Thread: Hello

Stropping is VERY important and a new user can kill a strop FAST!! Best to practice with a dull razor shaped object (like a butter knife) for a bit until you get the flip perfected, that's where cuts will come from.

Welcome mitnageek. This hobby of ours is easy to learn, providing two conditions are met. First, you need a good source of information. You've got that right here on SRP. Secondly, don't be in a hurry. Much of what we do in shaving, stropping and honing is based on experience. Developing a good touch is a skill that can only be acquired one day at a time. Enjoy the ride.

apologies for the brutal summary ... but this is what I'm sharing with my knife sharpening peers:

Originally Posted by mitnageek

apologies for the brutal summary ... but this is what I'm sharing with my knife sharpening peers:

Will be interesting to see what your knife sharpening buddies have to say, so far seems to be just you taking sound advice out of context.
If you want to learn to shave and hone razors, you found the right place.
Otherwise, keep that beard and concentrate on how thin you can slice tomatoes...

Grazor, There is context but that would make a big screenshot.

The advice other (knife etc) sharpeners have offered has been sound, I'm trying to add to our collective knowledge, not correct them or it.
And the advice I've been offered here has been excellent. Any errors in the screenshot are mine and mine alone. I feel privileged to live in an age where these conversations are even possible.

But i have always had trouble saying "no" ... I like to help ... and someone had contacted me with an immediate sharpening request.
I replied with "ok, I'll learn how and get back to you".

The sharpeners said - "ok. here's how you could do that. here's how we have done that".
Whereas, from the people and resources here, I've learned that the skills required are similar but different.

I've learned that a little bit of humble comes in handy and there's a lot of stuff I thought I knew that I need to accept I don't, before I move on.
I will still sharpen razors.
I will be shaving with a straight razor (to save money, if for no more noble reason) as soon as I safely can.

But I will not, now, be offering to sharpen a random razor the week after next.

In my view, that's progress.

Originally Posted by mitnageek

Grazor, There is context but that would make a big screenshot.

The advice other (knife etc) sharpeners have offered has been sound, I'm trying to add to our collective knowledge, not correct them or it.
And the advice I've been offered here has been excellent. Any errors in the screenshot are mine and mine alone. I feel privileged to live in an age where these conversations are even possible.

But i have always had trouble saying "no" ... I like to help ... and someone had contacted me with an immediate sharpening request.
I replied with "ok, I'll learn how and get back to you".

The sharpeners said - "ok. here's how you could do that. here's how we have done that".
Whereas, from the people and resources here, I've learned that the skills required are similar but different.

I've learned that a little bit of humble comes in handy and there's a lot of stuff I thought I knew that I need to accept I don't, before I move on.
I will still sharpen razors.
I will be shaving with a straight razor (to save money, if for no more noble reason) as soon as I safely can.

But I will not, now, be offering to sharpen a random razor the week after next.

In my view, that's progress.

That is the biggest thing I have read on here from people who sharpen knives is that they take for granted that there is a carry over to razor honing. Then come back and ask what they are doing wrong.

It is almost impossible, initially, to convince them that similar to but not really the same. That it is better to approach learning to hone a razor as if you have no prior experience sharpening knives for that reason. Just approach it with a clean slate and you will get there eventually.

Bob

Is there a limit on the number of times I can press the thank button? (rhetorical)

Originally Posted by mitnageek

But I will not, now, be offering to sharpen a random razor the week after next.

In my view, that's progress.

The only thing I would add, and you may not want to hear this, is that after you're good at straight shaving, which is required before learning to hone so you can feel how well it shaves, and after you've successfully learned to hone your personal razor(s), try to work on as many old/used/vintage razors as you can.

There are lots of razors of tolerable condition and quality to be found on eBay, antique malls, flea markets, etc. get as many as you can, as cheaply as you can, and get them all up to a smooth shaving edge. It may cost a couple hundred bucks to stock up on a few dozen but it'll be well worth your while. They don't even have to have scales intact, as long as the steel is in decent shape.

It will help you learn to deal with uneven wear on the spine, dealing with warped blades, chipped blades, smiling blades, frowning blades, getting back to good metal when a blade has some pitting in the bevel, full hollows versus wedges, etc...

Now doing all that isn't strictly necessary, but it'll certainly boost your learning curve. And to be perfectly honest, when you start honing razors for money there's a very good chance you'll have to deal with most, if not all of those things.

And on the upside, you could get your money back after restoring and reselling some of them.


Just my opinion, the more experienced fellows may disagree with this suggestion.

Hi and welcome..
I would say that there are no shortcuts .
Personally I think that there are different levels of honing that come with time and understanding.

I would change that 1 week into, "come back in 2 years sir and your razor will be ready"

You're at the rite place to learn...good luck.

Originally Posted by KenWeir

And on the upside, you could get your money back after restoring and reselling some of them.


Just my opinion, the more experienced fellows may disagree with this suggestion.

.