Here's my beginner story from Montreal

Hi there,
First off, this site is great for finding info so I just wanted to post my story so other newbies can avoid my pitfalls.

I'd been shaving with a shavette for a while, but was finding it increasingly difficult to find quality blades so finally decided to take the plunge and up the ante to the real straight razor.
I decided I'd start with a lower end model, though not the cheapest, and found a German-made Giesen & Forsthoff 5/8 from Star Shaving supplies down in Oklahama and also bought a leather strop. The service was quick and in less than a week the package had arrived here in Montreal.

I was eager to get started, but in the letter accompanying the package, it stated that the razor needed to be honed to be shave-ready. This is where the trouble started. I decided I'd shave one side of my face with the manufacturer hone and then try to hone and strop the blade and see the difference. The manufacturer's hone was sharp enough to shave and went well. So here's my beginner mistake...

Thinking that honing a straight razor was the same as any other blade, I used a Speedy Sharp carbonite sharpener to try to hone the blade, completely oblivious to the fact that the angle of the razor is set with the spine and is meant to be sharpened flat. Needless to say, after stropping, and trying to shave the remaining half of my face I was frustrated (stronger words can be used here) to discover that the blade was in fact not shaving at all (though to my inexperienced hand, still felt quite sharp).

To the internet to search for an answer to my ineptitude (if only I'd had the prescience to do this before!)...
Here are a few sites (other than this one!) that I found worthwhile:

How to Hone a Straight Razor - A Beginner's Guide
How-To and Why -

Long story short, I found that I needed a real sharpening stone with a high enough grit. I settle on what seemed to be the most recommended stone, a Norton 4000/8000 combo and ordered one from Lee Valley Hardware in Ottawa (though be warned these stones ain't cheap ~$80).

So here I am waiting for the stone, which finally arrived yesterday and I start honing, and honing...The shave test still failing, though improving slowly. The real breakthrough was this video posted on YouTube by gssixgun honing on a Norton4/8 which introduced my to the circle technique to recreate a bevel.
YouTube - ‪gssixgun Honing on a Norton 4-8‬‏

After a bit more honing (patience is required after you mess up a new blade!), and lo and behold, I was finally able to shave this morning! Alleluia! I redeemed both my blade and my self-respect.

So I guess the moral of the story is, you can recover from mistakes with the right equipment, technique, and patience. So many thanks to the folks here for making available a treasure trove of information for newbies like myself; it is an invaluable resource!

Regards,
Rejean

BonJour Rejean;

Always great to see another Canadian on the board, and it seems there have been a number from the Montreal area in the past few weeks.

Your early mistakes seem pretty common, I took a similar path and luckly found a local person to fix by mistakes. I think in part those of us drawn to this methond of shaving get excited and want to dive in thinking we can figure it out as we go. Makes sense if you think how most of us learned to shave by this method anyway. Hit 14-15 years old, have some fuzz growing, sneak into Dad's bathroom borrow Bic disposable razor, scrape fuzz away, end of story. No teaching or direction ever really provided.

Glad your able to get your razor shaving again, honing for me has been a bear to get a hang of. I to have the 4/8k but i also added the King 1k from Lee Valley. Several instructors and multiple attempts I am finally getting a good shavable razor when I hone but part of me still thinks that might be beginners luck.

Well Welocme and you are correct there is a ton of great information and even greater people all willing to give some time to making your journey a better one

Derrick

This is fantastic. I'm glad you've joined...one more person at the Canadian meets!

I enjoyed reading your intro. It sounds like you have really climbed a mountain in your short time with a straight razor, good for you.

Glen's videos are awesome. There are evening when I watch them over again, just for fun (ok maybe that sounds odd...but whatever).

Now....for another awesome video, jump on over to the Stropping sub-forum and check out AFDavis11's video on the paddle strop. The smoothest flip I've ever seen. Seriously.

Ask questions man....and we'll answer as best we can.

Cheers,
Nathan

Thanks guys for the welcome!
I'm sure that there's a lot of straight razor mountain left for me to climb, but it's good to know there's folks out there to help.

Though after watching that AFDavis video I'm seriously doubting my dexterity on the strop!

Regards,
Rejean

P.S. As for those Canadian meets, keep me posted.

Welcome to SRP Rejean, and thanks for sharing your story it was a good read. Great to hear it had a happy ending (or beginning depending on how you look at it).

Anyway, it is now time you post pictures of your razor............

:gl:

Stu