Thread: would it be foolish for a newbie to buy...

I am thinking about starting a straight razor setup for myself and one of the big things that draws me to it is restoring old straight razors. i use DE's now and I love getting them dirty and cleaning them up. I figure that I'd like to do the same for straights, as well as learn the art of honing.

i know people say it is a good idea to pick up a norton 4k/8k. should i also pick up a 220/1000 if I think that I might get some razors with decent dings in the edge? I can pick up the set for about $100 or just the 4k/8k for $65.

i am a broke grad student in college so my funds are limited. i wouldn't mind picking it up if i know i'll use it/it'll come in handy.

now i just have to find some razors on ebay to pick up. i will prob. invest in bill's straight razor restoration cd and some of the cheap bits he has as the dremel bits are way expensive. i already have a dremel tool to use, I figure I'll need a flex shaft for it.

if you have any other advice for me i'm all ears. anything else you think i might need let me know.

Joseph,

Welcome to the forums.

If you are broke then you picked a wrong hobby. It will only make you broker. No joke, it is the honest truth.

The 220/1000 is only really needed for its 1000 side and for blades that have no bevel. You can still use the 4k for that but it will take much longer.

The restoration of old razors can be done with sand paper by hand. I did it once, and you could not pay me to do it again that way but the results were good and you may have more stamina than me. I posted about it in the restoration forum a few months ago.

Bill's CD is a wealth of information, I would get that but hold off on the bits and pieces. Try it once by hand and on a single razor it will give you a better feel for working with the steel. If you like it then you may want to keep doing it and investing into equipment will be worthwhile.

I would also recommend reading the threads in Straight Razor Restoration forum. Not just the ones from the last month either, but go a few months back. There are some real gems in there and information has not been repeated since. You will get a ton of info and a better idea of what it takes. Hold off on buying equipment until you better understand what's involved or you will be wasting a lot of money that you don't have. After scrapping a few blades, I reread the whole forum and found real gems. So it is time well spent.

Restoration takes patience or you get nothing but scrapped blades or crappy results. e-bay is full of examples of both types. If you don't have the patience to read the restoration archive then chances are good that sanding a blade from rust to shine will prove to be way too demanding. It's real work!

But that is just my two cents worth.

well I work nights and it gets boring so I'm going to read through the restoration forum from the back forward.

i will take up the challenge of restoration without any tools, seems like a good plan. i'll try to find the threads regarding it.

If you don't find it then click here

I always try to cross reference my posts with links to make it easier to follow. Otherwise, everyone has to repeat the effort when they try to read the posts. So there are some links in that post you can follow too.

P.S. Welcome to the forum. I wish my greeting was more cheerful but it's 6:30am and I couldn't fall asleep until like 1:30. Too excited about one of my new acquisitions. Do you REALLY wanna get into this hobby? lol

This is really not a hobby for the weak of wallet (I should know). I went from being flush last week, to praying impatiently for my next paycheck. On the bright side, I have about 50 projects to work on, for when I'm totally broke (like, in the next 28 minutes) and have to sit at home.

What would be the minimum that I'd need to effectively start out, just a 4k/8k? both a 220/1000? it'd be about $70 for the first, $100 for the both. $170 for a 220, 1k, 4k and 8k, full sized, plus both the norton prep and the norton flattening stone.

would i be able to fix ebay razors with just a 4k/8k?

So far I've spent about 100 dollars I think and I have:

Belgian Coticule (2 sided, one blue and one yellow)
4 razors
50/50 boar badger brush
Nice piece of soap
Leather/canvas strop
Strop Paste (yellow)

(and a man really doens't need 4 razors for shaving purposes only , 2 is enough....however watch that you don't get bit by the bug because it IS addictive)

The Smith Diamond hones are really good for establishing an edge,taking out nicks,and correcting minor geometry errors,I use a 780 grit and a 1200 grit,I also use the Smiths water soluble honing oil,but they work very well dry.These are real time savers if you have a few rough or damaged razors to do.They cost around 25.00 .The 1200 I have has probably honed 500 razors and is still going strong .If you decide to use these take it easy until you get some experience with them,practice on some cadaver razors first(if you need a few let me know Ill send you a couple or three for nothing)


Best Regards ,Gary

Originally Posted by obsessis

What would be the minimum that I'd need to effectively start out, just a 4k/8k? both a 220/1000? it'd be about $70 for the first, $100 for the both. $170 for a 220, 1k, 4k and 8k, full sized, plus both the norton prep and the norton flattening stone.

would i be able to fix ebay razors with just a 4k/8k?

It depends on how much needs to be done. My first eBay shaver needed the some metal polish only and then straight on to the Norton. Another razor really did benefit from having the 800? around. I COULDN'T have gotten it straight otherwise. I say go for the combination stones before the individuals.

The waterstone you are talking about is the Norton isn't it? If it's not some things may be a bit different.

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