Thread: high from the isle of man

hi i am dave from the isle of man aka leadpig
i have been using a shavette for 9 months or so and want to upgrade to a proper straight blade.
and have decided on a Invisible Edge Clasic as i believe there made buy dovo.
the thing i am not so sure about is what strop/pastes to get,i was looking at the 3" paddle board they have on there but £32 seems a lot for a bit of wood and leather although if it lasts i supose its worth it
i also have no idea about the pastes or hones,the chinese water stone looks good value but are they any good

thanks dave

Hi Dave, welcome to SRP. Steve at the Invisible Edge is a good honer and assuming you are ordering you razor shave ready it should not need honing or a touch up for some time. I like a hanging strop as a daily driver. For me a paddle is an adjunct to the hanger. Usually what I might put some paste or chrom-ox on. I don't paste my main strop at all. I think the preferences I've expressed are shared by most straight razor shavers and that is what I would recommend to you.

Ask Steve about his strops or give Neil Miller a looksee at the StropShopUK. Neil is also quite a good honer. I wouldn't worry about hones or pastes until you've gotten past the learning curve of shaving with a 'real' straight razor. The shavette is probably similar but I don't think it is quite the same. Just IMHO.

G'Day Dave and welcome.
I don't suppose you ride a motorcycle, do you?
I've always wanted to ride the circuit there.
+1 to Jimmy's post above.

Welcome, Dave. So you live in the craziest racing venue in the world, eh? Jimmy speaks the truth.
I recommend a hanging strop. Start with something less expensive and once you are confident in your stropping skills,
get a good one. Neil Miller is the best. Read and ask here and on the various subforums, learn to strop and shave with a shave-ready. Leave off the hones until you learn a bit. Doing everything at once can be overwhelming (and sometimes disappointing!). Many times going through older threads on a subject answers questions as well!
We all are always learning here!
Good Luck!
Tom

Wow! you're at the Heart of British Shaving!! Vulfix Shaving Brushes!! Do they have an outlet shop that might be able to help you out!!
Must be hard going on a motorcycle with all those "Badgers" running wild!!(:-) !

Originally Posted by Johnus

Wow! you're at the Heart of British Shaving!! Vulfix Shaving Brushes!! Do they have an outlet shop that might be able to help you out!!
Must be hard going on a motorcycle with all those "Badgers" running wild!!(:-) !

no badgers on the iom m8,or foxes or deer or squirrels

Originally Posted by Havachat45

G'Day Dave and welcome.
I don't suppose you ride a motorcycle, do you?
I've always wanted to ride the circuit there.
+1 to Jimmy's post above.

used to bud,mrs is not keen on me riding though,reparing bikes gets expensive

Sorry to disagree with other experienced members, but a hanging strop is not such easy to use. If you never stropped, you will take the risk to destroy the edge of your straight with it. Choos a paddle, learn how it works, then after some months you could feel the interest to try a hanging one. Personally, after several years I still use the paddle.

Originally Posted by sharptonn

Welcome, Dave. So you live in the craziest racing venue in the world, eh? Jimmy speaks the truth.
I recommend a hanging strop. Start with something less expensive and once you are confident in your stropping skills,
get a good one. Neil Miller is the best. Read and ask here and on the various subforums, learn to strop and shave with a shave-ready. Leave off the hones until you learn a bit. Doing everything at once can be overwhelming (and sometimes disappointing!). Many times going through older threads on a subject answers questions as well!
We all are always learning here!
Good Luck!
Tom

i was only thinking of getting a touch up hone for between strops,will probably send it to get done profesionaly when it gets to dull

Originally Posted by Sterm

Sorry to disagree with other experienced members, but a hanging strop is not such easy to use. If you never stropped, you will take the risk to destroy the edge of your straight with it. Choos a paddle, learn how it works, then after some months you could feel the interest to try a hanging one. Personally, after several years I still use the paddle.

Hi Dave/LeadPig, my intro thread in this section is pretty similar I think: thinking of buying a straight razor from Invisible Edge, how do I keep it shave-worthy for a while without buying everything all at once.

An interesting point above Sterm. I read another post on SRP where someone talked about using a strop on a table. If Dave (or I ) bought a hanging strop, but laid it on a table when we were using it to start with, would that lessen the risk of destroying the edge?