Thread: New to the old way

You're asking the right questions, but you're over thinking it a bit and getting stressed. Just keep it all simple as it is just shaving after all. Slow down and start with getting your razor honed. Get a poor mans strop from whipped dog, make your own, or just a cheap one from SRD to start off with. Razor, Strop, Brush, Soap...You're all set. Start small and work up to a full shave. Don't throw away those disposables or the cart head just yet .


Mick

Originally Posted by MickR

You're asking the right questions, but you're over thinking it a bit and getting stressed. Just keep it all simple as it is just shaving after all. Slow down and start with getting your razor honed. Get a poor mans strop from whipped dog, make your own, or just a cheap one from SRD to start off with. Razor, Strop, Brush, Soap...You're all set. Start small and work up to a full shave. Don't throw away those disposables or the cart head just yet .


Mick

Not terribly surprising that I am over thinking it. I tend to do that with a lot. You mentioned making my own strop - are there any how-to's on that? I have a friend who owns a textile factory so I can get my hands on high quality leather scraps for next to nothing or possibly even free depending on how much I need. I'll look into whipped dog too. So now my hunt for a honemeister begins.

Two of the easiest lathering soaps/creams are Tabac in the cake form and Proraso in the tube. Even a rookie should get a great lather with either one.

Looked through the classifieds and there aren't any local folks that hone. Not a huge surprise. I would assume Lynn to be the most popular on their being that he runs this whole operation. Are there any people on there that I should avoid? Some better than others? With a brand new razor, I'm not sure if a $30 hone will do me any better than a $15 hone. If I'm wrong, then by all means I will go with the more expensive one. For those of you that don't hone your own, who do you use?

As for those soaps you mentioned, is there a good vendor to buy them from? I check eBay and found some for reasonably cheap, but if I can support a vendor for the same amount I would rather do that.

Originally Posted by eddy79

The classifieds are where to look for honing. In the vendors area. It's usually recommend that you start with a cheaper strop as you will nick up the first one. Don't worry about pastes or hones yet learn to shave first then proceed from there. The soap you have is fine to start with and maybe try witch hazel as an after shave. Good luck. Ed

Great advice, once again I concur. Damn you getting in first.

And micks advice is good too, stop stressing, send your razor off for honing and in the meanwhile get a cheap strop in and tie it to a door handle or towel rail, use the soap and brush you have and bugger the aftershave.

In the top of the strop forum is a sticky(red ones) on how to make a home made strop. The soaps mentioned are fairly common over there so try a pharmacy etc. Anyone in the vendors area should be able to deliver a shave ready razor but Lynn, Glen(Gssixgun) would be amongst the top honers.

Originally Posted by Jtyson

Not terribly surprising that I am over thinking it. I tend to do that with a lot. You mentioned making my own strop - are there any how-to's on that? I have a friend who owns a textile factory so I can get my hands on high quality leather scraps for next to nothing or possibly even free depending on how much I need. I'll look into whipped dog too. So now my hunt for a honemeister begins.

This is easier than me trying to explain it. James shows you how to make a basic strop in this link. He's using 'roo hide, but the instructions will work just as well regardless of the leather. Use veg tanned leather of first quality if you can get it. You can use denim/linen/compressed felt or what have you for a material side if you like, but if you have a decent bit of leather, there is no reason why you can't use the flesh side as your courser 'material' side.


http://straightrazorpalace.com/strop...-pictures.html



Mick

Thanks for the how to on the strop. Not sure if I understand though. From what I have been seeing online, most strops seem to have two pieces, one leather and one fabric of sort. I've also read quite a lot about pastes, dusts, leather conditioning, etc. I'm sure different animals and tanning methods yield very different results so how do I know what is good for this purpose and what isn't? I've seen people mention sanding their leather too. Also, I see a lot of info about balsa. What exactly is it that I need?

I checked whipped dog and found their cheap poly/leather strop for $27. Sounds good, but I'm concerned with the width. A lot of strops I see are 2". To me, it seems the 3" would be better as the strop motion would be straight back and forth, rather than require a diagonal pass to get the entire blade. Am I wrong in my thinking that?

Good news is, I spoke with Glen today and will be shipping my razor out to him tomorrow. Hopefully by the time I get it back, I will have acquired a strop and can attempt shaving!

Originally Posted by Jtyson

Thanks for the how to on the strop. Not sure if I understand though. From what I have been seeing online, most strops seem to have two pieces, one leather and one fabric of sort. I've also read quite a lot about pastes, dusts, leather conditioning, etc. I'm sure different animals and tanning methods yield very different results so how do I know what is good for this purpose and what isn't? I've seen people mention sanding their leather too. Also, I see a lot of info about balsa. What exactly is it that I need?

I checked whipped dog and found their cheap poly/leather strop for $27. Sounds good, but I'm concerned with the width. A lot of strops I see are 2". To me, it seems the 3" would be better as the strop motion would be straight back and forth, rather than require a diagonal pass to get the entire blade. Am I wrong in my thinking that?

Good news is, I spoke with Glen today and will be shipping my razor out to him tomorrow. Hopefully by the time I get it back, I will have acquired a strop and can attempt shaving!

I though the same as you, so I made a 3" strop but you still need to do somewhat of an X-stroke to compensate for any unevenness in the leather, that notwithstanding I would go for the wider one, but I have never had a 2" to compare mine to.

Is there any downside to using a paddle? From what I can tell, you don't use enough pressure to need any sort of give you would get from a loose strop. To me it seems some leather/poly strips could be easily attached to a piece of balsa or other thin/light wood and you could have a cheap strop that is more portable than something that must be hung. I have seen replacement leather straps on a number of sites for a few dollars. Haven't seen poly but I'm sure it is out there somewhere and I imagine collectively the material, wood and some contact cement would make a good cheap strop paddle. Please though, someone correct my way of thinking if I am wrong.