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Thread: My First Razor - Need Opinions

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    Default My First Razor - Need Opinions

    I ordered my first straight, a GD 66 for 6$ shipped. But after reading around I decided to get a vintage one also.
    Vintage Columbia Cutlery Co Extra Hollow Ground Straight Razor 11 16 | eBay

    I ordered that. I already have lots of water/oilstones from knife/japanese sword polishing. I did order a purple welsh stone w/ slurry, and will be getting a DT and the finer black one to complete the set. If i'm gonna spend 100$ or more on a stone it would be a toishi for sword polishing so the welsh stones will have to do for honing.

    I have 400/1k/3k waterstones and blue grey uchigumori-hato bench stone. Besides an assortment of oilstones but I use those for knives. Also will be upgrading to a 3" wide strop from my current 2" one I made.

    Basically my question is this. Even as an advanced knife/sword polisher would it be hard for me to get my straights shave ready without a professionally done example on hand? I'm possibly thinking of a flawed blade from whippeddog for 28$, but only if really necessary.
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    Senior Member Crackers's Avatar
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    Welcome to SRP and I am posting this to see what the responses are, might be worth asking the moderators to move this to the honing forum.

    A razor is a slightly different discipline, make sure the hones are lapped 100% flat and not cupped in any way as there is no tolerance with a razor. With mine I use a 600 grit diamond hone with hardly any pressure under water and then once the pencil pattern is removed wash down thoroughly both before and after use. This is a bit excessive but I tend to be OCD when it comes to the edge I put to my face. Further, if you have not got the technique of shaving with a Str8 yet then it will be difficult to determine if the issue is the edge you have produced or technique of shaving with it. In light of your experience give it a go, if the razor rips your face off it may be technique or the honing has not worked, just don't get discouraged if this happens is all. If it works and works well, please share your experiences with us over the differences and your opinions.
    Last edited by Crackers; 05-05-2014 at 04:31 AM.
    A good lather is half the shave.

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    Hi, welcome here.
    The Columbia cutlery one looks good but will not be shave ready.
    Take the whipped dog razor for reference.
    Train yourself on the gold dollar, you should be able to get a satisfying edge at least in some part of the blade in less than a week and that will help you to understand how it works.
    Do yourself a favour and buy a good 8k norton waterstone, honing a razor is too difficult to start with a hard and unknown welsh slate.

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    I can probably help you on this as I am/was in a very similar position to you, though I have never polished any swords I have sharpened he hundreds of knives.

    First thing would be to get your hands on a shave ready razor so that you have a reference point to know what to aim for. You can have a go without having a reference but trust me on this, what you have in your mind of sharp now is NOT shave sharp. The edge on a razor is nothing like what I expected it to be, I got a shave ready full hollow grind and what surprised me the most was how thin the edge actually is.

    Many of the techniques you know already will certainly help, for example I've bought a few old razors off eBay now and have no problems at all setting a bevel on any of them so far regardless of the shape of the spine or blade. Years of learning to hold that constant angle while sharpening knives have stood me in good stead there and I'm sure you will have no troubles there either. My issues started when I started refining the edge(I'm not even going to suggest anything here as there are lots of post from people with far more experience than me which will be worth reading), needless to say its a whole new ball game from here on in. A razors edge is far more sensitive than anything you have come across experimental experiences before.

    Having said all that I am enjoying the new challenge of honing razors and I'm sure you will

    edit: Just noticed that you say your highest grit is 3k......you are going to have to invest in some higher grit stones if you want to hone razors. 3k no where near high enough, some of these guys set bevels on a higher grit than your 3k
    Last edited by mike1011; 05-05-2014 at 01:38 PM.

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    aka shooter74743 ScottGoodman's Avatar
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    I mean no insult, however you will not be able to properly hone a straight razor. Razors are a whole new ballgame. Please do yourself and your face a favor and send your razor to someone who is a veteran at honing razors.

    BTW, most all razors are normally honed to 8K and then finished on a even higher grit. My personal razors are honed to 16K and then finished on either a 20K or Escher (12K+ natural stone)
    Neil Miller and bongo like this.
    Southeastern Oklahoma/Northeastern Texas helper. Please don't hesitate to contact me.
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    Scheerlijk Laurens's Avatar
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    I'm with shooter, and would add that buying/owning many stones means nothing if you don't take the time to sit down and learn how to use each on razors.

    Get a loupe, something like 40x. Check after every little step what the difference is, it will teach you a lot
    I want a lather whip

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    Senior Member blabbermouth eddy79's Avatar
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    Hi and welcome. You may indeed be able to but would you know that you have achieved it without comparison. Start with a professional honed blade and start your honing by touching up when the time comes. Practice with the GD and if it goes well move on from there. Better to add hone wear the GD while learning. Good luck
    My wife calls me......... Can you just use Ed

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    You'll help yourself out by getting a blade honed.

    The welsh stone will be slate (I believe) and from what I gather, will be comparable to an 8k grit. If one of your oilstones is a very dense, such as a translucent or black Arkansas, that'll do for finishing but it'll take a lot of strokes (that's what she said...) Chromium oxide is a badass tool to have in your arsenal, I'd look into getting some and applying to linen/canvas/polywebbing.

    Your set up seems doable: 1k-3k-Welsh slate-dense oilstone/chromium oxide. Having the stones is only part of the process though. Set a decent bevel and the rest of the the process should be good to go.
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    I decided to send it away to be honed professionally. I opened the package and it is in amazing condition with no hone wear. So I don't want to hurt it. It looks way better than in those pictures.

    I figure between that and a whippeddog, i'll be good until my strop materials and other hones arive(i'm getting the other welsh slates soon to finish set). I can mutilate the gold dollar while I wait for them to arrive.

    My question now is, what is the least expensive but good place to send my razor.
    Last edited by HunterHagan; 05-08-2014 at 05:01 AM.

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    Scheerlijk Laurens's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by HunterHagan View Post
    I decided to send it away to be honed professionally. I opened the package and it is in amazing condition with no hone wear. So I don't want to hurt it. It looks way better than in those pictures.

    I figure between that and a whippeddog, i'll be good until my strop materials and other hones arive(i'm getting the other welsh slates soon to finish set). I can mutilate the gold dollar while I wait for them to arrive.

    My question now is, what is the least expensive but good place to send my razor.
    Check the member services in the classifieds over here. There are quite a few options, I believe starting around $10.
    I want a lather whip

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