Thread: Really Confused About Honing & Stropping

Hello, i have been shaving with safety razor blades for a few years.
I never asked help or searched before for safety razor blades, i feel quite comfortable with them from the beginning. But I really knew nothing about straight razors except that they are really dangerous. Luckily i just discovered this amazing forum. It is really hard to find the classic straight razors in my country (Turkey). Nearly all of them are replacable razor blades. But i am in Germany for journey now, so i think it is a really good opportunity for me to get a one. I have a few options about straight razors in my mind but the real problem is about Honing!

I searched most of the guides, youtube videos about honing and what i learned in the end; it is not something suitable for not experienced ones. I feel like i should avoid honing at all cost because it requires some experience (if you are not lucky you may damage the edge), English is not my native language (sorry for that) so i may not understand all suggestions about honing in videos etc... Also whetstones are not so cheap, i do not want to pay for something that may even damage razor.
For example, in some youtube videos or suggestion in this forum i saw '' I can use tape to protect razor while honing ''. But i just did not understand it, the suggestions also say '' I must keep right angle all the time '', but if i use that tape on top part of razor, the angle already changed from the original angle and there is no way to keep the same angle with that tape! So after that all whirl, i decide not to hone the straight razor blade which i will purchase.

Commonly, if you are beginner and in a situtation like me you should hone your razor at professional shops not yourself. But it is already really hard to find normal straight razors in where i am living, how can i trust a guy who probably never honed this things before? As far as i know, i do not have to hone so often. Every 2 months is enough to keep it shard or even more. But at the end it has to be honed, right? The only solution come to my mind is an additional pasted strop but i am not sure it will be enough to keep it sharp for several years. So that is the point i stucked and i need your opinions.

My options (which i like how it is look like) about the razor:
1. Link for details
(Set includes a leather strope, i just need a pasted strop)
2. Link for details
3. Link for details
4. Link for details
5. Link for details

The 4 & 5 does not look great for me, but i hope they can shave as well as other ones. The thing is, they cost lower prices so i can buy both of them. 3/8 would be great for me because sometimes i shave round beard etc... And i can imagine it wont be easy to manipulating 6/8 or even maybe 5/8 ones.

So what should i do? If the honing is a problem which i can not solve myself (and without wasting same amount of money for razor), i could just give up this desire and buy a good quality safety razor blade like Merkur Vision 2k. But it is the last option for me.


Sorry for length of the post and probably with full of mistakes
Thanks a lot!

The only solution come to my mind is an additional pasted strop but i am not sure it will be enough to keep it sharp for several years

It will, provided you don't damage the edge.
If your razor is shave ready, the only thing you gotta give her is stropping. Be careful with the canva.

Welcome to the forum. I'd go for the black one, I like the shape and size and I also like the scales. I've bought a NOS (New Old Stock) razor from the Revisor site before and it came shave ready in my opinion.

I think really anyone can hone a razor. Don't worry about tape changing the angle. Even if the razor was honed without tape it's not that big a deal. Get a Norton 4/8 and you can always go back to the 4k and hone from there. I always use tape to protect the spine.

You are right, you can't really trust someone to hone a razor for you if they have never done it before OR (more importantly) they don't shave with a straight razor. It's as useless as we men telling a woman what to do in childbirth; we still do it, but it's very little help...

If you can buy two razors get the black one and another 4/8, 5/8 or 6/8. I myself would not buy a 3/8. I use the heel of my razors to shave around my beard; I find it easier actually with a wider razor to do this than with a narrower razor. If you get two similar width razors, you can use either one any time while you are working on honing the other.

How you keep a razor at the sharpness you like, and how long it takes before you need to re-sharpen depends on a LOT of variables. Most importantly is your beard. It could be that your beard means you need to hone more often (thick, course beard) or less often (sparse, light beard). You could keep a razor sharp enough for an entire year just by stropping if you have a light beard, or maybe you will need to hone the razor each month.

Your English is fine, but you will find we will always take time to explain things in detail. This place is a very helpful place :-)

Carl

[EDIT] When I say black one I mean number 4 from the Revisor site....

Thank you so much for advices, I am trying to decide between 1st and 2nd from the pictures.
I really want to buy both of them but if i do that i wont have any budget left for good quality shaving brush, leather strop (if i go for anything else than 1st) and pasted strop or maybe whetstone.
By the way, i still do not know i need to buy pasted strop to keep it sharp without using whetstones.

