Page 1 of 3 123 LastLast
Results 1 to 10 of 27
Like Tree11Likes

Thread: Barber rolled edge Nooooooo....

  1. #1
    Senior Member Crackers's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2013
    Posts
    314
    Thanked: 49

    Default Barber rolled edge Nooooooo....

    So the last time I was at the barber I said I would bring in my straight and have a shave. The mirrors are nice and big and the lighting is better than the small unit we rent. I spent the morning retouching the edge and had it popping hairs nicely on the test. So in I go and set everything up, there were a few punters and some young kids taking an interest. The shop has a good atmosphere and everyone generally kidds around. To the point of the story, I have my strop attached to a balsa board with hair elastics stolen from SWOMBO as I just like the feel of a mounted strop. The barber has had a look at my technique and gone no mate you should do it this way removed the strop and told me to hold it. He then proceeded to do what looks like a stropping motion from a film, big crashing fast strokes however I can hear the edge kind of grinding on the strop.


    I have not had a test shave with it yet but I did rub off a little strop dust because he had used it at such an obtuse angle. The art is dying gents, it is our duty to educate the world one shaver at a time. Oh well, back to the preverbal grindstone.
    A good lather is half the shave.

    William Hone

  2. #2
    Silky Smooth
    Join Date
    Sep 2008
    Location
    Southern California
    Posts
    798
    Thanked: 154

    Default

    Try shaving with it. Light pressure and an "obtuse" angle when stropping can create a very sharp and smooth edge by removing any trace of a bur. I do it all the time. It is not a beginner technique, but a barber is generally not a beginner.
    de gustibus non est disputandum



  3. #3
    Senior Member blabbermouth
    Join Date
    Nov 2010
    Location
    Pequea, Pennsylvania
    Posts
    2,290
    Thanked: 375

    Default

    Did you get that sinking feeling in your gut? So I guess you never did get to shave....
    I had a local Barber tell me if a razor had a chip in it, it was no good. He said it in such a way to lead me to believe that they were thrown away........
    Grazor likes this.
    CHRIS

  4. #4
    Senior Member Crackers's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2013
    Posts
    314
    Thanked: 49

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by JeffR View Post
    Try shaving with it. Light pressure and an "obtuse" angle when stropping can create a very sharp and smooth edge by removing any trace of a bur. I do it all the time. It is not a beginner technique, but a barber is generally not a beginner.
    Fair enough, I am going to give it a go. The strokes looked really aggressive and sounded like a lot of pressure was used. There was strop residue left on the blade which I have never had. The barber was in his mid 30's and In a previous conversation said that his dad had used a straight but he hadn't. It will be interesting to see if I have learnt something new. Even if I have not from him I will give the angle thing a crack JeffR.
    A good lather is half the shave.

    William Hone

  5. #5
    Truth is weirder than any fiction.. Grazor's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jun 2012
    Location
    Land of the long white cloud
    Posts
    2,946
    Thanked: 580

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Trimmy72 View Post
    Did you get that sinking feeling in your gut? So I guess you never did get to shave....
    I had a local Barber tell me if a razor had a chip in it, it was no good. He said it in such a way to lead me to believe that they were thrown away........
    I guess back in the day they weren't worth the effort to repair, especially if you were a barber. Just reach into the drawer and get the next one out. Tools of the trade, while not disposable as we think of items these days, were no doubt expendable.
    Into this house we're born, into this world we're thrown ~ Jim Morrison

  6. #6
    illegitimum non carborundum Utopian's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2008
    Location
    Rochester, MN
    Posts
    11,544
    Thanked: 3795
    Blog Entries
    1

    Default

    BUT...
    Back in the day few people wasted things so I would guess the chips had to be pretty large to justify the razor being discarded rather than repaired. Of course a barber would want to work with optimal tools but I doubt many would discard any that could be repaired.
    rolodave likes this.

  7. #7
    Senior Member blabbermouth
    Join Date
    Mar 2012
    Location
    Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada
    Posts
    17,250
    Thanked: 3221

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Crackers View Post
    The barber was in his mid 30's and In a previous conversation said that his dad had used a straight but he hadn't. JeffR.
    That is a little scary. I have watched shows on surgery but I wouldn't want to demonstrate to someone how to do it. Have you tried the blade after that stropping to see how it is?

    Bob
    Life is a terminal illness in the end

  8. #8
    Senior Member Crackers's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2013
    Posts
    314
    Thanked: 49

    Default

    No, have left the blade in the car because we went to the launch of Duff bear at Woolloomooloo hotel Sydney. Mmmmmm beer, will give it a go on Tursday to see.
    A good lather is half the shave.

    William Hone

  9. #9
    Senior Member blabbermouth
    Join Date
    Jul 2011
    Posts
    2,110
    Thanked: 458

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Trimmy72 View Post
    Did you get that sinking feeling in your gut? So I guess you never did get to shave....
    I had a local Barber tell me if a razor had a chip in it, it was no good. He said it in such a way to lead me to believe that they were thrown away........
    Could have been, there may have been enough around for it not to matter. When you see some of the old early 1900s boxes, though, they have prices like $3 or $2. That was a day's wage for unskilled labor and half a day's wage for skilled. I'd imagine they figured it wasn't worth hours to repair a razor when they probably didn't have the stones available to do it. First thing any of us would whip out is a big diamond hone, and they didn't have that option. Carborundum stones were probably available but a big one cost as much as a razor back then.

  10. #10
    'with that said' cudarunner's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2010
    Location
    Walla Walla in WA State USA
    Posts
    11,151
    Thanked: 4230

    Default

    Perhaps your shave will be less than satisfactory and perhaps because of your 'concept' of how the razor was stropped. Please check out this link!


    And Then The Story Behind the Man who was doing the stropping.


    Straight Razor Place - Conversation with Liam Finnegan

    'I' Never Judge A Book By It's Cover"
    Geezer, Grazor and Crackers like this.
    Our house is as Neil left it- an Aladdin’s cave of 'stuff'.

    Kim X

Page 1 of 3 123 LastLast

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •