Thread: Practice razor

Start with something you know CAN be honed. Imagine the frustration doing trial and error on a razor that can't actually take an edge!!

When I started to hone, I sent my practice razor to a professional for honing to begin, and learned to refresh it, and worked my way backwards in the progression.

Originally Posted by Andy77

Start with something you know CAN be honed. Imagine the frustration doing trial and error on a razor that can't actually take an edge!!

When I started to hone, I sent my practice razor to a professional for honing to begin, and learned to refresh it, and worked my way backwards in the progression.

Alright, so definitely not a Pakistani razor. What would you suggest?

Aloha!

I have had very good luck practicing on Gold Dollar razors from China. They take an edge very well and are actually quite good to shave with once you have honed them. They are also very inexpensive. Some you can get for free for buying other things like a strop or a brush. But be aware, the toe and heel shoulders on some models can be thick and this can block you from being able to lay the blade flat on the honing stone. Some of them need to be ground down before they can be honed correctly. My particular Gold Dollar razor was fine for honing right out of the box because the shoulders were already reduced at the factory.

You should be able to get a Gold Dollar on Amazon or aliexpress.com. As I said, they are very inexpensive. I've seen the Gold Dollar 66 model for as low as $2.99 US. I got mine free when I bought a travel strop.

I also have a Cutthroat Gents razor that I travel with because they are decent razors but if I lose them, I won't cry. These are also relatively inexpensive and have a better production finish than your standard Gold Dollar, but they can actually be much harder to hone. The blades warp easily and it is a bit difficult to give them a good honing without developing a wire edge. So these, IMO, are not good for beginners. I mention this because as Andy said, you need something that CAN be honed and that takes an edge well. You don't want to be in a position of doing everything right, but you think you are doing something wrong becuse the blade you have chosen won't take an edge easily, or at all.

-Zip

I started with mint vintage razors and a new Dovo. I wanted to learn about honing not learn how to trouble shoot junk razors. So known markers, perfect geometry, as in no wacky hone wear, and tape. The tape no. Tape debate rages on all the time, but that debate is for people that know what they are doing. Beginners need tape, until they get the process dialled in. In the beginning most put way way too much pressure on the spine. If you use tape, you wear the tape quickly, if not you stuff a razor. Use the very best razors you can find, and there are tons of them out there selling for under $60. They will not be from the best known makers, however there was once hundreds of makers just in Germany, most of them little known makers, all of them making great products. Barber supply houses had them marked for them, all unknown makers all of them great razors. Look around and you will see what I mean.