Thread: Truckin' on the road

Originally Posted by Longhaultanker

The nice thing about a hobby is that there are usually many different aspects to it and the hobbyist can find which he wants to focus on. Personally, I have no interest in vintage razors. I like the mirror polish of the TIs, the gold washes of the Dovos, the etchings and carved spines, and I don't mind paying for these. To me there is nothing better that holding one of these beautiful works of art and shaving with an edge I honed. I have neither time or interest to hunt and find vintage razors, restore them (requiring equipment I don't have). To buy a vintage only takes my money from the next new purchase. A vintage would truly have to sparkle and posses unique features for me to be interested. Then there's always that question, is there something else I could get?

There's nothing wrong with that! That's what personal preference is all about. I'd love to have a Wacker!

Originally Posted by Longhaultanker

The nice thing about a hobby is that there are usually many different aspects to it and the hobbyist can find which he wants to focus on. Personally, I have no interest in vintage razors. I like the mirror polish of the TIs, the gold washes of the Dovos, the etchings and carved spines, and I don't mind paying for these. To me there is nothing better that holding one of these beautiful works of art and shaving with an edge I honed. I have neither time or interest to hunt and find vintage razors, restore them (requiring equipment I don't have). To buy a vintage only takes my money from the next new purchase. A vintage would truly have to sparkle and posses unique features for me to be interested. Then there's always that question, is there something else I could get?

If you know what you like and want to focus on it, it is probably cheaper in the long run. There is always something else out there to get.

Dear Job 15,

Please take no offense. The thing to aim for is a BBS shave. Upon making the decision to go to straights I hit the Internet, looking at blades, brands, style, beauty, costs. Then I hit YouTube and shaving vids. I saw another group of vids on honing. It just made sense to me to get stones first, then blades. I watched a bunch of vids, including Lynn Abrams and others. Japanese this, Belgian that... Blah, blah. Then I saw Lynn's vid on Shapton glass stones. They are ceramic, you know. I had some experience with ceramic. Click - it just made sense to me. Then I watched this guy from Jende Industries lay out all the Shaptons and explain. Again, I just made practical sense.

As to my selection of the Gold Dollar, I saw the reviews at Amazon. Some good, most not so much. My thought was, it's cheap, it's just metal. It was good enough to practice strokes on the Shaptons I bought. I tell you I ground / honed the heck out of that GD. My first shaves, not so hot. Did I give up? Heck no, I just spent $1000 on the Shaptons (stones, holders, etc.). I just honed more. It was simple enough my granddaughter joined in. This isn't brain surgery, as Dr Carson might say. And with a cheap razor, who cared? I didnt. The shaves got better to the point I felt confident to start buying quality razors. And here we are. I educated myself - a lost art in today's world, to be sure. That's why I went to the Internet, YouTube, and stopped by classic shaving. Now, this was my path and I would recommend it to others too. If I had bought a quality razor, or even a vintage, I would have had more apprehension about putting metal to stone. Human nature. This how I'm going to teach my grandsons.

As Ol' Blue Eyes would say, you did it your way. It worked for you and that is all that matters at the end of the day. Just because we don't recommend that course of action to the majority of new people doesn't mean that we reject your approach or condemn you for it quite the contrary, we congratulate you and welcome you to the brotherhood. Obviously you will have a different approach to answering questions to the uninitiated but you can relate your story and what you did to get to this point. We really are a fine bunch of fellers here even tho it may not seem like it at times but give us a chance and we will grow on you like a fungus. Who knows you might develop a taste for the vintage razors but if not we have a large group of craftsmen here that will be more than happy to feed your RAD with new and interesting custom razors as well as brushes, bowls, soap, strops and so on.

And I haven't even yet got a good brush.

Originally Posted by Longhaultanker

Dear Job 15,

Please take no offense. The thing to aim for is a BBS shave. Upon making the decision to go to straights I hit the Internet, looking at blades, brands, style, beauty, costs. Then I hit YouTube and shaving vids. I saw another group of vids on honing. It just made sense to me to get stones first, then blades. I watched a bunch of vids, including Lynn Abrams and others. Japanese this, Belgian that... Blah, blah. Then I saw Lynn's vid on Shapton glass stones. They are ceramic, you know. I had some experience with ceramic. Click - it just made sense to me. Then I watched this guy from Jende Industries lay out all the Shaptons and explain. Again, I just made practical sense.

As to my selection of the Gold Dollar, I saw the reviews at Amazon. Some good, most not so much. My thought was, it's cheap, it's just metal. It was good enough to practice strokes on the Shaptons I bought. I tell you I ground / honed the heck out of that GD. My first shaves, not so hot. Did I give up? Heck no, I just spent $1000 on the Shaptons (stones, holders, etc.). I just honed more. It was simple enough my granddaughter joined in. This isn't brain surgery, as Dr Carson might say. And with a cheap razor, who cared? I didnt. The shaves got better to the point I felt confident to start buying quality razors. And here we are. I educated myself - a lost art in today's world, to be sure. That's why I went to the Internet, YouTube, and stopped by classic shaving. Now, this was my path and I would recommend it to others too. If I had bought a quality razor, or even a vintage, I would have had more apprehension about putting metal to stone. Human nature. This how I'm going to teach my grandsons.

I take absolutely no offence
Last night I read about a guy who only goes up to an 8k and wont buy a finer stone because 8k is good enough and he is happy with the shaves he gets off it.
We are all different and as long as you are happy with your edges or progression then that's up to you.
There are levels of edges out there that are mind blowing though .
Keep up the honing ,you will only get better at it.

Originally Posted by engine46

It seems our trucker friend here is going to turn out to be a great member!

Originally Posted by guitstik

As Ol' Blue Eyes would say, you did it your way. It worked for you and that is all that matters at the end of the day. Just because we don't recommend that course of action to the majority of new people doesn't mean that we reject your approach or condemn you for it quite the contrary, we congratulate you and welcome you to the brotherhood. Obviously you will have a different approach to answering questions to the uninitiated but you can relate your story and what you did to get to this point. We really are a fine bunch of fellers here even tho it may not seem like it at times but give us a chance and we will grow on you like a fungus. Who knows you might develop a taste for the vintage razors but if not we have a large group of craftsmen here that will be more than happy to feed your RAD with new and interesting custom razors as well as brushes, bowls, soap, strops and so on.

And that is what I saw at first when reading about our new friend & said what I said above!

Welcome to SRP

No brush yet?



These were made by Walleyeman ( Ray Bukaty ) They are real jems.

Originally Posted by JOB15

I salute you
I've never tried the thumb nail test. I'm not sure what that's all about.

The other one I mentioned is to lick your thumb so it is quite wet.
Then place it on the edge , as if your gonna do the thumb pad test.
Try to slide your thumb forward, if it grips then the bevel on that part is set, if your thumb slides then it is not set.

I just learned something about a thumbnail test here:

http://straightrazorpalace.com/honin...ml#post1237169

Originally Posted by randydance062449

Welcome to SRP

No brush yet?

These were made by Walleyeman ( Ray Bukaty ) They are real jems.

I adore my Walleyman brush. Bought it at his meet last year. It is an excellent brush.