Thread: the obligatory rookie hello

Hey guys, just wanted to say howdy to the community and quietly assert myself into the world of an obviously much older crowd. I'm 23 years old, 24 in February, and I've been shaving with a Gillette Mach3 that I recieved free in the mail from Gillette around my 18th birthday with the instinctual mentality that (because there weren't really any other options) this was as good as it got. Unfortunately for me in the straight razor area, I've got a wee bit too much native amaerican in me, and am currently still unable to manage much better than a pathetic attempt at a mustache that actually stops growing about a 1/4 inch long, and a very sparse growth on my chin with a few random hairs here and there numbering under a half dozen...but I'm here anyhow. Well, I've always had a thing for knives ever since I was very little, and growing up I always had a half dozen "gas station special" pocket knives laying about and only in the last year or so discovered REAL knives when I broke the $100 mark buying my first Benchmade.

I decided I had better find a way to sharpen my knives because I wanted to keep my new toys in good working order. Enter the Spyderco Sharpmaker. Works great, got it cheap, and even I can make a blade sharp with it. Well, watching the instructional video included with it they sharpened a straight razor and my mind went "OOOH...something sharp I don't have yet!" Several weeks of researching later I opted for eBay instead of a new $200 TI



The blade says TWINS with a pair of the Henckels twins flanking it on one side, and the other says JA Henckels Twin Works Solingen Germany. Not an expensive razor, and not a new one, but I liked the look of it and I already love Henckels knives, so I figured why not. Anyone know a date on this and maybe a blade material guess? Wish there was more info on the razor itself.

Since funds are limited, I am using canvas for a strop and my gillette gel in a can until I can afford a badger brush some good soap and a leather strop (probably from ebay again cause I don't have loads of dough to blow). Honed it on the Sharpmaker, stropped it a bit on my canvas, and gave it a whirl. Not very smooth glide, kinda a scratchy unnerving noise, but other than my obvious lack of skill and materials causing some missed hairs and such I managed a rather pleasant shave, sans nicks, sans blood, sans that cakey feeling I've always had after shaving which has apparently been due to the fact that the dead skin on my face has never come off. I'm hooked.

Anyhow, sorry for the lengthy post but I have a seriously irritating tendancy towards the verbose and can't seem to stop myself sometimes. PS I'm hoping to get hold of a digital camera and get some higher res pics of the razor now that it's all cleaned up so keep and eye out.

Howdy, Gawker. That looks like a nice blade and should do well for you. I wrote the company directly for some info on my JA Henckels.
Just a couple of notes.

1. You should consider cleaning it with metal polish to rid the tarnish if you haven't already. Rubbing alcohol (or some other disinfectant) imediately before and after the shave will also guard against razor rash and any other nasties.
2. Linen is not an appropriate finishing material as a strop. You need smooth, finished leather. This could be why it's a little rough.
3. Razor sharp is a whole new kind of sharp. You might not quite have it up to snuff yet. What are you using to get it keen? Have you tried teh hanging hair test as described in the Help Files on it yet? How does it respond?
4. Beard preparation is also VERY important for a comfortable shave. That shaving gel from a can is probably not doing you any favours. I use Ambrosia from Lush which doesn't require a brush. Read Dr. Phong's recent Test Tube blog post for more info.

P.S. You're not the only blabbermouth around here, that's for sure.

Welcome!

You have come to the right place to learn about straight razors and wet shaving. This is a really good bunch of people here so feel free to ask any question.

To hone that razor you will need a 4000 grit and a 8000 grit hone at a minimum plus a plain leather strop. The hone that a lot of us use is the Norton 4000/8000 combination hone, 3 inch wide model. It is a waterstone but much better than the Japanese stones. It cuts the fastest, is the easiest to use and keep clean and laps very easily.

For a strop and other stuff check out this site in the user's Gallery> Gear for Sale>Tony Miller or www.classicshaving.com.

Ditch your shaving cream can and buy some real shaving soap. Your local drugstore or Walmart will have Williams for about $.99.
A good inexpensive brush from tweezerman $10.

Your best friend is hot water and lots of it.


The help files here are basic reading. Read them all, they will help a lot.

Hope this helps,

Well, I'm planning on changing over to a brush and leather and all that stuff as soon as I can, i just have to wait till after xmas to do it because money is a little tight this time of year for prety much everybody. Currently, I'm using my Spyderco Sharpmaker to hone the edge, and it's doing a tolerably good job on it so far. The downside to it is, the sharpmaker uses sticks that are only about a half inch wide so I'm forced to do a major criss cross stroke with the razor the sharpen the length of the blade which I think adds unneccessary motion that could cause me to screw it up. I watched the honing video on greenlight (can't remember who did it but props up the yin yang) and after seeing how easily it could be done on such a wide stone I'm seriously thinking about saving up for that Norton 3" 4K/8K for down the road. I guess I do have some more questions for anybody interested in helping a startup, in all the searching and stuff I did I only REALLY found Dovo and Thiers Issard razors to be what I would consider quality, but after lurking around here for a little while I'm hearing all these other brands that not only don't sound familiar to me, but I haven't seen offered anywhere on the net. Hen & Rooster, Dubl Duck, are these all vintage razors that are going to be hard to find?

My blade has what I would call considerable wear along the spine from honing, and the pictures don't show it well. The seller didn't mention it, but I'm not too upset about it because I really don't know what would be considered "normal wear" and how old this razor is. I mean if there should be little to no wear over time, and the razor is only ten or fifteen years old I might be a little pissed, but even under those circumstances I doubt I'd mind much considering this is only a starter razor. In fact I'm thinking of picking up a razor from Mr. Miller or Uthed or somebody because the prices are good here and if you guys are selling them they can't be junk. Plus it'd be honed by a pro right?

So linen is a strop material, but it isn't good for stropping, I'm confused. Why do they sell canvas strops if it isn't good for the blade? I'm going to get a leather strop asap but for now I'm trying to find stop-gap techniques to get me by in the interum. Hence the getto stropping and the shave in a can

Hi and welcome to the site. You have been given some really good advice here.

As to your questions, linen strops are used as kind of a pre strop it helps to align the edge of the blade. Then you use the smooth leather strop for that final polishing of the blade. if you can't get a leather strop right now you can also use a leather belt as long as its smooth leather and the surface is in good condition.

Even if the blade has some wear on the spine it shouldn't be a big deal unless its so worn that it affects the angle when you hone. If thats the case that could be a problem because its throws off the hone angle and will mess up the edge. But it would have to have some extreme wear and I don't see that in your photo though you will have to be the judge of that.

Yes I would recommend buying a blade from one of the guys here. It will be shave ready and give you a frame of reference as to what a truly fine razor can do and thay can usually be had for a very reasonable price.

Just get rid of that cream in a can and read the help files here and you'll be on your way!