Thread: Hey from Slovenia (EU)

Wanted to get a straight razor for a while, but never got to it and actually do it till recently. Have read this forum few times and figured out it would be wiser to register as well.

Here goes my (straight razor) life story .

I actually did the non-advised sequence and decided to buy an old razor and make it work (took it as kind of a project, hoping to go well). After reading a bunch of tutorials etc I went to the antiques/flea market and bought 2 razors, got them cheap, i picked them out of a bunch (ap 20) due to my understanding of what condition the blade for restoring should be in (and is oc course easier to restore). I took the scales off and managed to clean 1 blade (the one with more wear) finished it with 2000 grit hand sanding and polishing, couldn't resist trying to hone it (as far as I can tell i smoothed some tiny nicks and finished with 8k grit, diamond, DMT, diafold) and stropped it with an old belt of mine. Went for a test cut at 2am and gave it a try for about 20 to 30 mins. Tried to do the whole face (I know against the common sense advices again) and ended up shaved (note that this was probably the worst shave i had in 15 years quality-wise ), I must say it was a nice experience, no cuts (well 2 blemishes got shortened just a bit). Scales for the first blade are (in the process of) being made (doussie wood), but I need to get washers and some wire. I intend to do the finish with linnen oil, the wood should be fairly resistable to moisture and fungi on its own as well.

As far as other things that I like are concerned, photography ( www.crnigoj.si ) and stunt kites are some of them.

Welcome Miha, that's a very brave story. I'm going to find some razors to restore at some point, but I'm not ready yet.

Anyway, feel free to ask questions, there are a lot of experienced people here.

Hello Pitrik,
Well the main problem of the extra shave was (due to apparent lack of technique) unsufficient sharpness. As mentioned before I homed with different grits of DMF Diafolds which are compared to stones narrower and shorter. I am planing to get a 10 or 12k 20 cm Nanwia, what are your suggestions on that, can sufficient sharpnes be acchieved on eg my DMT Diafolds? Is 8k enough, is there a considsrable difference between 10 and 12k stone? Do you think I should invest in another stone, like 4k or even a set of stones?
Any other suggestions would be great.
Thanks

Welcome Miha,
Enjoy your shaving journey.

Are the photos that you linked to, shot by you?
If so, they are beautiful & thanks for sharing them.

Welcome to SRP !

Welcome to SRP

Originally Posted by miha

Hello Pitrik,
Well the main problem of the extra shave was (due to apparent lack of technique) unsufficient sharpness. As mentioned before I homed with different grits of DMF Diafolds which are compared to stones narrower and shorter. I am planing to get a 10 or 12k 20 cm Nanwia, what are your suggestions on that, can sufficient sharpnes be acchieved on eg my DMT Diafolds? Is 8k enough, is there a considsrable difference between 10 and 12k stone? Do you think I should invest in another stone, like 4k or even a set of stones?
Any other suggestions would be great.
Thanks

From my limited experience:

Some people (myself included) feel you can get a razor shave-sharp with an 8K. I have a norton 4k/8k and I don't go higher than this. This is going to be something personal, as there are a lot of people that disagree, and would go higher/use different stones.

If you're trying to decide between a 10k and a 12k, personally I would go 12.

There is a lot of information in the library and I would suggest spending some time there, and asking questions in the "honing" sub forum.

Hope that helps a little,

Patrick

Hey guys,
Thanks for the welcome .
@Hirlaues those pics were shot by me glad you liked them
@Patrick/Pitrik: thanks, I will go with the 12k probably (it's hard to believe but ut costs 74$ in the Usa amazon.com and app120$ here, this article is unfortunately not shipped to Slovenia from amazon.com, nevermind ). I try to get as much info on the topic, read quite some on the honing and strapping topic also, when the razor will be finished I'll do some additional educating regardig this. I'm going to check the library, thanx for the link/info.

As for the restoration of the razor: i almost finished the scales today, but the problem is that brass wire is a bit hard to get, and washers/spacers even harder. I bought a 1 mm brass wire but am afraid it's too thin (btw, what are your recommendations on whickness of this wire (1 or 2 mm)? At first i thought i'd try with inox pining but i guess it is too hard. I saw (on folding knives) that torx screws (comming from both sides and join in the middle). What kind of other material for pinning would you recommend.

Enjoy !

Hi Miha, Welcome to SRP!
~Richard

..an update on my "restoration": scales not finished yet... alignment problems blade