Mike Ratliff honing voucher
Hey guys,
I've been straight shaving for about 24 hours, and I really like it. I've been obsessed with knives and sharpening things for a few years now, so straight razors is a very natural progression for me.
I bought a 1/2 ground Dovo off of the classifieds here on the forum, and although it came sharp enough to shave with, I don't think it would have been a comfortable shave. So, I have some 1x6 stones that I honed with, followed by 3M PSA-backed polishing papers (between 1 and 2 micron), and then I used some computer paper with chromium oxide with a glass backing for final polishing. (why are people here using newspaper with chromium oxide? Computer paper doesn't bunch. Use newspaper if you're using it plain, but otherwise...) About 70 swipes on the strop later, I had a razor that passed the hanging hair test with one of my wife's thick dark hairs. So I tried one of my thin hairs. It worked, so I tried a tiny hair from my cat and it worked.
So I made it through my first straight shave with 1 little chin nick, and an itty bitty one on my left jawline, with a razor I honed myself! Hooray! (WTG and XTG passes all over, ATG everwhere except chin and lower neck).
The forum member I bought my razor from was kind enough to send me a honing voucher for thewellhonedrazor.com, but I'm thinking I don't need it, since I'm doing well enough.
I'd like to trade it for either an old strop, brush, or preferably a razor that might not be the best looker, but I can hone it and get a good shave out of it. Any offers considered! PM is best.
Since I'm new here, I noticed that all the classified stuff takes paypal, and since I don't want money for the voucher I thought I'd put it here. Sorry if this isn't the right place to do so!
By the way, CDpyronMe sold me my razor, and he was very kind to send the voucher, shipped quickly and well packed, and was good with communication.
Ben
