Thread: Life span of a Straight Razor?

A. How long before you need to hone it again (Major concern)
The number of factors for this are many; thickness of your beard, quality of the steel, etc. But in most cases you have to hone it at least once or twice in a year, so in this case I recommend you to use a finishing stone like the naniwa 12000, they are very consistent stones.

B. How long does a SR last before it becomes unusable
With good maintenance and care a straight razor can last a lifetime, It can be useful for generations, have you seen the wade & butcher razors? many of them have been manufactured in the 1800's, and Ive heard they are still wonderful shavers

C. How long before you strope it again?
Its very simple, you have to strop the razor before and after you shave, that aligns the edge of the razor and provide a final polishing in order to have a smooth shave. Stropping after the shave is very important because it cleanses the edge of the razor and you wont be risking to have rust or pitting on the edge

My mayor concern was also the honing because like in your case I dont have any honemeister in my city, so I started with the naniwa 12k., But then I purchased some vintage razors that didnt come shave ready so the naniwa was not enough for me, and I ended purchasing the norton 4k/8k and a Crox paste. If its very dificcult to you to buy a stone, I suggest you to but at least a barberhone, and some chromium oxide paste, but I must say that most people here prefer the naniwa 12k as a finisher because of its consistent results. And if you have only this stone you have to be very careful with your razor, because if you drop it or dull the edge you have to make a full honing and then you will need the norton 4k/8k,

cheers

You're right that we should look at dates before we respond. Using an iPhone the upper right corner seems to fade away on me!(:-) it was interesting reading anyway.