Thread: Old School or New School?

Just getting started with straights.
Ive been collecting razors on EBay and am pretty sure I've read half of the threads on this forum educating myself over the last year.
It has turned into a verified addiction thus the name "RazorJunky".
I do all sorts of fabricating so the restoration process of bringing a razor back to life will be fun for me. The challenge will be honing.
I am going to send Glen 4 different style razors to get them shave ready so I will know what a properly honed razor feels like and I can start to get an idea of what style razor feels best on my face before I buy any more razors.

My hone question is... What do you guys recommend I buy?
I know it's a common question but I've phrased it differently than Ive seen in previous posts.
I've broken it down into two different directions I can go.
1) The "Old School Route"
A combination stone, barbers hone, diamond plate, a pasted strop and a regular strop
Or
2) The "New School Route"
Chosera 1k, Naniwa SS 3k, 5k, 8k, 12k, diamond plate, Gokumyo 20k and a paddle strop.

I'm thinking the Pros of "Old School" are developing my honing skill set by learning to make a razor as sharp as possible using minimal tools and mastering the art of adjusting pressure, stroke and using slurries to broaden the grit range of each stone and the same with stroping.

The Pros of "New School" being able to follow a simple smooth progression that will sharpen the majority of razors with no fuss. Allowing me to focus skill refinement on difficult razors.

BTW: I am completely overwhelmed and thankful how helpfull and open you guys are about educating and sharing knowledge.
This forum is what really set the hook in me.

Thanks for any wisdom you impart.

You need to ask yourself one question…are you just looking to refresh the edges eventually that you've had honed by Glen? If so, then you'd only really need a stone such as a 12K Naniwa or similar and a lapping plate to ensure it's flatness. If you plan on restoring purchases such as eBay razors then thats a whole other ballgame If just refreshing to keep shave ready then a high grit hone will serve you well.

I fully anticipate going old school as you have divided your classes up,
but because I wanted to be self sufficient and learn what each stage was, what it looked like, felt like etc.
I started with the new school method as you put it, now as I get ready to head to the naturals I will start with finishing.
Learning what the stone can produce and know if I am improving or degrading the edge with that method on that stone.
My time with the synthetics is to give me that type of insight as work down the progression with the naturals,
and to take a good chunk of the guess work out of it as there are a lot of pitfalls with honing.
With what I have read I will probably stick with the synthetics for restorative work and bevel setting short of an experiment or two.

I want to be able to start at setting the bevel.
I've collected 27 razors most of which need restoration.

Originally Posted by RazorJunky

I want to be able to start at setting the bevel.
I've collected 27 razors most of which need restoration.

Then your "new school" method should serve you quite well. One of the ways that is most recommended and that I quite agree with is to get yourself a Norton 4/8K Stone to start with along with a bevel setter. There are many threads around these parts that can help you with this setup and you should be able to get a good shaving edge off the 8K. The rest is just butter

Thanks Pat,
The "new school route" is what I was leaning towards for that reason. I just wanted to see what the guys that have been where I am now would suggest.
Sometimes I tend to jump into the deep end. Of course to me the deep end would be nats but maybe I'm just justifying

One of the great things about this sport is you are not locked into any one thing.
New brushes, soaps, after shaves, pre shaves, strops, stones, and of course blades.
A few bucks here and there and next thing you know its a collection.
Some people par back to just what they use, some keep a collection.
Some are lucky and hit a good working routine pretty quick out the gate and are happy with that.
A good quality used blade and you wont lose much if you choose to sell it (unless you let yourself get took when you bought it).
Quality used natural stones are the same.
Brushes not so much and they can get pricey if you choose.

When it comes to soaps and creams it is a matter of opinion.
I have tried some high end stuff and have found I am happy with some middle of the road price point and inexpensive ones.
For me although I enjoy MDC it is a treat not a staple.

Restoring, rescuing, collecting, or just getting a few good serviceable blades.
Strops some guys have more strops than I would know what to do with.
The point behind all of this is it is as much of a journey and hobby as you want to make it.
Honing can be just a chore that needs to be done or it can be a journey of its own.

Thanks for letting me dump all that on your thread and keep us up on which way you do go and your progress.

Welcome to SRP Razorjunky!

My vote goes for the "New School Route" as well, that said dont even bother with the Gokumyo 20k you dont need it, if you cant get a shave ready via the chosera 1k,Naniwa SS 3k, 5k, 8k, 12k the Gokumyo 20k will not fix anything at all.

Originally Posted by Martin103

Welcome to SRP Razorjunky!

My vote goes for the "New School Route" as well, that said dont even bother with the Gokumyo 20k you dont need it, if you cant get a shave ready via the chosera 1k,Naniwa SS 3k, 5k, 8k, 12k the Gokumyo 20k will not fix anything at all.

If a guy has acquisition disorder it will give him a "fix" for about 20 minutes after he sends the paypal payment .......

Welcome to SRP razorjunky. If I was acquiring razors that needed restoration, at a rate of 29 since you've started, I would go old school. Figuring that learning to be an expert honer was part of the goal. If I just wanted to maintain a few in rotation I would go the other route.

Learn to shave first.

Learn to touch up a razor second.

Learn to hone last.

You must learn, truly learn each step before advancing to the next level.