Thread: helping my cousin get started

Hey everyone,

I convinced my cousin to stick his toe in to the straight razor world. Wanted to get him up and running with a hone set up. Could you recommend the cheapest set up of hones (brands and grits) for him to get effectively started? Less would be more here.

Thanks very much.

Go to YouTube and search for lapping film. OR

purchase a razor with a "real shave ready edge". He can maintain the razors edge with just a leather strop and crox paste on webbing. No honing stones necessary.

I got my brother started on straights a couple of years ago. I gave him seven razors, an Alembicase, a strop, a brush, soap, a mug, and a good barber hone called a Swaty.

More importantly, I spent the time to show him how to use all of it.

Other than replacing the soap, that is all he will ever need.

I hate to sound like I am raining on your parade, however it is generally recommended that people learn to shave and then hone. If he is loping at sticking his toe in the razor, strop, brush setup would be a good starter. Utopian has it right with how to maintain a shave ready edge indefinitely, there has to be 100 paths to that though, with YMMV and all that.

I would start him with a shave ready razor, strop, brush and soap to get him started. If you want to set him up for honing the norton 4 / 8 should be able to do anything he would need just provide a second decent razor for him to learn on. This way once he has learned to hone he will have a second razor for rotation.