Thread: Struggling to get started shenanigans w/ photos, please help

So this is my first post here, (I know I spelled Ukraine wrong, fix that next) I received a straight razor as a gift and have accumulated some of the other needed items but am having a hard time getting started. I've done a lot of reading and youtubeing but am looking for some advice.


The razor is this one, (I know, after doing some reading on here I would have chosen differently, more on that in a sec)
I've got this strop, it's also probably not a very good one, quite hard and I'm not sure what the back strap is made of.
I just got a set of norton sharpening stones, a 250 / 1000 and a 4000 / 8000


Here is the story : I tried to shave with the razor when I got it but it wasn't sharp enough. I tried to strop it (unskillfully), no luck. I got some stones shipped over here and tried honing.


Honing attempt : (I know this is sounding bad) I think there are some problems with the razor, the way the handle is formed the heal won't lay flat on the stone. The hinge is really loose and will come apart if not tightened occasionally. When I first started honing laying the spine right on the hone the edge stuck up a bit off the stone, it wasn't honed at the angle of the spine. I made an attempt at resetting the bevel, and now most of the blade lays flat on the stone. After spending a fare amount of time trying to hone, trying taping the spine, and taking the razor all the way up to the 8,000 I got it to the point that it pretty easily cut arm hair. (I'm getting a pretty big bald spot there, anyone else?) But it won't pass the hanging hair test and it wasn't sharp enough to shave with. It's highly likely that I was using to much pressure.


The blade currently : There seem to be two bevels on the blade, one from honing with tape and one without. There is an area at the heal of the blade that hasn't been touched in honing and looks like the blade did when it first came. There doesn't seem to be a wire edge on the blade or anything like that I just gave it a try on the 1000 using the circle method and light pressure but wasn't getting good results.



My questions : Should I, absolving operator error, be able to get this razor sharp enough to shave with? Or is it of a type that isn't actually useable. What should I do about the heal, the heal end of the blade, last 20% is very hard to hone because the spine changes angle as it gets closer to the handle. What should I do about the loose hinge?

Help would be greatly appreciated

Ummm...not knowing the brand of "razor" but just by looking at the "blade" I would give up on that one and find yourself a proper razor to start your shaving journey with. If you've never shaved with a straight before I'd recommend you getting one thats already shave ready from someone who knows what they're doing. Takes all the guesswork out of is this blade sharp enough and will it shave.

I would suggest u get your money back on the razor and go to the classifieds and get a real razor and I wouldn't start honing until u get the stropping down but that's the way I was told to do it. I'm to saying you can't hone but it helps if u have a good blade to hone first off and if the blade is not even flat I the hone it's just going to be a letter opener

Yup that blade has some serious issues. Smiling spine and a flat edge shows some poor sharpening for that style of blade. That blade needs reground to ever make it work properly again. Not to say you couldn't monky-rig a way to hone it (I've done a few like this) and make it work, it's just going to be more work than most would like to do, every time you need to hone it...

Sorry as it looks like it was an interesting piece of steel. But there are alot of cheap steel blades out there looking like that and they never take a proper shaving edge.

+1 on the idea of starting with a known SHAVE READY blade.

Getting started with straight shaving is not simple, and taking the guess work out of the equipment is a great idea. (I would know, I did it the hard way...and learned that it was a stupid idea).

That blade LOOKS like a neat blade, but there are (unfortunately) places making the kinds of blades that get the aesthetic, but totally miss on the performance. I have no idea what you have there, but I would suggest starting with something a little simpler.

I've become increasingly interested in damascus blades. My affinity first started with knives when my buddy bought a shun for his professional salad makin' queen. It ran him about $300.00 and I just about crapped a brick because I knew nothing of knives at the time and had no idea a single knife could cost that much.

Fast forward a couple of years and my interest in knives was born after acquiring some quality sharpening stones. All of a sudden my "nice" kitchenaid knives turned into trash. I hopped onto ebay and found a listing for three "defective handle" damascus knives that were said to be super sharp, tough and hold an edge forever. The price was too good to be true knowing what I know, but I bought them anyway. It was $45 ish with shipping for the three. I fully intended to create new handles for the knives when I received them but it didn't take more than a ten second inspection to discover that I had been had.

I quickly discovered that the steel used to make these knives, while true damascus, was either very crappy steel or there had been zero tempering done to the blades- or both. They immediately turned brown with rust from the first bit of water to touch them (seriously, it was almost instantaneous). They had been made to be "razor sharp" by being ran across a grinding wheel that had about 80 grit. I sharpened one and discovered that it wouldn't take a fine edge and the edge I was able to put on it, failed quickly. I don't know anything about the razor you have here, but I would suspect you have a similar quality of steel and like dwarven says, the shape of the blade probably isn't helping your case at all.

Stop wasting time on a too-soft piece of steel.

You can get a properly-ground, properly-tempered, properly-honed vintage razor for a very reasonable price, two ways:

1. The "classifieds" on this site -- they start at around $40. I think "Gemstar Customs" might have one or two in that price range.

2. Whipped Dog Straight Razor Shaving Equipment will send you a "sight unseen" razor for even less. And a "Poor Man's Strop Kit" which is small, but it will really work.

You might find a vintage blade at an antique shop for a little less. Then you'll have to learn to hone. That's the way I started out, and I don't recommend it -- too frustrating, too much torn-out hair on the floor. But I still use that first razor.

Charles

PS -- the blade-shape problems you're having -- a shoulder that hasn't been properly shaped -- are typical for Gold Dollar razors. They can be fixed, but it takes guts and a 220-grit stone. And the final results may not be very good.

Ok,

First thanks all you folks who replied, the advice is much appreciated and it looks like there are a ton of noobies and it would be easy for you more experienced guys to say F it and not reply to us strugglers.

The "razor", as someone put it, is this POS http://straightrazorpalace.com/razor...ress-test.html

I'm now well informed that I'll need to find something else which I'm working on, with some help from SRP.

What I've also realized that I'm not the only poor guy to buy one of these, would it be possible to get my money back. Has anyone gotten a refund from GB Buckingham & Sons???

I don't know about a refund, but I bet it won't happen. The folks selling such razors can only be looking to make first sales; I can't believe they ever get return customers.

We have some lists on the site, one of known good razors and one of known razors to avoid.

So do a little research for your next purchase. The least expensive brand-new blade I'd trust is the Dovo Best Quality, usually about US$80 or 85. Stay away from Ebay temptations, if you want vintage blades I'd trust any from our Classifieds here. Folks here care about their reputations and know what "shave ready" really means. If you buy a brand-new blade, make sure it's been honed by the vendor--and don't buy it from a vendor who doesn't also carry hones. The factory edge is seldom good enough for a proper shave.

Good luck on your next purchase. Get a nice strop, too, if you don't already have one.

Best wishes