What type of sharpener should I use to create a shaving edge on my practice razor? It doesn't have an edge at all. I've read a few posts about maintaining an edge with a hone, but none mention starting out with a practice razor.
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What type of sharpener should I use to create a shaving edge on my practice razor? It doesn't have an edge at all. I've read a few posts about maintaining an edge with a hone, but none mention starting out with a practice razor.
First, welcome to SRP. As for the hone, you'll need to set the bevel on 1000 grit hone. Once the bevel is set, you can move on to 4000 and then 8000 grit hones. The most important step is the bevel setting. If that is not set right, the higher grits won't help you. Spend time on 1000 and save time and agony later.
Coach gave you all the info you will need for hones. But if you are new to straights it is highly recommended that you get a pro honed blade before trying to hone your own.
Ok I'll ask
What the heck is a "Practice razor" :shrug:
To practice honing??????? I dunno, That's what I thought he meant......
Its available at amazon: Amazon.com: Buffalo Horn Straight Razor and Practice Razor: Health & Personal CareQuote:
Originally Posted by gssixgun
:gaah:
I guess a practice razor is a blade that's just for practicing the actual motion of shaving. And it also gives the user practice with honing and stropping... I think I'll take everyone's advice and look into an already honed razor before I tackle this project . I've seen a lot of conversation on srp about most factory razors not being "shave-ready"; where can I get one that's shave ready??
Where are you located? jasontg99 is bang-on with his recommendation, but if you're not in the USA there are other options that may be more local.Quote:
Originally Posted by creagan09
One of those really light plastic ones with the holes in them. You can get little practice hones too, practice strops, practice creams (empty cream tubes) etc...Quote:
Originally Posted by gssixgun
[EDIT] just jokes. ;)
I think any razor worth honing is a razor worthy of shaving with.
Bingo !!!! my thought also :pQuote:
Originally Posted by carlmaloschneider
I was honestly thinking how the heck do ya practice honing and the final outcome not be a Sharp / Smooth edge that feels good on the face :shrug: Reminds me of that one guy that was offering honing on e-bay and bragging that he never test shaved the razors.. I asked him "How the heck do you know if yer getting any better if you don't test shave" :rofl2:
To the op, I am not making fun of you, the term "Practice Razor" just took me off guard :)
Yeah, practice of course on a cheaper razor, but I think it's worth noting that if the razor has 'issues' (i.e. a lot of hone wear, warped, etc) it'll be really hard to know if you're doing a good job or not. I feel that a good way to practice is to take a razor that's not your very best, but still good enough to shave with, kill the edge and go from there. A really good thread on this is the JANorton thread; I really think we should do that again this January, but we have to act fast!!!!
I live in Whitehall, MI. It's 20 minutes north of Muskegon, MI. Does he do professional honing?Quote:
Originally Posted by Cangooner
Who do you mean by 'he'? If you mean straightrazordesigns, then heck yes! It is part owned by Lynn Abrams who founded SRP, and who has probably honed more razors than pretty much anyone else alive.Quote:
Originally Posted by creagan09
So if you are looking to purchase a shave-ready razor, they will point you in the right direction. If you need to get a razor that you already have professionally honed, check out the classifieds:
Member Services - Straight Razor Place Classifieds
Oops! For some reason I thought you meant jasontg99 does honing. Does WhippedDog.com provide good service? I'm a college kid and I'm ok with getting a cheapie razor to try it out. I've noticed he has some inexpensive ones.Quote:
Originally Posted by Cangooner
That's a resounding "YES!" on whippeddog.com. Larry -- the proprietor -- enjoys a fine reputation amongst SRP members. One of his "sight unseen" razors would be an excellent idea for you. The razor you would receive would not be pretty, but it would be ready to go shave a mosquito when you received it.
Great! I've also been advised to get two razors so I can keep one as a shave ready model in case I want to practice honing on the other. Is honing something I can get into relatively easy, or should I leave it to professionals for now?Quote:
Originally Posted by mapleleafalumnus
To me, a practice razor would be one of good steel and geometry, but of low cash value. There would be no great loss if nooby mistakes do damage. It may have cosmetic issues. Properly honed and stropped, it should give an excellant shave. It would not be a cheap new razor of poor quality that can never take an edge, or a damaged razor needing extensive expert restoration before it can shave.
One cannot learn to drive in a wrecked car. One can learn to drive in a high miles car in sound condition but having low value. A low end shave ready razor from the classifieds or Whipped Dog comes to mind.
I bought King Japanese Waterstone Combination 1000 / 6000 G Water Stone from ebay
http://pages.ebay.com/link/?nav=item...d=310358347174
I also bought an Enzo England cheap razor to practice honing on.
http://pages.ebay.com/link/?nav=item...d=190534362580
I also bought the big daddy strop from Star Shaving
Crazy thing is, Im New to honing and stropping but have managed to get this razor to pass the hanging hair test. Lots of you tube videos to follow.
Shame the razor weighs a tonne otherwise i might have actually used it. :)
When i started honing i did use a practice razor that i purchase locally a beat up W&B with a large chip, i breadknife that razor then used it to learn different strokes on the hones, go forward a few months turns out that the practice razor been part of the rotation ever since and shaves like any good old Sheffield razor.Quote:
Originally Posted by gssixgun
Definitely get 2 razors! Having a back-up whilst one is out for honing decreases the probability that you'll relapse into the horrible status of using a Mach-3 again.Quote:
Originally Posted by creagan09
I'm not into honing at all (yet), but it seems that many members here have had success in learning how to do so. It is obviously a skill that can be learned. That having been said, just like everything else in life, not everyone is going to be equally adept at honing or learning how to hone.
My trigger finger hovering over the buy button on the set of Nortons thinks that a capital idea.Quote:
Originally Posted by carlmaloschneider
I think it's a great idea to do that again, mostly because I missed out on it last time around. :) Maybe we could aim for Feb this year?Quote:
Originally Posted by carlmaloschneider