Things I've learned or How I am no longer a beginner (Almost)

My story:
I got into straight razor shaving for all the normal reasons that everyone lists, less irritation, less cost, tradition and just dang coolness. I started out with a 5/8 half hollow Dovo. Enjoyed it quite a bit after some terrible experiences with a disposable blade straight. When it got dull I got frustrated and sent it out. When it came back it was S-H-A-R-P. Had WAYYY better shaves but only for a little bit. Then i started buying razors...(what did I mention about saving money?).
Now i have over a dozen, Mostly vintage, a few wedges, alot of full hollows (should have started here), all kinds too, Bokers, dovos, wade and Butchers, you name it.
I realized that the problem is my blade maintenance. Either I am an idiot and cannot strop my way out of a paper bag or I cannot hone. Either way I just cant keep the edges finely tuned. I bought a Norton 4k/8k, 220, 320 dmt, 12k Chinese and still I had/have problems, went to, new 3" walking horse strop(s), still had problems, watched lynn's videos 200 times, had problems. I mean they are sharp man but they just are a bit coarse on the face. They shave arm hair fine etc but just not sharp enough..or maybe I'm to delicate.. Any way I decided to give the disposable a try again and went to lord blades.. WOW, this was a big difference. Pretty dang good shave for quote a while although I always had a couple tiny tiny weeps if I wasnt uber careful. This brought me to the conclusion that SHARP is better. I went and got something like this one from a guy in england. It takes DE blades. Amazon.com: MD Master Razor: Health & Personal Care The idea was to start getting away from lord blades to try the MULTITUDE of DE blades available. If you look for single edges mostly you find crap or lords. So I got that thing and got a pack of DE feathers.

MAN, those feathers are AWESOME. I honestly love that razor and blade combo. The razor is so sharp I swear it looks at my facial hairs on my face and they jump off in respect. But seriously I love it. I just wished it came in a longer blade.... SOOOOOO
I went and got a feather AC. I found a guy on craigslist had one for $60 (Brand new in box) so i had to buy it right?
I got 1 blade with it as well wrapped in tissue paper. Well suffice it to say I am thinking of selling all my straights now. I read post after post about how ungodly sharp they are, be careful, blah blah blah. Just don't move it parallel to your face at all and you are fine.

During all this I got a barber's chair and have been shaving my buddys for practice and they all agree, Lords are smooth, feathers are silky.

Long story short. I have come to terms with not being able to maintain my straights and I'm ok with that. The feather leaves my skin irritation free, I do less passes and it is pretty dang cheap. I think I got 9 shaves on one blade. Yeah its sharp.

My tips for my sensitive skin,
Wash, hot towel, pre shave oil (olive), cream of choice, shave, warm towel to clean, cool towel to tighten, ALUM block, balm, beer.
beer.

Closing thoughts, wish I had a hone daddy in my neighborhood to teach me/examine my technique
Wish I had gone full hollow to begin with.
Wish I had bought a feather to begin with.
Wish I had started with pre shave oil.
Wish I was an Oscar Meyer.... (what?)

Hope this helps some beginners.

Larry at whipped dog will send you a razor to hone and return to him for evaluation of your honing. I think it's $7, he ends up with a honed razor even if it needs to be touched up, you get good feedback.

First off, it's great that you've found something that really works for you and that you can enjoy.

I do find it interesting, though, that your advice to beginners is essentially 'don't bother -- it's not worth the effort' and I would disagree with that.

I doubt that you're genuinely unable to maintain a razor, after all, everyone else who hones has managed it. I think that you just haven't found the best way of learning. Obviously there was something about Lynn's videos that weren't working for you -- did you try different videos or try finding a mentor that can teach you directly?

All I'm saying is that you seem to have been trying to persevere with a method that clearly wasn't helping you, when you needed to change your approach instead.

Think of it as trying to learn a language with a dictionary alone, for example. You can buy as many hones (or dictionaries) as you want but if you don't have your basics down, you'll never progress.

I would recommend finding someone to personally teach you because, once you're able to do it properly, you'll reap the benefits.

Alternatively you could stick with your current setup as you seem to be getting along well with it. I still don't agree that giving up makes you any less of a beginner at what you were trying to do, though.

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Originally Posted by PigHog

First off, it's great that you've found something that really works for you and that you can enjoy.

I do find it interesting, though, that your advice to beginners is essentially 'don't bother -- it's not worth the effort' and I would disagree with that.

