Thread: Hone practice

Where are the best places to get practice razors?

Perhaps a vintage razor with pitting on the blade ?

Originally Posted by Cattleman02

Where are the best places to get practice razors?

Nowhere!
Really no such thing as a practice razor. There is an inexpensive razor.
If you mean a s%@*ty razor to learn on then what are you going to learn from it if it has a wonky spine, won't hold an edge, has been buffed to death, etc,etc. and you have no clue what actually makes a good razor?
You want a vintage decent shape razor. There are thousands available if you look.
You can post a photo of something you are considering to see if it looks ok to those who have a better idea (not the value of what it is worth though - against the rules).

I say it and say it and say it

Learn to hone from the top down, but nope the "Grind'r till ya learn" is ingrained so deep it is useless

Learn to strop
Learn to maintain/refresh your edge, Many people never need to learn more
Walk your way slowly down the honing ladder if needed
The very last thing you should attempt is a Bevel set, that way you understand the "Touch" you need and the goal you're after


Or don't listen, and go grind out a few spines, and hone with heavy hands, like so many other have done before you

Thank you for the advise I appreciate it

Not enough can be said about in person learning and mentorship.
There are a number of guys that will help you via mail also.
Where are you at?

Originally Posted by Cattleman02

Where are the best places to get practice razors?

When you are just starting, they are all practice razors. Do you want to waste your time and money on a razor that will only be good for mimicking the motions of honing, stropping, and shaving, or would you rather have a vintage razor that is good for about 100 years worth of shaves, as well as learning with?

Start with a shave ready vintage razor. Actually shave ready, not internet shave ready. A razor in all respects ready to give you a good, comfortable shave, within the limits of your ability, made so by a member of the community, not some knife guy or some lady estate sale picker who doesn't even shave her face at all. First rule of thumb, never trust anyone to hone your razor who does not shave daily with a straight razor.

The catch 22 is to know a good edge, you must know how to shave, and to get a good shave, you must have a good edge. Developing honing and shaving skills together at the same time on the same razor is extremely difficult. Don't go there. And don't waste time with a razor that is impossible to make shave ready, or impossible for you to make shave ready.

Do you already have a strop and brush? A good soap or cream?

Don't rush in. Hang out, absorb knowledge. Look at pics and videos. Pick a mentor and do what he does exactly how he does it and with the same tools that he uses, to begin on a well trodden path with fewer traps and hazards than going at it freestyle, or mixing and matching techniques from various members or youtube influencers. Keep an eye on the BST for a shave ready razor. Don't try to hone your first razor yourself, and then learn how to shave with it. That more often than not leads to failure, and quitting.

Don't do ANYTHING without first watching a video or several of them. Do you have any idea of how many newbies try to strop their razor the way the actors do on old cowboy movies? Some guys don't even keep the spine on the strop. Some put too much slack in the strop and wail away at it like convicts clearing weeds out of a roadside ditch.

Here is a GREAT practice razor. A great razor altogether, actually.

I have ahem a few of this model and similar. A very ergonomic design. Easy to strop. Easy to hone. Easy to shave. You could "practice" with a $10 piece of worthless Pakistani junk made from an old refrigerator chassis, but it wouldn't teach you ANYTHING, because you can't shave with it. And then, when you lay it aside and get a proper razor whether new or vintage, but in either case shave ready, you will have wasted money on the RSO, or "Razor Shaped Object" that you bought for no valid reason whatsoever. Just my opinion, worth every cent you paid for it.

The problem with practicing is, how do you know you are practicing the right things the right way?....by shaving with it. If it's not good enough to shave with then you're wasting time and maybe reinforcing bad habits. If it is good enough to shave with then it's not really a "practice razor," is it?
As said, there are literally thousands, maybe millions out there for sale. Some of them are like plain old automobiles, say a Ford Taurus. Notexpensive, valuable or collectable, not sleek or sexy but they do their job just fine and will forever as long as you take care of it. Plenty of members here have more than they need, some have more than a major metropolitan area needs. A number of them sell on bst section, good place to look, or maybe even someone might just hook you up out of the kindness of their heart. I will say that you are well advised to take Glen's advice and learn to shave with a proper edge first, strop second, touch up/finish third and so forth back down the process. The very most difficult and also most critical part is the bevel set which comes first in the process.

Id recommend buying a couple vintage american razors. If they havent been ground hard on a stone they normally are straight and should make good practice razors.

But learn to shave and strop first. After a year you will understand so much more that learning to hone will be easier.

Trust me as I learn this the hard way like a lot of others. After about 3 years i finally learned to shave and hone. If id have started slow as Glenn said Id have learned to hone quicker.