Hello from a 'new shaver'!

[TheCount]

Hello. I am known as The Count (I think that's what they called me!).

I am now from England and I love the country (and the rest of Britain - Hello to anyone from the Llyn Peninsula in Wales!)

To put no finer point on it - I am old (ish) and have been shaving for many a long year. I am a writer and dabble in magic (about which maybe more later) and an actor of many, many years experience.

Sadly, I followed the same old route for many years. Shaving with a nasty piece of plastic with several dozen blunt and inferior blades. To be fair, it was quick and easy but the price! I checked the other day and some packs of cartridges are over 20 GBP! I also read an article (on the esteemed BBC but taken from a 'reputable' newspaper) that Gillette have increased the price of their cartridges over the past three years by 90%! One of the tricks is cutting the pack quantity from 5 to 4 and still upping the price - work it out! I used to work in marketing - I know the tricks and am very cynical.

A few years ago, I had had enough and, being on stage often requires a very close shave to help the makeup. I searched around (I also worked extensively in internet research for years) and switch to an adjustable Mercur DE with Feather Blades. It was scary! What I read told me that my face would look like a hamburger until I got perfect technique. Nonsense! I had the best shave ever. OK, a few nicks for the first few days but nothing painful or serious. Mostly this was due to bumps caused by the nasty plastic gadgets. I bought Feathers in bulk and they were great. And so much cheaper!

And then - I ran out! I found the price has risen from 2.00 GBP per 10 to 3.50 GBP. Now, I can afford that but it seemed such a waste. I was also wasting money on expensive cream from chain stores when good old fashioned dome soap is far better and cheaper. I confess that I invested in an expensive badger brush and another travel version in a natty case.

But I thought - straight razor? I have appeared in Sweeney Todd! They aren't that scary! And no blades to buy. I also like wood-carving and needed a strop so - justification made!

I bought the strop first from eBay. Cheap and awful! But good leather! Underneath the nasty black lacquer was good quality, thick, smooth leather. So... I scraped it off with the edge of a very sharp knife (having loosened it with nail polish remover pads). It was brilliant but so dry! So off to a falconer's web site to but a small quantity of neatsfoot oil. It lapped it up over several applications but then was incredible...smooth and supple and looking like it would last forever. Next to remove the bent nail used as a swivel (I joke not! Zoom into those images!) This was replaced with a strong split ring and a swivel catch from a very strong dog lead for what must be a fearsome dog!

Finally, for my wood carving knives, I have Flexcut Gold compound. Great but I'm told a little coarse. So back to eBay for some Chromium III Oxide (I do my research). This was applied as a paste to the linen(ish) part of the strop and very, very, very sparingly to the leather which had now dried.

And then, the big moment! The purchase of the vintage straight razor. Sensibly, I hope, I bought a renovated, shave ready. A vintage Kropp, polished, honed and stropped to perfection. It had new walnut scales and, all credit to the seller, it is beautifully done.

So first tentative shave to be followed by a light strop. Would I bleed like a scarlet waterfall? Not at all. Not a nick or scratch (although I do have a goatee that perhaps helped the difficult bits - it may have to go). And the smoothest most perfect shave ever. A quick strop (as told) and put away dry. I have now made a lovely leather case for it. I will use it always and without fear - except that I have spotted some lovely other vintage examples! I'm told this is called RAD but I don't care!

And now a question from this neophyte but enthusiastic old man. There are some wonderful skilled artists and craftsmen out there but I want to do everything myself. Some say that proper stropping with a good quality Chromium Oxide means never having to hone (except in the case of a nasty 'dropping or knocking' accident. Is this true?

I don't want to spend a fortune on stones and I have been to the Inigo Jones factory in Wales. The quality of their work is excellent and I am thinking that a well lapped Dragon's Tongue slate hone would give me all I need.

I guess that it's down to preference and what you have (having lurked for months!) but I would rally appreciate some honest advice. As someone said on another forum "It's just a shave, guys!" It seems that it is so much more to the enthusiast and, at the moment, my nick-free face feels like a BBS could skate on it! Any advice more than welcome.

Sorry for the excessively rambling introduction. Please forgive me - I am old, a writer, an actor and English! If I can help anyone else in any way, I will always be willing.

Thank you for inviting The Count.

