thread: Needs to be honed again?

hello all, i have purchased my straight razor set and shaved about four times. i kept stropping everytime but due to my noobiness i have cut the strop in several places. i noticed one day the razor pulling and as i looked at the razor edge it seems hilly. sorry no images but sort if like indented in a lil area. now i have never dropped it so i think its just from cutting the leather or something but im not sure. i am going to send it back to SRD to get my free honing but can anybody tell me if that is the problem and how to avoid it next time?

Why not practice stropping with a butter knife or something that won't damage the strop. If you have another razor maybe tape the edge and practice stropping with that. It is an acquired skill. I think we all nick our first strops.

Agree with Jimmy. A butter knife, if you have a similar shaft one, can very closely resemble the tang of a razor and works really well for learning the flip and draw for stropping. And, yes cutting your strop involved a fair amount of pressure and probably being a little aggressive in the stroke very likely is the reason for a slight deformity in the edge. How to avoid it? Take it a little slower, speed is not your friend and doesn't really add anything to the edge. Speed just saves a little bit of time and, well, looks and feels really cool. Speed will come, but master the stropping stroke first. Precision first, speed later. You'll get it quicker than you think, but, as much as us guys hate it, small steps to start and practice, argh(!!) how I hate the delay of instant success, (talking about me), well, maybe you too? Good Luck!!!

Best Regards,
Howard

Sending it for your free honing is an excellent idea.

The stropping has been covered, listen to what they say. Practice is the only way you get proficient.

On the razor, you have rolled the edge, so yes it needs to be rehoned. This is why we usually recommend having two razors so you have one on standby if something happens to the primary razor being used.

Where are you from Ricpac? We recommend putting your general location in your user information so that folks can, and often do, offer assistance. If you are anywhere near my location, please contact me and I am sure I can help you out.

Yes, send it for honing, but:

...and this is an important point!!!

Don't be let down by the fact that you have hit a minor stumbling block. We've all been there, had to send our first razor(s) back to the honing teams. You will learn from your experience and in time will get better and better. The only way is up!! It will be really worth it in the end - your face will thank you for it!

thank you everyone for the help, sent it back today. looks like i will need a backup for the mean time. Where can i find people near my location? is there a list somewhere on the forums?

You can click community near the top & then go to groups. There's bound to be one for the NYC area, but I haven't checked personally.

For a backup, there are 2 basic ways to go. You can get another straight, which will risk having both damaged or dull at the same time but will satisfy you more in the long run, or you can get a razor that uses disposable blades like the shavette or feather artist club (I like mine) which doesn't need any honing because of the disposable blades.

Either way is entirely up to you. I really do like my feather, but at the same time right now I'd rather have 7 straights than 6 straights and one that uses a disposable.

It is hard to offer good advice without seeing what you have, but the truth with a lot of this stuff is you have to learn by trial and error.

Don't be too bummed about it...things happen. If you make a point of inspecting your razor feverishly, you might be able to narrow down what activities lead to the results you see....then work to refine those activities.

Razors truly are delicate...and you can never have too many spares

Yes I'm going to order a back up but it will most likely be the same exact one lol. A dovo 6/8 semi hollow I believe is what I have