I read FAQ and lots of other topics for beginners but i need to be understand it cleary. I want to return back with all required things with me. Is there anything else than straight razor and leather strop i need to use? Will a good quality pasted strop be enough for me if i feel the razor is not sharp enough? Or 4k-8k Norton whetstone is the thing which i really need for that? Or both of them or even more...

I am asking because, i am pretty sure that i heard '' I just need good stropes before shaving and nice drying after shaving for using it for long years'' in the popular youtube videoes, it maybe not the exactly like this but it was pretty close to this saying.
Other thing which i read in forum is, '' If I am a beginner, i should not hone it with whetstone. '' And also i read some texts from the beginners that mention they can not get enough sharpness by whetstone.
Another opinion is '' Everyone can hone easily with whetstone if they would be carefull. '' like Carlmaloschneider and some videos mentioned.

1st: I do not need hone at all. I just need to keep it clean & dry and strope well before shaving.
2nd: I need hone but i should not do it myself with whetstone. And 4/8k whet stone is perfect for knives not enough for straight razors.
3rd: I need hone and i can do it easily with 4/8k whetstone.
I really can not find any agreement about this issue. Owing the fact that i want to ignore all three of them and buy straight razor & leather strope & pasted strope. Of course i am not strong-minded since i have'nt even seen a straight razor before.

[EDIT]: I am a bit surprised about you mean the 4th one. I was thinking the 2nd one has better looking and probably more rare from the other ones.

Originally Posted by dudness

It will, provided you don't damage the edge.
If your razor is shave ready, the only thing you gotta give her is stropping. Be careful with the canva.

And that is what i have been thinking. I do not want to risk anything by honing it myself or someone else in a country which is not used to use straight razors.
Firstly i need to find a top quality and 'real' shave ready razor. I am still trying to decide for it.
And after purchase, i need to strop and dry it well with each shave.

Welcome to SRP. I know we have one member, maybe more than one in Turkey. I don't know where they are located within your country. If I remember correctly one of the members sells razors and hones in our SRP classifieds , and I assume he knows how to hone.

If he is not geographically close to you, perhaps he would hone razors for you if you were to send them to him ? The internet has made it a smaller world. I would suggest buying a 4/8 or 5/8 since you are working around a beard. As you noted, a 6/8 may be more difficult to maneuver around facial hair. On the other hand, I know one very experienced member, gssixgun, shaves around a beard and he has posted that 6/8 is his size of choice. So maybe it just depends on the individual preference.

Don't be confused by the tape on the spine. It is optional but recommended for learning honers. It protects the spine from wear and it is so thin that it will not have a negative effect on the geometry of the razor.

Ok, i decide to visit Solingen this weekend! I think it is best way to find out what i like, they all look awesome even from screen. I just need to wait 5 more days. Thanks again.

Originally Posted by Belanir

...

1st: I do not need hone at all. I just need to keep it clean & dry and strope well before shaving.
2nd: I need hone but i should not do it myself with whetstone. And 4/8k whet stone is perfect for knives not enough for straight razors.
3rd: I need hone and i can do it easily with 4/8k whetstone.
I really can not find any agreement about this issue. Owing the fact that i want to ignore all three of them and buy straight razor & leather strope & pasted strope. Of course i am not strong-minded since i have'nt even seen a straight razor before.

[EDIT]: I am a bit surprised about you mean the 4th one. I was thinking the 2nd one has better looking and probably more rare from the other ones.

I wish I could sit down with you and explain some things...

Firstly, in regard to point 1, that depends on your beard. My son, who is 22 and has a light beard, has gone almost a year without having me hone his razor, and he uses the belt from his trousers as a strop. You will need to get a hone at some stage or have it honed for you. My thoughts are you may as well learn sooner than later.

In regards to point 2, I disagree entirely and would love to know where that idea came from. I'll post the link to the JANorton thread when I get home from work. I myself have a Norton 4/8 and a Shapton 16. Generally, I only need to touch up my razors on the Shapton 16k. I should say I have never used any other hones that these two and do NOT consider myself an expert, however, I've honed all my own razors for two years now with no problems.

In regards to point 3, agreed. If you watch Glen's (gssixgun's) honing videos over and over you'll get the idea. There's a lot of good honing videos out there but there are some controversial ones too. I concentrate on watching Glen's, and also of course Lynn's.

I have never used paste so can't really comment, but I feel the general consensus is that paste is NOT a substitute for honing, while it can extend the life of the edge, and while it can result in a smoother edge, a pasted strop is NOT a hone. Really, why would people buy hones and why would they sell them on shaving sites and why would we have a whole forum area dedicated to hones of you didn't need one? :-)

Carl