I am looking to start straight razor shaving some time in the near future, but i felt that before diving in head first (and possibly ruining my face)that I should prepare for this change. First I switched from my DE to a disposable blade razor (I know it isn't necessarily like a real straight but it makes the idea of placing a naked blade aginst my face less daunting).
My next thought was that i should at least learn some basic honing and stropping techniques and be able to get a razor sharp enough to be able to shave comfortably. So i bought several vintage razors from ebay (Maybe this really is jumping in at the deep end?) and then, due to money constraints bought a combination strop and hone by Cyril r Salter.(i am now think maybe another mistake.).
I started practice honing on the worst razor i bought, which is a wedge with a few rough patches on the blade.(which i had to first pass over diamond sharpener to avoid scratching the hone.) i then practiced on a few others.
Surprisingly enough i failed to get a useable result out of this. The best result i got was from in fact the really beaten up wedge, which i managed to successfully shave part of my arm and leg, however it fell way short of the face shaving league.
I can think of a few reasons why.
Maybe my technique isn't the best, and this might have had an effect on the results, although i think i was being very careful to follow all advice on this site.
Also I just emailed Cyril r Salter about the grit of the hone, to which they replied. 'Its a 400 grit'. This cannot be right, i think this must be a typing error and mean 4000. even so, is this high enough to put a reasonable edge on a razor?
Anyway, i ordered a norton 4k/8k to use, as i am impressed that i can shave my arm on a first attempt from a completley blunt razor, and maybe it might need a higher polish.
Any advice, or comments on the quality of this hone/strop?
Thanks
Nick