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Thread: Hello from Denver!

  1. #21
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    Quote Originally Posted by engine46 View Post
    Don't worry, you're ok. I've made some bad buys before but you learn as you go. It will still be a good razor. You may have to put a couple or three layers of tape on the spine to hone it but it will turn out to be a good shaver. I hope I didn't make you feel bad in my first post.
    Steve
    No worries Steve, I don't feel bad.. it's all part of the learning experience as you've stated.

    Here are some pics post polish.. This was my first time polishing and I only used wet/dry paper and some Mag polish by hand. There are still quite a few scratches that would have taken a bit more work to get out. I think it would get even more reflective if I had a buffing wheel and compounds.. Overall much better though.

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    Last edited by supermansv; 10-17-2014 at 02:38 PM.

  2. #22
    Senior Member blabbermouth engine46's Avatar
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    [QUOTE=supermansv;1406275]No worries Steve, I don't feel bad.. it's all part of the learning experience as you've stated.

    Here are some pics post polish.. This was my first time polishing and only used wet/dry paper and some Mag polish by hand. There are still quite a few scratches that would have taken a bit more work and I think it would get much better if I had a buffing wheel with some compounds.. Overall much better though.

    WOW that looks good! You did a great job. You are off to a good start!!!!!!! Keep it going, you're going to wrk out just fine!

  3. #23
    Senior Member blabbermouth bluesman7's Avatar
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    Well, Zach's razor did hone up fine in the end but not without a struggle on my part. The first thing I did was to measure the spine thickness and blade width at the toe and heal, just to get an idea of what I was dealing with. The spine tapered .015" which correlated well with the blade width. There was a visible smile in the edge, so a rolling stroke was needed. During the bevel setting, Zach noticed the heal coming off the stone as I was pulling towards myself and then later in the honing I could see with a 10x loupe that I was not hitting the heal well, but it was on the opposite side of the razor from the side that seemed to be a problem. Though out the whole thing it seemed that the stabilizer was the cause of the issues and we could see wear on the stabilizer, but it was on the side that was honing very well. Concentrating on the heal got the edge to a point that I was satisfied with and I took the razor to the strops. 55 laps on clean hemp followed by 55 on horsehide resulted in a quite impressive HHT followed by a shave test which proved the shave readiness of the edge.

    After sleeping on it and thinking how weird it was that the side that seemed to have problems from the stabilizer did not show stabilizer wear and that consciously keeping the stabilizer off the hone really did not seem to help. I now think that the taper in the spine thickness was mostly on the problem side and the cause of the difficulties.

    I know this is a very technical post for the introduction section and would be more appropriate for the honing section, but it seems appropriate as a follow up on Zach's first razor. Zach is presently about two and a half hours into his first full marathon. Hope all is going well for you Zach.
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  4. #24
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    Thank you so much Victor! I learned so much about razor honing, but also what to look out for in the future when buying vintage razors, how to shave with a straight razor, and the list goes on.. I really cannot thank you enough and it was a great pleasure meeting you and your wife. In addition thanks for the stropping belts and soap As you suggested I think I'll pick up a cheapish shave ready razor so I can practice stropping as well.

    The marathon went well I finished with in 4:05, which I am happy with for my first marathon.

    Again - Thank you for all the help and generosity it's was much appreciated! I'll be looking more into heavier razors with bigger smiles in the future. If anyone has not seen Victor's custom razor's they are impressive! I might have to request one at some point once I get the hang of shaving with a straight razor


    Quote Originally Posted by bluesman7 View Post
    Well, Zach's razor did hone up fine in the end but not without a struggle on my part. The first thing I did was to measure the spine thickness and blade width at the toe and heal, just to get an idea of what I was dealing with. The spine tapered .015" which correlated well with the blade width. There was a visible smile in the edge, so a rolling stroke was needed. During the bevel setting, Zach noticed the heal coming off the stone as I was pulling towards myself and then later in the honing I could see with a 10x loupe that I was not hitting the heal well, but it was on the opposite side of the razor from the side that seemed to be a problem. Though out the whole thing it seemed that the stabilizer was the cause of the issues and we could see wear on the stabilizer, but it was on the side that was honing very well. Concentrating on the heal got the edge to a point that I was satisfied with and I took the razor to the strops. 55 laps on clean hemp followed by 55 on horsehide resulted in a quite impressive HHT followed by a shave test which proved the shave readiness of the edge.

    After sleeping on it and thinking how weird it was that the side that seemed to have problems from the stabilizer did not show stabilizer wear and that consciously keeping the stabilizer off the hone really did not seem to help. I now think that the taper in the spine thickness was mostly on the problem side and the cause of the difficulties.

    I know this is a very technical post for the introduction section and would be more appropriate for the honing section, but it seems appropriate as a follow up on Zach's first razor. Zach is presently about two and a half hours into his first full marathon. Hope all is going well for you Zach.
    bluesman7 likes this.

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  6. #25
    Senior Member blabbermouth bluesman7's Avatar
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    OK, now tell us about that first straight razor shave!

  7. #26
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    Ok, so after a crazy beginning of the week at work, I was finally able to get the walmart kit today..

    I shaved tonight for the first time with a straight razor and all I can say is wow that was great!!! I found it a bit overwhelming at first because I basically only shave my neck area. And for some reason, using a straight razor around my neck for the first time I had visions from the movie Sweeny Todd... However, everything went really well. I did 3 passes, I tried to stick with the pattern of wtg, xtg, and atg. I did find it difficult to do xtg across my neck and I have some odd hair direction, so I am guessing that part will just take some time. I feel for my first shave, the results were really good! I did a little touch up with a standard razor I had lying around, but otherwise it was a nice, close shave.

    I really can only attribute my great experience to the superb honing of the razor by bluesman and the great tips he and others have provided on this forum. One thing I noticed is that the soap on my face kept drying quickly, so I found myself applying more pretty frequently. Not sure if this is common or whether I just did not have a thick enough soap mixture. But I found that part really important, a great tip by bluesman, never shave on a dry face. Seems logical, but sinks in really quickly with a straight razor.

    Anyways, all I can say is I am addicted!! I learned a ton tonight and can't wait for the next shave. I am already thinking if/when I get another razor I would like it to be a heavier blade.

    Thanks again to all who have submitted suggestions and guidance along the way!

    Quote Originally Posted by bluesman7 View Post
    OK, now tell us about that first straight razor shave!

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