Thread: 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:



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.

If it's still under warranty than that's the best option to pursue. Why keep a razor you'll potentially have for life that is a pain to hone/refresh? Just regrow your beard while you wait. Then repeat your first shave experience... try a microscope before raking the surface of your face off next time, eh?

Sounds like a bad start indeed.
Just to clarify a couple of things.

Have you checked this anomaly on other known flat surfaces?
Or, did you do the flip as if you were to become a lefty, rather than just do the flip by rolling it over on it's spine?
If the anomaly is the same with both methods, the razor is indeed bent and you should contact your vendor.
(Sorry, don't mean to offend you here, just making sure we understand the problem correctly )
Once you do, make sure you get back a truly shave ready razor back. If they cannot provide that, you should contact one of the professional hoenrs found in the classifieds-member services to have that done before any more use of a straight.

Originally Posted by AxelH

If it's still under warranty than that's the best option to pursue.

Done.

I contacted the vendor (Knives at Knife Center) and they offered to replace, exchange, or refund it with no fuss. I opted to replace it with the same model, with the assumption that this particular unit was just defective.

I guess what I was really trying to determine via my original question is whether what I was observing was normal or not. Not having had any prior experience with a straight razor, I wasn't sure how perfect a perfectly straight edge really should be. Based on your answer, it appears that the blade should be more perfect than the one I received.

Thanks for your time and advice.

Originally Posted by Birnando

Have you checked this anomaly on other known flat surfaces?
Or, did you do the flip as if you were to become a lefty, rather than just do the flip by rolling it over on it's spine?

Yes; I tried righty and lefty, as well as both sides of the hone. I probably don't own anything else as flat as this hone, so I didn't test the flatness against any other type of benchmark. The results were consistent no matter how I turned the blade/hone, though, so I think the results are for real.

Regarding obtaining a shave-ready razor, I still have enough skin and motivation left where I'd like to try prepare the edge myself. I've learned a lot in the last 24 hours, including about honing. While I'm far from being a professional (and probably far from being an amateur, at this point) I think I can assess the edge on my replacement unit and prepare it appropriately on my own. Eventually.

If I fail, at least I know where to go for help. Thanks for the tip on the 'Classifieds' section; I hadn't visited that part of the site before.

Just out of curiosity, it would be interesting to see the hone wear from the DMT on the spine.

Thanks,

Lynn

Originally Posted by Lynn

Just out of curiosity, it would be interesting to see the hone wear from the DMT on the spine.

I was trying to take a photo of that before, but the metal is so curvy and shiny that it was impossible for me to get a clear shot of the wear on the spine. I could get the sun to glint off of it perfectly at times, but not with one hand on the razor and another on the camera.

By way of narrative description in place of a photo:

• On the concave side, the wear on the spine matches the wear on the blade. Only the tip and shoulder areas are flat, and the middle is untouched.
• On the convex side, the wear is pretty even across the spine.

I think the results on the convex side result from me putting pressure on different parts of the spine during different parts of my stroke, or possibly just during different honing attempts. It's easier to balance the spine on two points (concave side) than on one point (convex side), so I'm sure that I spread the wear around through poor technique. Or, perhaps, just being a human instead of a machine.

BTW, I just watched your honing video on the main page. Admittedly, you were using a 1K and 5K stone whereas I was using an 8K. Still, if those few strokes and that light of a touch were all it took to restore a dull razor to sharpness, then the amount of work I put in to honing this brand-new razor was definitely excessive, and indicative of a manufacturing flaw. Thanks for the video.

BeardO,

Four posts and I'm hooked. What a great start to your journey. You'll find starting straight razor shaving is not at all easy, but you're the kind of persevering soul who will very likely nail it. Here's some inspiration for you:

YouTube - Cut-throat Razor shave