Thread: On the road with Ralf Aust

A couple of weeks ago I ordered and received this new Ralf Aust 6/8 French point razor with horn scales. Needless to say, the razor is just beautiful. I ordered the Ralf Aust because I didn't have one yet. I wanted the French point for the same reason. And I wanted the 6/8 for ease of use.

I must be getting cranky as age advances along, or I'm getting pretty good at honing my own edges. The SRD edge isn't working for me after 4 shaves with the blade. So tomorrow out comes the Coticule, Arkansas Hard Black, and the Zulu Grey. I'll report back later how it all worked out.

BTW, tomorrow have a new Dan's Whetstone True Hard being delivered. More on that later in another forum thread.

If I were in that situation,,, I would do 6-8 light strokes on the coticule with water,, then strop & test. If still not there,,, 50 light strokes on the Zulu with water, strop & test.

You could probably keep the two stones right there on the counter, wet as you shave.

Just my thoughts

I will take your advice and try what you say. I need to have it good to go by tomorrow night. Then I'm out for another 10-15 days, and I don't take my big stones to the truck. I do have my small travel stones (Coticule and Ark. Translucent).

If that coticule gets it back in line,,, then just a coticule & strop should do on the trip.

Originally Posted by Hirlau

If that coticule gets it back in line,,, then just a coticule & strop should do on the trip.

A man could do a lot worse... Aust, Coti, and a strop.

I hear ya,,,,

UPDATE: Hirlau, I took half your advice. I figured the blade couldn't be that bad, so I skipped the Coticule phase of the process. I started at the end of the progression and if need be I could work backwards. Now I absolutely love my Zulu Grey. It is so hard, smooth, dense. No matter what I finish with, Coticule or Arkansas Hard Black, Translucent, I'll eventually come back to the Zulu to refresh. Whenever I use the Zulu I always use it dry. Compliments to Michael C. for that tidbit. So when I got to moving yesterday morning I commensed to laying down strokes. I can't say how many I put down while I was watching TV, but after a couple of hours, probably nearing 500 strokes. The shave was fabulous, smooth, sharp without too much keenness. More like a Coticule's edge. Simply wonderful. Now I not only have a beautiful Ralf Aust razor, it is now beautiful to shave with.

BTW, I received my new Arkansas True Hard from Dan's Whetstone yesterday. More later in a different forum thread.

500 strokes on a Zulu, I think you set a record.

My Ralf Aust from SRD was brutally sharp, and a bit harsh. So what I did was to run it over my thumb nail, then plenty of stropping on plain fabric, and then plain leather maybe 300 strokes. It feels great now. I would argue that it's as sharp as before, just much smoother on the skin.