Thread: Gidday Gents

I hail from New Zealand, but have been living and working in Brunei for 25 years.
I acquired an old Gotta straight razor (see photos) from a second hand shop some years ago.
I read some web sites at that time then went out and bought a Jemico Russian leather strop and a Col Conk light grey Surgical Arkansas stone with the idea of getting into SR shaving.
I tried shaving with the Gotta a couple of times after stropping it a few times - without really knowing if it was shave ready. The results were a shaved face, not too much razor burn, but the shaving process seemed somewhat akward and time consuming and so the Gotta was shelved for some time.
I have now found this forum while looking for details about the SR and the Col Conk stone I have.
The Gotta has developed some minor corrosion on the edge while in storage and I would like to bring it back to shave ready condition. It has not been put on a stone by me yet and I'm very glad I found this site before attempting to restore the edge myself.
Some posts say my grey Arkansas stone is about 800-1200 grit and many in this forum say is not recommended for razors (there are execeptions on this point I note). It would seem that what I need is to invest in a Norton 4000/8000 stone.

As for restoration, I was thinking pehaps I should remove the surface scaling and rebevel it with the Conk Arkansas stone, then follow the pyramid method on the 4000/8000 to bring the Gotta back to shave ready.

As a novice to SR honing and shaving, any tips your members would like to share on honing, stropping (and why we strop?) etc would be very much appreciated.

I wonder if any members can inform me about the Gotta's heritage - as it seems well made.

It says on the front of the blade: HAMBURG RING - GOTTA - SUPERFINE
On the font shank it says: 120 GOTTA
On the reverse side of the shank it says: FINEST SHEFFIELD STEEL FORGED AND REAL HOLLOW GROUND IN GERMANY

Hopefully I'll get it 'shave ready' an have the satisfaction of a decent SR shave yet.

Gidday Gazza, whereabouts in NZ you from originally? Had a mate of the same name back in the day.

Gidday Grazor, I'm fromWaiake on the North Shore originally.
My proper name is Garry Anderson
Whereabouts are you from and now?

Welcome to the forum. You can find info on your razor here https://straightrazorpalace.com/razo...tta-razor.html . Yes, it is a well made razor. There is quite a bit of info to be found in the site's Library section if you have not read it yet. It's a good general primer.

Shaving with a straight razor requires a shave ready razor, use of the proper angle and no pressure on the blade. Also a proper lather, one that has the right soap to water ratio, aids greatly in the shave. Proper stropping technique extends the life of the edge before it reaches the point of having to go to the hones again.

Assuming a shave ready razor, it is generally considered that around 100 shaves/3 months in of every day use will see you hit a level of decent proficiency with a straight razor. Your shaving, lathering and stropping techniques should be good by then.

When you shave the edge gets damaged at a microscopic level and proper stropping helps set the edge right again extending it's useful life. Hanging stops normally consist of 2 components, one leather and one non leather. The non leather component aligns the edge and the leather component burnishes the edge.

Honing sharpens the edge that stropping will no longer make useful again. It may be as simple as a touch up on a finishing hone or a complete edge reset on up. It depends on how bad the condition of the edge is.

All three, shaving, stropping and honing, are deceptively easy looking to do.

As a beginner, I say to send your razor out to be properly honed to shave ready. That will give you an idea of what a shave ready razor feels like in use. Do not strop it before first use, that eliminates poor stropping degrading the edge. Strop before your second shave and if the edge feels worse than in the first shave you will know your stropping needs work. A shave ready razor will give you a target for what your razor should feel/act like when you do your own honing.

Honing carries a steep learning curve. It is possible to learn to shave and hone at the same time but that is quite a bit to take on all at once. I went the route as a beginner and it took me a long time to get everything sorted. It was hard to figure out if it was my shaving, stropping or honing that was doing my edges in. That is why, if possible, learning to shave and maintain the edge well before learning to hone is recommended.

Bob

Upper Hutt born and bred.

Hey Bob, thats a really helpful and detailed answer, and within the hour as well!
My Jemico strop has a canvas back and russian leather front, I guess the canvas is to align the edge as you say.
Can you recommend anyone in this neck of the woods to get the razor 'shave ready' for me?
Regards and thanks again
Garry

Originally Posted by gazzange

Hey Bob, thats a really helpful and detailed answer, and within the hour as well!
My Jemico strop has a canvas back and russian leather front, I guess the canvas is to align the edge as you say.
Can you recommend anyone in this neck of the woods to get the razor 'shave ready' for me?
Regards and thanks again
Garry

Glad I could be of some help. Yes, the canvas does the aligning. Wish I could recommend someone in your area that could get your razor shave ready. Possibly post that request in the honing section is the only suggestion I can think. I learned to hone while I learned to shave and strop out of necessity as there was nobody local to me that honed razors and constantly sending one out frequently to be honed was too expensive. I understand how frustrating learning everything at once can be but sometimes you do not have much of a choice, unfortunately. Another idea would be to pick up a used shave ready razor from the BST here. That way you would have an idea of what a shave ready edge feels like and have a razor as back up for the time your other razor is away for honing.

Bob

Hi and welcome aboard. Having a shave ready razor to start is important. Shave ready is impossible to describe but something you need to experience to know what to aim for in maintaining your razor.

Bob has given good advice and if you are willing to put in the effort of learning shaving pleasure awaits. Good luck and any questions feel free to ask

Welcome to the forum. I too live a long way from the nearest knowledgeable person. I started with two shave ready razors and then learned to hone before I was very good at shaving. It can be done, but it is not an easy row to hoe. Used razors that are shave ready can be had for a lot less money than new ones. The classifieds is a great place to buy.

Hello and welcome to SRP.
Enjoy your time here on the forum.
A little homework and you will certainly find all the answers to your questions.

Pete <:-}