Thread: How did our Grandfathers sharpen their SRs?

I am beginning the journey of learning the ropes of restoring, honing and stropping SRs. I find the subject area fascinating and the advice and input I have received from SRP members has been outstanding. What a wonderful resource!

As I read and watch Youtube videos on various aspects of shaving, restoring and sharpening SRs I often find myself wondering "How did my Grandfather and his peers sharpen their razors?" He lived in a very rural area and I know he had a stone and a strop, but not much else to rely on for tools. He certainly would not have access to a plethora of stones and other neat accessories to assist him. And yet, somehow he managed to get a reasonably good shave.

How did our grandfathers sharpen their SRs? Was it any better or worse than what we have today?

One strop and maybe one stone. Otherwise he took it to the local barber for honing. To increase the gap between honings, if they ever happened, abrasives like lead or wood ash were used.

Arks, Coticules, Slates or local naturals and Barber hones.
Stropping can't be over rated. Paste were also common.

Back in the 70’s I maintained a single razor on a small translucent and an Illinois strop for 10 years.

This bevel setting mania that we are now experiencing is relatively new.

Yesterday, I bought a collection of 30 razors, 7 are almost pristine. one from the mid 1800's.

The same way we do today

There are many people out there that only get their razors "Professionally Honed" when they first get it then maintain it for years with any High Grit stone (listed above) and strops..

The big difference is the razor out of the box, back in the day they were truly factory shave ready same as they come from a Professional today

But when you are buying E-Babies and Antique store bang ups then you have to learn to hone from bevel up


Today we tend to call them - Honemiesters
Yesteryear they were called - Cuttlers

No difference really

In the old days there were itinerant folks who could be found in every neighborhood who could sharpen a razor for you cheaply and of course it could be taken to a barber who usually had someone to do the work for them. Most of the barber supply stores like DD had that service too.

Of course some had minimal gear and did it themselves.

The key word is easy unlike today.

My grandfather was born in 1925 and taught me how to hone and maintain a straight. He used a coticule for rough sharpening, a black Arkansas for a finishing stone, a rouge pasted leather strop for maintenance, and a plain leather strop with denim fabric on one side. The leather was from an old textile mill belt, the denim fabric from an old pair of overalls, and the denim was glued to the leather with hyde glue.

I asked him the same "how did they do this in the old days" question once too. He said that there was a group of gypsies that travelled around when he was a kid and a for a fee they would sharpen razors, knives, tools, etc. He said that his father (born around 1895) didn't have a true hone. He had a plain leather strop made from a saddle strap and another leather strop that he had rubbed mud (red clay) into for maintenance. I know that there were better solutions at the time, but the man was a farmer in the backwoods of Tennessee with little to no spare money for anything extravagant.

Was their way better or worse than today? Now that is a question that could be debated on end.
I think modern synthetic hones have made things faster, but no better or no worse. I still like using natural stones and find them more relaxing to use, but I usually use a synthetic finisher because it easier to splash and go.
Modern access to pastes like diamond, CrOx, and CBN have made life easier for the pasted strop crowd, still I don't think the modern pastes are better or worse than age old ferrous oxide and lamp black. Obviously CBN and diamond are a lot faster than ferrous oxide, but when used properly, the edge is about the same.
The same could be said for strops and brushes as well. In the old days people used whatever was available locally. It wasn't really any better or any worse than today

Now one thing that I think has improved from then is shaving soap. OK, old Williams Mug is better than the new Williams, but on the whole I think we have much better soaps than they did 100 years ago.

Both my grandfathers lived in different parts of the country, both born around 1890. One was urban and the other rural...and I mean very rural. They were both poor as church mice...common hard working men for that time. Luxury was a word that was not in their dictionary. Their lives were not complicated by excess; they learned to get by with very little. They both family centered. I am guessing their shaving kits were pretty basic.

Pretty sure mine used Arkansas stones.

Originally Posted by thebigspendur

In the old days there were itinerant folks who could be found in every neighborhood who could sharpen a razor for you cheaply and of course it could be taken to a barber who usually had someone to do the work for them. Most of the barber supply stores like DD had that service too.

Of course some had minimal gear and did it themselves.

The key word is easy unlike today.

I could ask my barber today. He can't give "real" straight shaves anymore because of laws but the Escher and straights are still in the shop.

I'd say pretty poorly and with a heavy hand from the hone wear on the vintage razors I have. Only half kidding.

Today shaving with a straight razor is a hobby, we have better hones, and tend to be fanatical in achieving the very best shave possible. In the old days shaving was a daily chore and close enough for government work got you by.

Bob