Thread: New to the Straight Edge, Wanted to say Hi

From the photos, I suppose your Bartmann would be called a half hollow. However, it also is a dual hollow razor in that there is one hollow below the spine and then another one near the edge.

If you look at reflected light from an overhead fixture coming off the blade, you can rotate the blade so that the reflection travels from the spine to the edge. A single hollow razor will have that reflection shift uniformly from the spine to the edge. A dual hollow razor, which has a thicker belly between the two hollows will reflect the light differently. As you rotate the blade to make the reflection travel from the spine toward the edge, at some point in the rotation another line of light will travel from the edge to meet the line of light coming from the spine. The two lines will meet at that thicker belly.

If that was confusing, just try it and you will figure it out!

Welcome.

Welcome aboard. Nice razor there. Taking up a mentor's offer up on a honing evaluation is a great way to improve your honing, and I'm certain Utopian will give you some great tips.

Originally Posted by MrEvolution

Hello,

I was lucky enough to be gifted my first straight edge razor about a month ago. I was visiting family in Poland, when my grandfather in law gave me a Bartmann High Class 504. He told me that it was around 70 years old. The blade looks good with no rust and only some bluing. I did some research and purchased a finishing stone, strop, and some chromox. I managed to get the blade sharp enough to cut arm hair so I started using it to shave on a daily basis.

I am enjoying the new way of shaving, I am still learning how to not overdue my neck area as I seem to be using too much pressure or something as I am getting light razor burn on each shave. Thanks for the support so far and I am looking forward to learning more about the hobby.

I'm happy to report that I found your razors in the mail tonight. I'm too tired to do the video tonight but I did do a quick scan of the Bartmann razor. I believe that you will be shocked both when you see the video and when you shave with the razor's new edge! I'm pretty sure that you are going to be happy with the improvement in your shaves.

Also, I forgot to ask before, what strop and finishing stone did you get?

Originally Posted by Utopian

I'm happy to report that I found your razors in the mail tonight. I'm too tired to do the video tonight but I did do a quick scan of the Bartmann razor. I believe that you will be shocked both when you see the video and when you shave with the razor's new edge! I'm pretty sure that you are going to be happy with the improvement in your shaves.

Thanks again. I am looking forward to seeing the video. Will you be explaining what you are doing so that I may learn a thing or two?


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The video I intended to make was of an evaluation of your existing edge. Unfortunately, I'm not yet set up to make a simultaneous honing and edge evaluation video. I connect my camera to a microscope and can record a video scan of the edge and can comment on what I see as I look at the edge.

In order to record my honing of the razor and the microscopic progression of the edge, I need two cameras and the skill to use them properly. So far I only am at step 1.

I either can be running two separate videos, one of the honing and one of the edge, and edit them together; or else I can do a single video of the honing with the camera also picking up the monitor screen to show the edge. The editing options requires me to learn how to do video editing and I have not done that yet. The second option seems like it will be easier but it requires some camera angle gymnastics that I have yet to work out.

However, I will be doing your edge video tonight and I will try to figure out those gymnastics and see if I can make something work. Odds are though that it will not work well until I make some sort of camera boom attachment for my tripod and I'm pretty sure that you will want your razors back before I accomplish that.

Hi
Welcome to SRP! Listen to these guys when they say to leave the heirloom alone for a while till you get your grip on the straight. Take it from me i have made some very rookie mistakes...Some of these guys witnessed my misadventures!

Whatever you can do is appreciated Utopian. I am hoping to learn to hone myself so I do not need to send blades out. I purchased a cheaper SR so that I can practice.


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So that I can better help, what hone and strop did you get?

Naniwa 12k. Parker latigo leather strop. I also have an English Bridle strop that I just started using on the Portland Razor Co SR. The English Bridle was never used on either of the razors I have sent to you.

I have put a few dings in the Parker strop and am not planning on using it unless you have other advice.


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