[eddy79]

Hi and welcome. Good to hear about the shaves. Usually your main day to day strop is unpasted . Pasted strops are used for touch ups when the razor starts to tug. Eventually you will probably find the pasted strop isn't enough to get the razor to where you want. At that point you would use a finishing hone to correct the edge. Any questions ask using a little more specifics and we will help out as possible.

[Laurens]

I concur with Eddy and would add that a hanging pasted strop will convex the edge (exceptions apply to pros), so stop stropping the way you do unless you want to get the edge honed up again!

If you would like to use a pasted strop for touch-ups, make sure it is level, hard, non-flexible and use no more pressure than the weight of the blade. It is possible to go by with only a pasted strop, but I would hazard that as a beginner, you'll make some small mistakes and will have to hone your razor beyond the capabilities of your chromium oxide strop.

I have no personal experience with a Dragon's Tongue, but I'll give you some basic advice. Natural stones vary, whereas synthetic stones are consistent. That means that you will have to get used to a natural stone, use it for a long time, experiment with it and be prepared to get a sub-par result in the beginning, as well as hearing the phrase "You could try this and that, but as it's a natural stone, what works on mine, may not work on yours". Synthetics are more expensive, have less character, are not as pretty, but do their job faster, more consistently and allow for others to give a very precise advice on how to use them.

Personally, I would encourage you to find a barber's hone on eBay and ask here - either in a thread or in a PM to a mentor - if it will suit your needs, or buy a synthetic 8000 grit stone of Naniwa, Shapton, Norton or King. There are more brands out there, these are just the most popular, as far as I know.

By the way, I love natural stones and own a coticule, Belgian blue whetstone, undefined Japanese natural, Chinese natural and my favourite: a (very cheap) Roszutec. I just cannot get them to work as well as my Shapton Glass 1K/4K/8K/16K.


There's a lot to learn, so don't be afraid to ask and take a look at the beginner's section in the Wiki/Library. Good luck!

[bombay]

some good advice above but i suggest you learn how to shave properly before contemplating honing

welcome to srp,
Pete

[TheCount]

I concur with Eddy and would add that a hanging pasted strop will convex the edge (exceptions apply to pros), so stop stropping the way you do unless you want to get the edge honed up again!

If you would like to use a pasted strop for touch-ups, make sure it is level, hard, non-flexible and use no more pressure than the weight of the blade. It is possible to go by with only a pasted strop, but I would hazard that as a beginner, you'll make some small mistakes and will have to hone your razor beyond the capabilities of your chromium oxide strop.

I have no personal experience with a Dragon's Tongue, but I'll give you some basic advice. Natural stones vary, whereas synthetic stones are consistent. That means that you will have to get used to a natural stone, use it for a long time, experiment with it and be prepared to get a sub-par result in the beginning, as well as hearing the phrase "You could try this and that, but as it's a natural stone, what works on mine, may not work on yours". Synthetics are more expensive, have less character, are not as pretty, but do their job faster, more consistently and allow for others to give a very precise advice on how to use them.

Personally, I would encourage you to find a barber's hone on eBay and ask here - either in a thread or in a PM to a mentor - if it will suit your needs, or buy a synthetic 8000 grit stone of Naniwa, Shapton, Norton or King. There are more brands out there, these are just the most popular, as far as I know.

By the way, I love natural stones and own a coticule, Belgian blue whetstone, undefined Japanese natural, Chinese natural and my favourite: a (very cheap) Roszutec. I just cannot get them to work as well as my Shapton Glass 1K/4K/8K/16K.


There's a lot to learn, so don't be afraid to ask and take a look at the beginner's section in the Wiki/Library. Good luck!

Thank you both so much. There is only the tiniest drop of Chromium Oxide on the leather of my strop so I will aim to get that off.

It looks like I may have to save up for a really good stone. Difficult though - I bought another straight last night!

Second straight shave today and the goatee and sideburns just had to come off. That was hard and I confess that despite trimming first, I had to resort to the DE to get things really smooth. I guess that I had the angle wrong - so practice, practice, practice. Still n o nicks or scratches though so must be doing something right.

