Thoughts on straight razors

Hi aussies :)

I'm from Perth, WA. Looking at getting into straight razors, been a DE shaver for a few years.

The maintenance of a straight razor is what's worrying me -- being able to strop a razor myself I feel I can do, doesn't seem too difficult, or too costly. Honing with stones though, that sounds difficult and costly.

Anybody know of a pro razor honer in the Perth area of Western Australia by any chance? Or some advice on frequency necessary of honing? If it has to be honed every five shaves then I guess I'll have to learn how to do it myself, but if it's a once-in-20-shaves kind of deal, then that's like once a year for me :P

I think I got a bit sidetracked there. I saw the post saying the Aussie board was a bit dead so I thought I'd add a post saying hi.

Hi.

Hi,

Welcome to the forum.

I got my first razor honed by oz and it's still sharp after 2 years, gotta be close to 100 shaves with that razor. You can find him in the members services section in the classifieds.

I would recommend getting your first razor honed by a pro and then just doing a touch up on a barbers hone or using some paste.

good luck

Awesome, thanks heaps, that sounds like a pretty good plan of action :)

Oz (onimaru55) is in Sydney. You won't need to hone too frequently and you've probably found out that the general recommendation for hones if along the lines of a 4k/8k combo and something for a finisher from about 10k up before going to a strop. You can shave off 8k (actually you could shave of 6k, but it feels harsh), it feels smoother if you go for a finer finish though.


Mick

Getting a pro hone is definitely worth it. It's like giving yourself an early birthday present!!
although, in the long run it would be beneficial to learn yourself as there is always a sense of pride and accomplishment in something you do yourself. I just about to start down the road of honing myself and cannot wait for the challenge!!
I will definitely be splurging out another of Oz's edges again in the future though :p
As to frequency of honing, I guess thats just a case of YMMV :shrug: the edge Oz put on my Bengall has had over 20 shaves (haven't kept count unfortunately :( ), and is still going strong.

Thanks @Naallen12, I ended up buying a razor from Lynn & Don's Straight Razor Designs, so it's honed by Lynn himself!

... which means I can worry about honing it later. That's a job for future me. Present me is lazy :P