Japanese Straight Razor Diary

Dear Diary:

Day 1 with a finished and honed jstr8. I took it for a ride this morning with valobra and it performed beautifully. Nary a nick. Smoother than my other razors and much more complicated to use. On the flip side honing the blade gave me an insight into how the razor should be used. I really enjoyed the exercise this morning and I hope that it will continue to get easier. I finished and polished the razor on newspaper with 80 laps on leather. Note: When honing, stroping, or finishing on newspaper use short strokes no more than 2" and upto 4" on leather. Canvas doesn't do much and the newspaper must be used as a hone not a strop.

Back to the show:

For those of you that have been interested in Jstr8s and not sure what we are referring to when we say complicated try this exercise. Take a standard No.2 pencil. Place it eraser (rubber) side in your hand so that the eraser (rubber) is just above, that is toward your hand, the first knuckle on your thumb. Mark the end of your thumb on the pencil. Cut off that portion and discard. From one end of the rest of the pencil measure back about 1-1/2". Draw a line with a black marker all he way around the pencil. Mark one side sharp.

Go into the bathroom and try to "shave" keeping the "sharp" side to your face. :gl:

I know that this does not take into account that the blade is flat etc. but if you want to take the time then use a popsicle stick I do not think there will be much to discard there.

Like anything else that seems complicated after a while you realize its just getting used to a new routine. Well, wait maybe they are complicated after all but with time you'll be shaving with one like a pro. Heck the rest of us use one successfully so, you will too.

Day 2:

Dear Diary,
As I usually shave every other day I figured for the purposes of practice that I would shave every day. So this mornings shave with minimal stubble was good. I am sussing out problems as I find them. One of the hardest is keeping the concave side on the out side. My trouble spots still remain the 1" on the jaw line from the chin to the ear on both sides. With a regular or Jstr8 I just cannot figure that spot out.
Going against the grain is interesting as well and I find that almost standing the razor up helps tremendously. Today I used MB Barbershoppe and Skin Bracer Blue. I did not like the cushion that MB had when compared to Valobra. As far as burn goes there was a little more than usual which I noticed with the alcohol.

To the post:
The reason that I decided to write these entries was that I keep reading about people that want to try but are afraid or do not really know how. Well hopefully by reading these entries and asking questions more people will at least try and then sell me the Jstr8:) when they do not like it. I hope that these are informative enough for everyone.

Day 3 - Final Day

Dear Diary:

Today I kept the writing, kanji, toward my face which is what you are supposed to do. I was amazed at the amount of stubble that was collected. It is getting easier to keep the razor poised in this fashion, but it is still awkward. I used Bigelow and Old Spicec for an A/S. The burn I was anticipating was barely noticeable. Out of the three I would say that the Valobra had the best shave for the JStr8.

Back to the show:
For new people I will give this advice.
If you need to hone a razor that has a decent but not breadknifed edge start with a 12k. Place the 12k on the floor or a lower surface. Using about 2-3" of the stone do 21 laps(One lap being North then south WITHOUT flipping the blade) on the kanji side and 7 laps and the other side keeping as much downward pressure on the edge of the blade during the entire process. Do not put your weight on the blade but enough weight to keep the edge in contact with the stone. You may have to do 5 or 8 sets to get a good edge.
I finished mine on news paper. I wrapped a piece around a stone and repeated the same process as above without the weight. I used enough pressure to ensure the blade was resting on the paper by holding the handle of the blade. Right now the edge is so polished that when I hold my thumb up to it I can see the reflection of my thumb in the edge.
If you need to strop select a 4" part of our strop and with the kanji side down using the same pressure as the newspaper. Do 21 strokes going north and then flip the razor and do 7 going south repeat as necessary.

I would recomend a finer grit stone maybe a 16 or 24 I have not tried this but I suspect that it may help to finish the edge even though there are few scratches remaining.

Enjoy and thanks for letting me share.