I doubt that you're genuinely unable to maintain a razor, after all, everyone else who hones has managed it. I think that you just haven't found the best way of learning. Obviously there was something about Lynn's videos that weren't working for you -- did you try different videos or try finding a mentor that can teach you directly?

All I'm saying is that you seem to have been trying to persevere with a method that clearly wasn't helping you, when you needed to change your approach instead.

Think of it as trying to learn a language with a dictionary alone, for example. You can buy as many hones (or dictionaries) as you want but if you don't have your basics down, you'll never progress.

I would recommend finding someone to personally teach you because, once you're able to do it properly, you'll reap the benefits.

Alternatively you could stick with your current setup as you seem to be getting along well with it. I still don't agree that giving up makes you any less of a beginner at what you were trying to do, though.

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Oh man, Im sorry it sounded like "just give up"!

As far as advice I really meant to get across to beginners, all I wanted to stress is it can never be sharp enough.

Honestly I love real razors, its just that , at least for now, I cannot maintain them and yes I have pretty much given up. I honestly want to encourage all others to give it a go. Like you said everyone else can do it so it is possible!

Trust me , Larry and me are close already, he has honed and sold me quite a few things, great guy too.
I have even watched Glen's videos on here and read tons of his posts. I can get em sharp but not as sharp as he can. Maybe I need another stone? I dunno but for anyone interested in a Feather, don't be worried, be slow and precise but not worried.

I had the opposite experience. When I was having some trouble honing a blade, I decided to try my shavette with a new feather. And was contemplating packing it in. Im really glad the shave was uncomfortable as it reminded me why I was trying something new. I used a shavette for 6 years. Never got bbs on the neck and couldn't handle daily shaves from it. It took me three months of daily shaving to get the bbs on the neck every day! I like the fact that you can customize the blade to your comfort. I learned to hone from Lynns video and the great folks on this site who are very generous with good advice. I believe anybody can learn to hone a razor. If you start out with a bunch of ebay specials like I did, then you have your hands full! But I also had 2 new straights that I bought that were very easy to maintain and that was my benchmark. Im a happy man now, I shave daily, bbs every day. And many thanks to the forum here for making it all possible.

Fair enough...now that you put it like that, I see your point.

Bear in mind, I think, that both Glen and Lynn have have many years of experience at honing razors. You'll be lucky to get edges of a similar quality after such a relatively short period of time.

I don't use them, nor have I been honing for long myself, with only a handful of blades under my belt, but you could try using pastes or sprays? Other than that, I would say keep practicing, even if you don't shave regularly with those razors because that's where you'll get better.

You can buy another dictionary but what good is it if you can't put those words into a sentence?

Sorry you haven't been able to maintain your edge. Are those straights and that strop going cheap? Sorry I couldn't resist. I strongly feel that the learning curve on straights is directly related to how good you work with your hands. It's kind of like athletics and some people just pick it up faster, however that doesn't mean you can't learn to play and have fun. Maybe hang on to your gear for a bit and come back to it later.

I empathize with you. I started shaving with a straight about 7 months ago and was loving the shaves - but those were all honed by others. Back in December I bought a hone and it has given me so many headaches! (Many thanks to tylerbrycen for helping me get the hang of it...or doing his best to instruct me) After my razors began dulling I reached for a DE, but didn't like them...until I found feathers. Having taken a 3rd job, I was swamped and resorted to a DE for most of my daily shaves.

The point being, I believe all types of razors have a specific place and time but you should use what you enjoy. It's not always best to "give up" on something new before you've adequately honed your skills (no pun intended) so it may be worth it to keep trying your luck at honing. My skills still suck but I force myself to keep at it because I enjoy it. I'm confident that all of my fumbling sound with the stone I picked up will be worth it in the end - after all, all that fumbling with a straight paid off.... I'm no master but I've sure gotten better at shaving.

No doubt honing takes trial and error. It is also mind-numbing at times. Everyone has different taste's. Glad you found your type of blade. I tried shaving with DE blades once threw them all out and will never return. Goes both ways. I can also definitely say all of my razors I shave with are sharp enough. If not I touch them up and they are well sharp enough. One problem you may have is you really have to try different hones to get the sharp you like. If machine sharpened is what you enjoy then stick with it, try to enjoy the process of shaving, not just enjoy the after effects. Good luck!

I personally prefer a straight razor; it's typically time constraints that make me reach for the double edge. On top of that, I only really plan on keeping the de blades around long enough to learn how to hone well... My preferences definitely lean toward the traditional straight razor so I view the de as substitute (when needed). Having said that, I think everyone here would rather see you participate in traditional shaving - regardless of your blade of choice - than use disposables.