Thread: new razor, new gear, new hone

I'm interested in trying out straight razor shaving - and eventually if it's possible to get them sharp, for even one shave, it'd be an experience. I didnt want to spend a lot of money on a razor that I wasnt sure I'd want to keep... plus the fact that i'd also want a brush and soap... and strop (I found the kit rather attractive). I dont expect much from it - and I dont expect to pick it up and shave with it for a while... but I would like to try and hone it and see if I can get a edge on it that would even be marginal... or better. I know this isnt the best type of situation for a 'first shave' but I'm willing to give it a shot... if I like the feel of the method I think I'd invest in some real steel... anyway, on to the real questions.

What exactly are their issues? If it's the holding of an edge... how sharp can they get? sharp enough for my intended purpose? what makes their metal poor - is it to soft or too hard or is it full of impurities? I havent really heard any real explination as to why their blades are so horrible.

Nearly all of the steel cutting tools coming out of that area of the world, are designed to be cheap and disposable. The steel that they use is very soft, and most likely contains MUCH more impurities because they only care about mass production (I think they supply America with a lot of surgical tools, scalpels etc.). I've also heard of them being poorly shaped as well. I mean, the grind was uneven and twisted slightly along the length of the blade.

I heard one account of a guy trying to send a hunting knife to a "knife maker" in Pakistan to have the blade and bolsters engraved, they sent the knife back with a note that the steel was too hard to be worked with! Which is nonsense, thousands of bladesmiths in America/Europe/Japan work with much more exotic steels on a daily basis with no problems. It's just one account, but to me it summarizes the issue; low quality tools and materials and poorly skilled workers trying to earn a buck as fast as possible.

That said, I've never tried them, so a grain of salt is in order.

But if the steel is anything softer than the standard straight razor, you can expect the edge to last less than half as long, if you can, in fact, put a good edge on the item.

Originally Posted by Tuskin

I'm interested in trying out straight razor shaving - and eventually if it's possible to get them sharp, for even one shave, it'd be an experience.

My suggestion, as I'm sure you've seen on here already, would be to get a shave ready razor on the BST here. I'll bet you can find a decent one for less than $50. Then, buy a less expensive non-shave ready razor to practice your honing.

Keep in mind that shaving with a straight and really getting the experience of it takes some time and perseverance. Take your time and be patient with yourself and enjoy the whole process.

Jordan

I say take your Norton stone and hone the pee out of that razor. Start by looking as closely as you can at the edge of the razor. Use some optics to look. If it will sharpen up you can shave with it. If you cant shave with it you will have some good experience.

Well when I get the stuff in I'll let you guys know about my attempts and then when I start running into problems :-) as will happen. I'll let you guys know. You've been a great help. Right now I'm just going to keep an eye out for straight razors in pawn shops and other similar markets. If I find something with a quality steel I'll get it professionally sharpened to enjoy the shave... but I'm trying to keep the cost low on my first attempts

Alright, well I have a lot to learn still so I'm off to read.

Several years ago I tried honing a few of the z's. The grind of the blade was very poor. The thickness of the spine varied so it would not lay flat on the hone. I continued honing and eventually the edge became sharp. The shave felt like I was shaving with sandpaper, coarse feeling compared to other vintage razors that I had. Others at that time reported that the edge did not last long and needed stropping in mid shave.

There was a document in the help files that reported that Pakistan purchased most of the steel from old Army tanks and such to use for re-smelting.In short, they were not careful about their steel.

In the knife making world a steel of unknown origins is referred to as a Mystery steel and the problem is one of determining the proper heat treatment. Str8 razors are really picky about what steel is used.

There, that is what we have done and learned. Poor grinding that makes it difficult to hone and an edge that is both coarse feeling and will not stand up to repeated use.

Hope this helps,

well I guess then, I can still use it for what i bought it for... mostly. I got it to learn to hone, but i hoped to be able to shave with it too... at least a few times. My mistake for picking garbage, but no worries. I'll get a real one first to shave with, these will be for practice on making an edge and also fixing chips or cracks... I'll beat the crap out of them to learn a bit... but the sad side is that they wont be useable. Well everyone I guess that's that.

I knew it was going to be junk... but never expected it to be unusable!

OK - so I got in the 4k 8k norton yesterday and I got in the zeepks today... I tried to hone one of them... worked on it and worked on it, went back to the threads and did some more reading and well worked on it some more. From your experience... what is a "good" result from a zeepk? I know that i'm sort of wasting my time working with them... but if at least I know a good benchmark for them - like getting them to pass the HHT or something like that (which by the way I got no where near passing... only in one part of the blade did it ever cut the hair with slight pressure on the hair downward (definitely not hanging).

I only have the Norton stone and I'm not really sure if the HHT is passable with only that stone - someone with more experience will be able to answer that for me. I tried first setting a good bevel to work from then use the 8k to get more sharp... I also tried the pyramid method ...

I was never 'adept' at sharpening knives (could never figure out the angles working with a stone) the razors seem easier because the angles are built into them... but again... not very skilled at sharpening... any specific advice while i wait for my other razor would be great (have a 'real' one on the way... but it's presharpened and I'm not planning on screwing that up just to test my honing - that's for later when it gets dull or I get one off ebay or an antique store)

wow that's a ton of junk I put in here eh?

well any advice would be great - especially any of you who have sharpened zeepks before and know how sharp it is possible to get them... I just want to know if I'm even close to a relatively 'good' edge on a pos like this zeepk

much thanks!