Thread: Greetings from Malmö, Sweden!

Hello everyone!

I still can't believe how much time has passed since I created this account on SRP, please forgive me for not introducing myself earlier.
My name is Rolle and like the title of this thread states, I live in the third largest city of Sweden...called Malmö.
Needless to say I have been browsing this great forum ever since I bought my first copy of Mr. Lynn Abrams DVD.
The same DVD that inspired me to purchase a J.A. Henckels 5/8 carbon steel razor in pretty much new condition, though not shave-ready.
Instead of just buying a simple strop and sending away the razor for a honing service I decided to wait and save some money for a quality strop and some hones of my own.
In the meantime I have been enjoying great shaves with a Merkur HD safety razor and NOT so great shaves from a Dovo "Shavette".
That was 2 years ago...

Last month I finally made the decision to purchase some hardware and just last week it arrived.
One package from SRD with some leather goods and another package from the UK with a couple of hones.
My goal now will be to put the finest edge on this Henckels and hopefully pick up some good information and advice from the more experienced users of this forum.

Thank you for reading and I hope to meet many fellow enthusiasts of straight razor shaving.


Best regards,
/Rolle

Hej och välkommen!

Nice to see a fellow Swede. Please also join the SRP Nordic Group, you can find a link in my profile and I hope you like you're new hardware.

Tjänare och välkommen!

Sounds like you have planned your entry to straight shaving pretty well, but there are a couple advices I will give.

To learn to hone your own razors is in my opinion good, but before you jump into it you should get yourself a professionally honed razors so that you have something to compare your results to, second is that you really SHOULD get yourself a cheap strop to start with, you will almost for sure nick it in the beginning until you learn to strop properly, and IMO it's better to nick a cheap strop than a new expensive one.
Just my 2 cents.

Good luck!

Hej, och tack alla för det varma välkomnandet.
Hello and thank you everyone for the warm welcome.

bjsulla: I have now joined the group, thank you for the invitation!
Du är alltså från Luleå om jag läser rätt?
Synd att Malmö ligger så långt nere, hade varit skoj och träffa lite folk med samma intresse.

Zephyr: Thank you for the kind advice.
I did actually consider these issues before buying the strop/s & hones but...
It would have been nice to buy the razor shave-ready, unfortunately I am too stubborn and proud now to send it away.
I have confidence that with some patience, knowledge & practice I should be able to achieve some decent results myself.
The strop on the other hand will not be a big loss if I do nick or cut it badly.
It is of very good quality and still cheaper than those offered in Sweden & EU.

Förresten, Stabekk...räknas det som del av Oslo eller utanför?
Jag besökte Härjedalens kommun i sommras, är nog det närmaste jag har kommit till Norges gräns...hehe.

Originally Posted by Rolle

Förresten, Stabekk...räknas det som del av Oslo eller utanför?
Jag besökte Härjedalens kommun i sommras, är nog det närmaste jag har kommit till Norges gräns...hehe.

Det er de som hevder at du da faktisk har vært i Norge, selv om det er okkupert land

It is nice to see yet another Scandinavian on SRP, welcome!

Birnando: Touché! Du kan din historia...
Jag har inte rest speciellt mycket inom Sverige men oj vilket fint landskap!
Kan tänka mig att besöka Norge också nån gång i framtiden.

Thank you for the warm reception guys!

By the way, I tried my hand at honing the Henckels today...
The middle edge towards the heel came out decent but the rest is still rough.
The razor has a slight smiling spine & edge but that doesn't seem to be the problem since one side of the edge makes full contact on the hone from toe to heel.
The other side lacks full contact at the toe, I can see a small gap with my eyes.
Another problem with this particular razor is that the spine doesn't allow full contact of the edge if a regular x-stroke is utilized when honing or stropping.
This happens when using wide hones or strops I believe.
I hade to use a 45 degree x-stroke and swooping x-stroke.

Anyhow, I took it through the following progression with the result mentioned above:

Naniwa Chosera 1K
Naniwa SS 5K
Naniwa SS 8K
Naniwa SS 12K

About 10 laps on 0.5 micron Diamond Spray on felt.
About 10 laps on 0.5 micron Chromium Oxide Spray on felt.
About 50 laps on leather paddle strop.

I also have a photo of the razor for those who are curious to see it:

A Warm welcome from the Washington DC. All the best-J

Originally Posted by JohnnyCakeDC

A Warm welcome from the Washington DC. All the best-J

Thank you for the welcome Johnny!