[edhewitt]

Good day,
I am glad you are/have finding/found your feet.
I have a couple of Welsh slate hones, they are available from eBay, and now seem to come as a three pack, I find them ok, though I don't have a great deal of experience. The only complaint I have is that they are quite small, so if I were buying them again I would buy the widest ones (well at least 3"/75mm) anyway as this is the same width as a razor, and will make learning that bit easier.
As Laurens says a synthetic is more predictable, I also have a naniwa 10k stone.
I am finding it hardest to resist buying shaving creams as they are nice and affordable, so I don't need to feel too guilty about it.
I don't know how easy the paste will be to get off, I don't use pastes but I understand that it is a bit of work to de-paste a strop.
Where abouts in the UK are you? There may be someone close by who might be able.to offer some personal assistance.
All the best
Ed

[TheCount]

Good day,
I am glad you are/have finding/found your feet.
I have a couple of Welsh slate hones, they are available from eBay, and now seem to come as a three pack, I find them ok, though I don't have a great deal of experience. The only complaint I have is that they are quite small, so if I were buying them again I would buy the widest ones (well at least 3"/75mm) anyway as this is the same width as a razor, and will make learning that bit easier.
As Laurens says a synthetic is more predictable, I also have a naniwa 10k stone.
I am finding it hardest to resist buying shaving creams as they are nice and affordable, so I don't need to feel too guilty about it.
I don't know how easy the paste will be to get off, I don't use pastes but I understand that it is a bit of work to de-paste a strop.
Where abouts in the UK are you? There may be someone close by who might be able.to offer some personal assistance.
All the best
Ed

Thanks for your reply. i am in the sunny east (anglia) but prefer the west!. Actually, it wasn't much hassle to get the Chro-Ox off the leather. I think this may be due to the fact that, due to the dry leather, I applied a few liberal coatings of neatsfoot oil and let it soak in/dry for several days. The Chromium came off quite easily with a damp towel rubbed quite vigorously and looks fine now so i suspect it's gone. (No green residue on the towel but it was only dry powder anyway). I would love to strop but the stones are so expensive - can anyone recommend the most economical but good stone?

By the way. I've been here a day or so and bought three straights. I've got it haven't I? There should be warnings on the logo!

Asked my brother if he would like to see my vintage straight tonight (no smut please!) and he nearly ran away with fear!

Seriously, any advice on a good finishing hone that's reasonable cheap and available in the UK would be gratefully received.

[gssixgun]

I would just put the brakes on the buggy for a bit on a finisher and honing in general concentrate on shaving first... But there is a guy on ebay that goes by AJ that sells quite a few Welsh slates...
I own his 3 stones set myself and although I will tell you without any doubt I have better stones, for the price and that fact you live there I would look into them.. Either the Greenish one or the Purpleish one can give a very nice comfortable shave... Something to consider when you do decide to jump into the honing pool...

here is a thread that has way to much info about them all and welcome to SRP we are "Count"ing on reading more of your posts

http://straightrazorpalace.com/advan...ns-tongue.html

and another

http://straightrazorpalace.com/hones...huringian.html

[edhewitt]

I would just put the brakes on the buggy for a bit on a finisher and honing in general concentrate on shaving first... But there is a guy on ebay that goes by AJ that sells quite a few Welsh slates...
I own his 3 stones set myself and although I will tell you without any doubt I have better stones, for the price and that fact you live there I would look into them.. Either the Greenish one or the Purpleish one can give a very nice comfortable shave... Something to consider when you do decide to jump into the honing pool...

here is a thread that has way to much info about them all and welcome to SRP we are "Count"ing on reading more of your posts

http://straightrazorpalace.com/advan...ns-tongue.html

and another

http://straightrazorpalace.com/hones...huringian.html

I think we may well be talking about the same ones glen, I loaned mine to os, I don't think he was over impressed, and he also thought the grit estimates were a bit high, but I only have the 2 less fine stones. I use them at the mo as I don't mind travelling with them as they were fairly cheap, and the edge I get is good enough for me, though I do only refresh rather than do proper honing.

[gssixgun]

Yep sounds like it Ed

They provide a nice comfortable shave, if you want to mess with lather or Smith's honing solution it gets a little better too..
I never really listen to grit estimates hehehe they remind me of the fish that got away stories larger everytime it is told, but I do feel they give a bit more than a Norton 8k in the comfort deptment which to my face is the least I will go...

Not a bad deal, especially if you live there and shipping gets real cheap..