Thread: Is it shave ready ?????

Ok, here we go. I've got a razor, cleaned up whole thing, polished etc. Honed, paddle stropped, leather stropped and shaved with it.
The shave was after one day of non shaving so as to have a reasonable stubble.
A little tugging and a scrapping / pinging sound but not uncomfortable on the first pass. Re-lathered and much smoother this time. Great smooth finish, no razor burn etc.
So can I call this "shave ready" ?.
I do have two of Bill's straights and one of Lynn's and the only difference I find is around the lower neck part where these definitely give a better finish, just.

Gary

Well, that's a hard call - in the end you were able to get a good shave out of it, so I guess calling it shave ready is ok - even if from your description I would add a little one the pasted strop 8)

From my experience its a bit difficult because everyone has different expectations on how sharp a razor should be to be entitled the "shave ready" status.

What I would look for in such a razor is that it shaves comfortably (if I personally prefer a little add-on touchup on my strops, thats ok), it has been honed to that sharpness on all parts of the blade and that this sharpness is not by a wire-edge that will pass the HHT ok, but will break down the instant you really put it to use. And finally, that the overall condition of the razors allows immediate use, so no loose handles etc.

But thats just me, I guess when you ask 10 people here you will get a load of different answers on that one :-)

Just my 2 cents,
-Axel-

It depends on your hair growth. You seem to have really dense hair, as I don't get any tugging at all during the first pass and I don't think my honing skills are anywhere near Lynn's.

I'd say "No". But your really close. A full hollow singing razor shouldn't sing when you shave with it. That indicates to me that its still a small way away from shaving properly. I also demand my blades leave my skin feeling "new born" when done shaving. But again, your really, really close.

I won't sell any razor I've honed as 'shave ready', simply because of the difficulty and personal differences. If your planning on starting a business I'd say "Absolutely NOT".


But just for your personal use, if thats what your asking about, I'd say "almost".

If I were you I'd keep working on refining your edge and being able to consistently achieve a close somfortable shave. When you can do this a dozen times in a row it'll be a truer testament to to shave readiness. I find it's easy to overshoot the berfect edge. The oversmoothed wire edge performs much as you describe. Backing off a little should give you good information.

X

Yes, closeness when shaving is a given here. Its the comfort factor that really separates the men from the boys so to speak. Any razor (just about) can be honed to shave close but there will be variations in the comfort factor with each razor. Its this comfort thats the first thing to go rather than the razor becoming dull. So you got to tweek your honing skills to get that sweet spot for each razor without overdoing it.

I have about 40 razors in my rotation and each is a bit different. Some I can shave with and if I had been blindfolded I wouldn't even know a razor had been over my face they are so smooth and comfortable and some others though still very comfortable you can feel them working. You might think those require more honing but thats what distinguishes a real quality razor in my book from just good quality razors. Some you could hone forever and never reach that exaulted state. Well, maybe lynn could but I couldn't!