Buying advice please

[EKE]

Hi all,

I'm pretty new to straight shaving. I bought a straight razor on a very inebriated college trip to Amsterdam about 20 years ago and after slicing a chunk out of my face, because I didn't know what I was doing, I was too scared to try again for quite a while.
For some reason I convinced myself that it wasn't sharp enough and made ham-fisted attempts to 'sharpen' it and made it worse.

A few weeks ago I used a whetstone (probably only about 1000k) to sharpen it and tried to shave again. I had more success this time and have been shaving with it for the last month or so, but I still think it could and should be sharper. With this thought in my mind, my girlfriend wants to buy me the right hone and strop for Xmas but said that I should choose which ones to buy, so, are these advisable:
Leather & Canvas Double Sided Strop For Cut Throat Razors: Amazon.co.uk: Health & Beauty
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Ice-Bear-Wat...PG/ref=lh_ni_t
Also, should I get any strop paste?

Until Xmas, I will be back to using a Mach 3 as I'm getting loads of nicks.

The razor I bought is probably a quite cheap one, but it does say "Solingen Made in Germany".

All advice is gratefully received.

[Hirlau]

Welcome EKE,
Spend some time in the Library section above, with reading & videos. Use the "Advanced" search feature above right, enter key words that interest you. This produces threads that discuss the same questions, you have asked, but with detailed answers.

It's still a while before Christmas, so take a little journey, if you are really interested in straight shaving.

[mjsorkin]

I think that stone set is wrong for your needs. 6000 grit is widely considered too low for a comfortable shave. Also the gap between your course stone and your fine stone would be too great.

Not sure about the strop.

I'd look out for the Norton 4000/8000 stone. Its a very versatile stone. You will need to flatten it. Learning to hone on it will take time and lots of practice.

For a strop, I'd look around for a reputable source besides amazon. Get a nice handmade strop that others can vouch for.

Michael

[WhiteLion]

An 800 grit stone is useful for setting a bevel but not as a honing stone. I agree with @mjsorkin that the Norton 4000/8000 whetstone (around $80 U.S.) is a good choice for a beginner. As for the strop, the one review posted was not particularly glowing. You'll need to lap the stones before use, but that is true with most man made stones. I hope you find what you want. Let us know what you decide upon.

Randy

[nessmuck]

Noobies and honing stones don't mix. I would send it out for a professional honing and then you will know what sharp is. Practice your stropping with a butter knife ...just to get the motion down before you put you razor on the strop and F it up. bad stropping can remove a great edge in NO TIME. Just watch a lot of videos...and if you can...get a second back up straight

[RARamirez]

Whipped dog has some pretty inexpensive decent strops. Straight razor designs has some nice ones. Look around. Check out the vendors section here. I personally wouldn't get a strop from amazon. Also if you google wet shaving products A lot of web sites dedicated to selling wet shaving supplies come up other then the ones I already mentioned.