Thread: My First Razor - Need Opinions

Originally Posted by OldSalt

I thank gugi for his assistance, but I'm completely bilingual.

So, you are then intentionally continuing this line?

If you guys don't drop it, you may get a time out for reflection. If you need further discussion on who behaved how, please do it over private messages.

Your on the right path with your purchases.

The GD is considered to be one of the best learning tools available. It's a cheap razor that when honed can shave. And in learning to hone one you will gain 1000% more understanding of how a razor works, As other have posted there not at all like knives.

You also already have the basics of a honing kit. The 1K and 3K stones are very much bevel setters for a razor. Think about an 8K either norton or naniwa. I have a naniwa myself and the bevel it creates is near mirror.

A 1,3,8 rotation is more than possible, And it should leave you with a nice finish to go onto your natural stones. Or to go directly to a Chrome oxide laced strop and then onto a plain strop.

Your strops are important. Not in terms of leather quality, I've found very little difference in shaving feel from expensive and cheap leather strops (just make sure there real leather). There important because if you don't strop your edge will never be 100% shave ready. You strop for at least 100 laps on leather before each shave, and if you forget you will know about it. Stropping itself is an art and you will destroy your first and perhaps second to silly mistakes. So take full advantage of whipped dogs poor mans strops, Or get a leather off cut from the bay so you can make your own.

Get some electrical tape. Black works best... Red is faster but more reckless. Use it to put 1 layer of tape on the spine of your razor before you go onto the hones. The easy way to do this is to cut a 6" length. Then hold it sticky side up in your left hand. Now put the spine of the razor about dead center on the tape. Lift the tape with the spine, then use your left hand, Thumb and fingers to slowly work the tape round the spine, And eventually over the side of the razor. The tape keeps your spine from loosing material, stops the spine and finish getting scratched, And increases your edge angle by a very tiny amount. It's also a perfect pressure indicator as you re-learn to hone, The tape should only get light wear, If your grinding through it your using too much pressure, If your not wearing it evenly you need to adjust your stroke.


Keep your elbows high when honing. If your elbows are high you will keep a more even pressure on the spine, and your less likely to pull or push the stroke.

Hone with your fingertips. Grip the razor between the thumb and first finger, Your little finger acts as a counterbalance under the scales. The razor should just sit perfectly if you grip right at the shoulder. If you hold it like this it's actually very hard to apply a lot of pressure to the spine and edge as your little finger will act as a pressure gauge.

Iceni - the GD considered to be one of the best learning tools available? Not in my opinion. Some (most?) have such an array of hard to correct faults that without having an idea of what you are doing you don't stand much of a chance. And if you do have an idea of what you are doing, by virtue of that fact you are not a learner.

In my opinion the best learning tools are a razor with no issues and a decent set of known synthetic hone stones. Once you have learned the basics is the time to tackle difficult unknowns like a GD.

Regards,
Neil

Originally Posted by Neil Miller

Iceni - the GD considered to be one of the best learning tools available? Not in my opinion. Some (most?) have such an array of hard to correct faults that without having an idea of what you are doing you don't stand much of a chance. And if you do have an idea of what you are doing, by virtue of that fact you are not a learner.

In my opinion the best learning tools are a razor with no issues and a decdnt set of known syntbetic hone stones. Once you have learned the basics is the time to tackle difficult unknowns like a GD.

Regards,
Neil

Could not have said it better. GDs are poorly shaped and the 8 I worked on all required the removal of the stabiliser. They are fun to play with, but I wouldn't start with anything higher than a proper 1K stone when honing them up, they require a lot of attention.

Having done the exact opposite of Neil's suggestions, I'm inclined to second his suggestion. With this said, I'm kind of glad I did, in a way - it taught me a lot in a short space of time and left a lot of room for experimentation.

Of course, the problem with taken this road less traveled is that it is harder to navigate, cloaked with brambles and infested with feral wolves.

The Gold Dollar, unless it's had the shoulder ground down will require a very acute angle to keep the shoulder from improperly lifting the edge up on the hone, so I'm told. I have one that's had the shoulder ground and it hones normally, but it is a large heavy and crudely made razor. Be sure it doesn't have sharp edges especially on the toe that can scratch up your strop, but if you polish knives and swords you know what to do.

I came from knives myself and looking back on it, I actually think it was not helpful in learning to hone razors. My biggest issues were too little time on the stones and too much pressure for a razor as compared to knives I wondered why razor folks had much coarser stones than knife people, and it's because if you're restoring a bevel for example, you can't push very hard on the razor or the edge will flex. With a knife you can bear down.

Get a nice small JNat dedicated to razor finishing since you're used to them. One of our members, Alx, is Alex Gilmore who conveniently runs thejapanblade.com in Sonoma. He's a wealth of knowledge about razors, tools, and JNats.

Good luck and let us know how you get on, I'm interested to hear the experiences of another knife/sword person beginning to hone razors.

Cheers, Steve