Thread: Koraat razors

Originally Posted by shadowman12

For some reason my message was deleted while trying to edit. Yes Ulrik as told me to use tape when honing. I wonder do I also need to use tape when stropping on linen?

No, you don't.

By the way I right away ordered a new one with the specs you see in belows screenshot, but he seems to have a waiting time of 10weeks!

Since we are incredible busy at the moment, the production time is very high this time, about 10-12 weeks.

Originally Posted by shadowman12

For some reason my message was deleted while trying to edit. Yes Ulrik as told me to use tape when honing. I wonder do I also need to use tape when stropping on linen?

Koraat
http://imgur.com/a/v1yDTro
8/8
24kt gold plating
Snakewood scales
1/4 hollow

Originally Posted by alex1921

No, you don't.

Normally I wouldn't but with a 24kt gold plating I might just because natural linen is abrasive and I don't knot how resilient gold plating is.

I have zero experience with gold plated razors. I have even wondered how safe taping gold plating would be if I was honing someone else's gold plated razor. 24kt is pure gold and softer than lower kt gold. IMO there is no doubt that stropping on linen will eventually wear though the plating, how quickly is an unknown.

All of that said, here is another take on the question of whether stropping will damage the gold. Gold plating is there as a show of opulence. What could be more opulent than allowing the gold to wear naturally with normal use of the razor? I often find natural wear patterns to be attractive.

Hey all, Im a straight razor virgin and Ive just gone berserk and ordered a Koraat from Ulrik.

I know good sense dictates that I should be playing with starter razors and then slowly moving
up the ranks but good sense is not something I have a steady supply of....anyway I am excited
and eagerly looking forward to give this a go. I have been doing a lot of reading on all the
stuff that goes with the upkeep of a razor. 99% of my questions I just google and sure enough
it will lead me to a few threads here or elsewhere so it saves me the trouble of re-asking them.

I hope to benefit from the immense knowledge that this forum presents, once the razor arrives. Im in no
hurry to shave with it until I have everything I need and comfortable that I have covered all the basics..

Originally Posted by Tester28

Hey all, Im a straight razor virgin and Ive just gone berserk and ordered a Koraat from Ulrik.

I know good sense dictates that I should be playing with starter razors and then slowly moving
up the ranks but good sense is not something I have a steady supply of....anyway I am excited
and eagerly looking forward to give this a go. I have been doing a lot of reading on all the
stuff that goes with the upkeep of a razor. 99% of my questions I just google and sure enough
it will lead me to a few threads here or elsewhere so it saves me the trouble of re-asking them.

I hope to benefit from the immense knowledge that this forum presents, once the razor arrives. Im in no
hurry to shave with it until I have everything I need and comfortable that I have covered all the basics..

Welcome to the forum and good luck with your new Koraat. To my knowledge Koraats come decently shave ready. I would recommend learning to strop and stropping the razor before using it, though others suggest that newbies should shave first and then strop so that they can experience a good edge before dulling it with poor stropping. Either way you will need to get your stropping technique to a level of decent in short order. It's not hard IMO.

PS you can start thinking about your second razor in the mean time. It doesn't need to be an expensive razor. Having two razors to compare to one another, especially when you are learning, is a big help IMO.

Originally Posted by Tester28

Hey all, Im a straight razor virgin and Ive just gone berserk and ordered a Koraat from Ulrik.

The old saying is go big or go home! You've jumped right in! I heartily suggest you get another 1 or 2 less costly razors to serve as alternatives while you're developing new skills. Everyone needs at least two. Most have more than that

Thanks for the encouragement guys...I do plan to have two, eventually....Im impressed with
BRW razors as they look right up my street. He had two for sale yesterday but Im not in a rush.
He doesn't mention the grind of his razors though...does anyone know?

Ive watched many stropping videos and techniques and as long as I go slow at first, I think
I can make it. What has me a bit concerned is learning to hone by myself. As Im a minimalist
by nature and not a DIY person normally, Im still weighing up honing options.

I really liked the idea of getting a hard JNAT finishing stone and 4 grades of Mikawa Nagura
to do a progression. Ulrik informs me that he uses synthetics for his edges. He uses a Naniwa
3k/10K stone....former for bevel setting and latter for finishing. Then he uses CROX on a denim strop
and that's more or less it.

Initially I asked Ulrik for scales in light horn but Im thinking of paper micarta scales now....any thoughts on that
material?

Originally Posted by Tester28

Im impressed with
BRW razors as they look right up my street.
He doesn't mention the grind of his razors though...does anyone know?

He calls his grind a half hollow, but it shaves much like a full hollow. The one BRW that I tried was a very nice razor.

Originally Posted by Tester28

Ive watched many stropping videos and techniques and as long as I go slow at first, I think
I can make it. What has me a bit concerned is learning to hone by myself. As Im a minimalist
by nature and not a DIY person normally, Im still weighing up honing options.

I really liked the idea of getting a hard JNAT finishing stone and 4 grades of Mikawa Nagura
to do a progression. Ulrik informs me that he uses synthetics for his edges. He uses a Naniwa
3k/10K stone....former for bevel setting and latter for finishing. Then he uses CROX on a denim strop
and that's more or less it.

Shaving with a straight razor, stropping and honing all look deceptively easy to do but take more time to learn to do well than one would think.

There is a reason a lot of people use synthetic hones. Unlike natural hones you are dealing with known grit ratings which makes them easier to learn to hone on. If you don't badly mess up a shave ready edge, all you may need is a finishing hone like the 12K Naniwa to keep your edge going. OTH if you need to reset the edge you may need a full progression of hones starting at a 3k Naniwa on up to the 12K Naniwa.

I learned to hone by myself and it was a long and frustrating journey. You can eliminate some of the time and frustration if you have a forum member close to you who can give you one on one lessons. Mind you, once you have learned how to, it is a very satisfying experience much like finally learning to shave proficiently with a straight razor.

Bob