Oh hi! 2 years DE, 2 shaves SR, first post on a forum.

Hello SRP,

I've been wetshaving with DEs for a couple years after reading and learning over at Wicked_Edge on reddit.com. The razor in my member's photo was my great-uncles, and got me interested in the first place.

I've tried shaving with straights twice now - very carefully and slowly! I stopped after clearing the cheeks and other easy parts both times, and finished with DE. I'm currently waiting on a strop to arrive in the mail, so I can go for round two on both of my straights. I've enjoyed all aspects of this learning process - the creams and soaps, lathering, razors and blades, etc. I'm looking forward to the next 100+ shaves of figuring out straight razor shaving.

One question I've got right off the start: would you advise that I look for a 'maintenance' hone right away? or just do my best with stropping and send the razors away for professional honing? 12K, barber's hone, pasted strop???

I'm very glad to be here!
RR

Hi and welcome to SRP

The first question we always ask is: "was your razor shave ready, or did you have someone (Pro) hone it to shave ready"

Shaving with a Straight is a fine motor skill like many others, just takes some practice and patience to master.
You are going at it the right way, working in stages.
It is much easier to learn with a great edge, and I suggest you look for someone in the classifieds - and someone in the area may reach out to you and offer to help.

It is a lot to learn, and you might be better off delaying the honing thing until you get past the magic 100 shaves (unless a mentor pops up at your door)

On the blade maintenance side if you master stropping the edge will stay true for some time...the problem is that "mastering stropping" thing takes some practice. (go slow)

Read read read the forum and wiki and you can learn about maintaining an edge with pasted strops, Crox or Balsa etc.

Next thing you know you have a drawer full of razors, another with Soaps and Creams, still another with stones and then there is the brushes etc. But you know some of this already...eh?

Good luck and Smooth Shaving, you are amongst friends..

Thanks for the quick reply!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by MJC

"was your razor shave ready, or did you have someone (Pro) hone it to shave ready"

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I bought two blades from another user at Wicked_Edge. He didn't claim to be a pro, but did say the razors would be shave ready. I used them without stropping, because I didn't have a strop, so I expected some tugging. As far as I could tell, the only tugging was caused by improper blade angle. Soon I'll see what they feel like after my first stropping attempt.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by MJC

Next thing you know you have a drawer full of razors, another with Soaps and Creams, still another with stones and then there is the brushes etc. But you know some of this already...eh?

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Yep, I do know a bit about full drawers! Nothing crazy, but I do have more than necessary.

After the edge, it's all about the stretching...

Hi and welcome. I would suggest that you master stropping before honing. If you get stropping down then crox would be a good way to keep your razor shave ready for longer between needing to go to the stones. That said a high grit stone would be the best one to start with. Good luck and any questions feel free to ask.

Hello and welcome to SRP, have a good luck around, fill ya boots!

Hello, and welcome to SRP !! :chapeau + 1 on the advice in the above post. If it was me I would send the razors out to pro honed. That way it would be one of the variable out of the way on your journey of learning. IMO

Hello! There's a razor from Shave Smith on its way to me too, along with strop. So I'll be able to compare soon!

Thanks for your response!

I would also recommend focusing on the stropping first. I you do get a touch up hone, keep one of your razors as received from a verified honemeister. You can use it as a reference point for your own honing learning curve and if you F#$^ up one razor, you still have a good one to use :)

RuggsRiggs great to have over onto str8s and good job getting more than one shave ready razor to start. I killed my first edge the first time I TRIED to strop it. Don't worry many of us do that, for me everything I did in the beginning, I used too much pressure. Shaving, stropping, honing, I had to learn to lighten up, maybe you will not have that problem but I did so if you need to have a razor honed you will have another to keep shaving with. Keep posting your progress, help is here when you need it.

Great topic - I was actually wanting to post this myself. I THINK I've about gotten the stropping down and have CrOX that "wakes up the blade" occasionally - I too was wondering if I should start with something like a 12k vs the whole 1-5-8-12 shebang.

To be specific, strop mastery should be no 1 on your agenda. The use of Crox should be limited to ONLY when you feel the edge is degrading. Too much and you start losing metal. In terms of refreshing it is suggested to use a 12k. Most frequently suggested is the Naniwa Super Stone 12k. Mainly because it doesn't have to be soaked. Just spray a little water on the surface. After a year (or so) of straight razor shaving is when you should start thinking about learning to hone your own razors. Both Naniwa and Norton are the main suggestions (and easier on the budget than some of the other choices). Norton 1k for bevel setting when needed, 4k/8k for basic honing and the Naniwa 12k is the ubiquitous preference. Naniwa 1k for bevel setting, 3k/8k for the next step and then the Naniwa 12k for smoothing/finishing. After that, all bets are off because then it gets very subjective with Jnats, Cnats, Coticiles and a wide range of esoteric stones. Some will go for 16k, 20k or 30k man made stones for an ultra finish. Basic philosophy says when you can get a consistently decent shave off of an 8k then thats when you can go hog wild and feed your stone addiction disorder. I'll say it again, and many Mentors would echo this, go slow, one step at a time, it isn't a declared race and you only competing with yourself. Be sane, be safe and watch where you step.