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Hello and Ouch from Maine
Greetings from warm, sunny (and turning buggy) Maine.
Firstly, let me thank the moderators and other contributors for building this great resource. Despite the proliferation of junk on the internet, many quality sites manage to shine through and, from what I've seen so far, this is one of them.
I'd like to give a quick background, then ask an initial question to help with my second shave - which will probably be in a few days, when my face calms down.
What brings me to straight razor shaving is, primarily, that I'm a lazy shaver. Well, more correctly, perhaps, is that I'm an infrequent shaver. Especially since I started working from home a few years back, I tend to shave only once or twice per week. Additionally, I alternate between having a beard and going clean-shaven a few times each year.
A consequence of this behavior is that I usually have to muscle through thick stubble, or a downright beard, when I shave. So far, this has required a sharp, new disposable razor to do the job at all, and copious amounts of after shave lotion to soothe my raw face and neck afterwards. Add to this that I'm too cheap to spend $2 on a new Gillette blade each time I shave, so I tend to re-use my existing ones beyond their useful life, yielding even poorer shaves and more pain.
I started researching straight razor shaving a few months ago, in hopes of finding a solution that will 1) remove a thick stubble/beard more easily, 2) provide a better shave with less pain, and 3) reduce waste and expense over the long term. After reading hundreds of web pages and watching hours of YouTube videos, I finally made the leap and purchased a razor, strop, brush, soap, and hone.
One thing that concerned me was whether I would recognize if my new razor was ready-to-use upon arrival, or if it would need to be prepared for shaving. Correspondingly, I was also worried about screwing it up if I did try to prepare it on my own. I am obsessive about sharpening and caring for my kitchen knives, chainsaw, axe, etc., and have many years of blade-maintenance experience. Still, the straight razor is unique, and I didn't want to hurt it. It seemed wicked sharp out of the box, so I decided to shave with it as-is.
Wrong answer.
After an hour and twenty minutes of careful shaving, half a puck of soap, and enough hot water to boil potatoes for the whole army, my face felt like I had been rubbing sandpaper on it the whole time. Fortunately, I did not cut myself once. Still, I barely managed to cut my facial hair, either.
After another half-hour of observing the blade with a magnifying glass and gentle stropping on the canvas and leather, I decided that the bladed needed to be honed. So, I wet my DMT D8EE (8K grid diamond stone) and carefully went to work. What I found was this:
- The blade is slightly bent
By 'bent' I don't mean the edge profile, as illustrated on the 'basic straight razor anatomy' page on this site, but rather bent in the other direction. I'll try to upload an image here:
Attachment 68501
As you can see, when I lay the blade on the hone on one side, the tip and shoulder touch, as in the photo. When I flip it over, only the middle touches. The same is true of the thick back part of the blade; it's warped in the same way. As a result, I cannot sharpen the blade!
I did a little test shaving on my arms today, and the tip/shoulder have become VERY sharp after a little bit of honing/stropping. I think that I scraped my face so badly because the blade just wasn't sharp enough from the factory. The problem is, however, that I can't sharpen the blade because it won't lie flat on the hone.
If you made it this far, my question is:Q: What should I do - grind the back/blade flat? Return the razor under warranty? Toughen up and just shave with it?
Thank you, again, for making this forum available, and in advance to anyone who may respond. Happy shaving.
