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Hi there! Just getting into SR shaving and thought I would join to learn more :)
I recently picked up a Temperite 5/8 (English Steel) which I am debating on trying to restore myself or whether to send off to have done. This will be my first straight razor, so might be better to have done correctly the first time.. Here are some pics :)
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See you guys/gals around the forums.
-Zach
Welcome Zach....yes, learn before attempting to restore that razor on your own. Wise decision. There are a lot of qualified folk here who will be able to help you out. From what I can tell in the pics a good honing is all for now that you might need and then you could go further with it later. One word of advice though. If you like doing E-bay a lot, try to get a trained eye to help you out as there are a lot of scammers who will try to sell you a gold dollar passed off as something vintage and expensive etc. Again , welcome to SRP and as Lynn always says "Have fun". .....Cheers !Quote:
Originally Posted by supermansv
Welcome to SRP!
As your first straight, definitely send it out to be pro honed. (Plenty of good people in the Classifieds on this site)
That way you will know what sharp is as a reference for when you do your own work.
And that blade is going to need some work.
In the mean time, read through the beginner's section in the Library. There is a lot of good information in there that will answer a lot questions. Order a cheap, but good strop, and some soap, a brush, and a bowl. Start practicing stropping.
If you have any questions, feel free to ask us - that's one of the reasons why we are here.
Hi and welcome. Would start by maybe just giving it a polish and a hone and take it from there. It appears that the razor has quite a bit of hone wear on the spine and extra wear at the toe so if going to pay good money for a restore a razor in better condition might be the go. Besides many of us damage our first razor, me included, so best not to start with anything to expensive. Good luck and any questions feel free to ask
Zach, welcome to Straight Razor Place!
Thanks everyone for the replies and suggestions! It was a pretty cheap razor and I figured if I wanted to learn it was a better way to go then getting a new/more expensive one. I'm happy to have found a place with such a wealth of knowledge and community. I will certainly take the advice and get it honed by a professional, I figure I can polish the blade, etc. on my own.
Well, thanks again and I look forward to learning more about the straight razor world :)
Hi Zach,
Another Denver guy here. I can help you get that razor shave ready if you like. No charge.
Thanks bluesman, that would be great! Just let me know a good day/time and I'm there. Appreciate the help!!
PM coming soon.Quote:
Originally Posted by supermansv
If you are going to polish the razor I would suggest 2 things,
1- do it before you get it honed
2- be very wary of the edge.
Welcome to the forum, it looks like you are getting good advice and help already.
Ed
Good advice from Ed.Quote:
Originally Posted by edhewitt
Before working on a razor I always dull the edge slightly on the side of a fine stone. Something like the unglazed portion on the bottom of a coffee cup would probably work OK. Keep in mind that the dulled razor is still sharper than most peoples pocket knives. I do my sanding in a magnetic fixture that keeps the edge firmly pressed against the cardboard, so that I can't get cut. The piece of rubber hose is handy as a sanding block. This Wapi has just had a regrind and it's shoulder/ stabilizer removed.
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Welcome to SRP! I see the guys have already taken care of you. ;) Good luck!
Cheers bluesman, i was going to mention edge dulling, but as I haven't had need to do it I couldn't give solid solid advice.
Welcome from Pueblo!!!!
Hi Zach & welcome to SRP
I'm glad you have decided to start straight shaving. It looks like from the pics though that the razor you have has a lot of hone wear which is something you really don't want & to watch out for buying ones like that. It's ok, you didn't know but people are out there trying to pawn off their unwanted surplus. Have a look on eBay & look at different razors & you'll see what I'm talking about. I just hope you didn't spend a lot on that razor.
Please feel free to ask anyone on here or even send me a message when looking at a razor to buy & i would be more than happy to help you out.
Regards,
Steve
I noticed this too. From the pictures, it looks to me like it will still hone and shave fine, but not worth putting a lot of effort into restoring. I'll certainly be able to tell more when I see it in person.Quote:
Originally Posted by engine46
Yeah, you're right. It isn't worth the time & effort to put into retiring it but I still can be a good shaver.Quote:
Originally Posted by bluesman7
I've even heard of people who thought hone wear was the mark of a razor that people kept honing rather than replacing, because they were good shavers.Quote:
Originally Posted by engine46
Hope you are right :) I made the typical new guy mistake, hopefully it will still be a good shaver, fingers crossed. If not, I'll pick up a new one from srd instead of the roulette on an old razor until I learn more.. Really appreciate the help though!!
Quote:
Originally Posted by bluesman7
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.Quote:
Originally Posted by supermansv
Steve
No worries Steve, I don't feel bad.. it's all part of the learning experience as you've stated.Quote:
Originally Posted by engine46
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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[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!
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.
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
OK, now tell us about that first straight razor shave!
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
