Thread: Preparing a home for new razor

Thanx, and see I would have thought they were all shaving sharp! I'll dig it out of the drawer, its for Christmas and I was pretending I wasn't going to shave with it again until Xmas.

Originally Posted by AFDavis11

Well I'm with RichZ on the stropping after shaving, hopefully you'll see different opinions on many issues. I assume your real question is "Is it better to strop after shaving?" and I hope you see that my answer is "I don't know but I don't do it". To give you an even stranger view on hones I've decided to stop worrying about what grit they are and just focus on the results they produce. I would be shocked if you couldn't do a search on Swaty and not come up with a grit for it. Randy could probably tell you to the tenth degree. I prefer to just classify them as finishing hones. So I believe that for simplicity sake you only need one finishing hone and with .5 paste even that might get debated. I wouldn't spend $40 on a finishing hone, especially if I had .5 paste around. Now I don't know squat about the Shapton, but I would think a 12,000 grit hone would be the bomb diggity. As you can imagine I would put it right after the 8,000 Norton and before the .5 paste. To be real honest I would probably skip the 8,000 all together but I can get a razor near shaving with just a 4,000. But thats another story. I bought a good microscope but didn't like it. I thought the Radioshack was better. Why? Seemed to be better at looking at a razor and I didn't have to fight the Bisquick (gf daughter) for time on it. Although she kept begging me to nick myself so she could look at the blood. The radio shack microscope is $10. You can't even park in my town for $10, so the choice is yours, just don't complain if you can't see your blade well enough on some $100 whiz banger. Unless the blades are "singing" you don't need a stereo microscope...HA, sorry a little straight razor humor there!

I did a search for ya on Swaty and Randy says Swatys are 8-10K grit, thats 8,000 to 10,000.

Yes I remember when I had a microsope when I was a kid, one of the experiments was to prick yourself with a pin and put the blood under the scope. I could never find the courage to deliberately poke myself with the pin though!
On the subject of before versus after, I've read so many different things. I've read the theory you have to let the edge grow by letting it rest. Now I know if you water it, it'll grow (rust that is). But has anyone with one of those high powered scopes actually seen evidence of this? Or is this an old barber's tale? I've also read that by letting it rest that the razor's edge acts like memory metal and straightens itself. (I'm curious if anyone has actually seen this too) On the other side I've read the theory that by stropping after, you remove all traces of water along the edge thus ensuring no microscopic rust gets a toehold. (Makes sense, though I think a dry cloth, a hairdryer and a squirt of wd40 might attain the same result) Finally I've read it doesn't matter either way. I've also had a barber tell me that the reason he strops so quickly is so that the edge gets heated by the strop! (However I did not get an explanation as to why this was a good thing)
Do the singing edged ones actually sing? I read something about plucking the edge and it makes a tone. I'd be afraid to try it, but I am curious what it would sound like.

Originally Posted by Ravenflight

On the subject of before versus after, I've read so many different things. I've read the theory you have to let the edge grow by letting it rest. Now I know if you water it, it'll grow (rust that is). But has anyone with one of those high powered scopes actually seen evidence of this? Or is this an old barber's tale?

In another thread entitled The Grand Experiment we are looking at the benefits of stropping after and initial results support the idea that it is good for extending the life of the edge.

Originally Posted by Ravenflight

Do the singing edged ones actually sing? I read something about plucking the edge and it makes a tone. I'd be afraid to try it, but I am curious what it would sound like.

Yeah, they kinda ring on the strop and sometimes during shaving too.

X

[QUOTE=Ravenflight
Do the singing edged ones actually sing? I read something about plucking the edge and it makes a tone. I'd be afraid to try it, but I am curious what it would sound like.[/QUOTE]

If you have a singing blade, you can try this by blowing sharply in the edge, it will produce ringing sound. Mind, not every full holow ground will sing, only the extra hollow... The one razor I had, and was able to do this was my Satinedge...

nenad

Originally Posted by superfly

If you have a singing blade, you can try this by blowing sharply in the edge, it will produce ringing sound. Mind, not every full holow ground will sing, only the extra hollow... The one razor I had, and was able to do this was my Satinedge...

nenad

Damn, now I'm going to have to buy a second razor. Wouldn't want the one I'm getting to get lonely singing all by itself. I wonder if the TI's and the Dovo's sing differently. I begin to see why they might need rest though if they sing and shave at the same time! Fortunately my birthday is in January. My wife got a beautiful diamond for her birthday (which she claims was singing to her, but that's a different story) so maybe she'll be feeling generous....

Your on the right track, atleast with you attitude. Most of your other questions are subjects which have not been proven. But I will caution you on this, one of the reasons most of us love straight razors is because they are tools and works of art. They are tools because it is not just a slab of steel. It is not just a slab of steel that is sharp either. It almost has additional, albeit non-moving, parts. There is much more to it. Its like a sculpture with purpose. A lot of this is counter-intuitive. I don't think anyone has ever actually disproven some of those "wives tales" either. I think heating the blade is good for shaving and stropping making the blade slightly more maleable. In fact, I sometimes hone with a heated blade with hot water. Also, some people will no doubt get better results stropping after a shave and some won't. This is because of how many passes they make or how well they cleaned the blade the last time, or their stropping technique. Its really like asking the question "Is it bad to down shift?" And someone replying "Well, yes and no and maybe" So is it bad for a new driver to down shift? Yes, it could be, even more so for the new driver than the experienced one. Or the guy that says "No" and watches you drop his transmission from a "miss" shift.

I would always recommend a second razor, but its more for convience. When one blade is a little dull you have a back up. I'm always going into the bathroom with two, just in case. I'm sure a real honemeister just walks in with one, cuz he knows it's wicked sharp. Me, mine are usually just sharp.

Those wives tales. . . if I told you what I think some metalurgist will just jump in here and rip me a new one. But I choose to believe them, not because they make sense but because of what happens when I try to shave with the same blade two days in a row. And I want to believe it, and yet I like the mystery behind it. Its like believing in the force. I strop on linen first too, wait till you see what that conversation can start. I think that is one thing you should decide for yourself. And, get yourself a hone and only strop before shaving. That way you can hone just a little more often...trust me, the practice is more important than stretching out the blade life. We'll see if you can follow my advice though (stropping is actually a lot of fun).

I suggest reading all this stuff and trying it all (with the exception of scything motions...lol) Its meant to be fun and a learning activity as well. There are atleast 10 guys on this site that are truely experts in this stuff and every once in a while they will just shoot off the real answer, but in the meantime its fun to chat about it. So, to answer your question. Yes, I believe those wives tales, because I choose to believe. I let my razors rest, I do not strop after shaving, I use linen first. I even use a touch of pressure on the strops and hones sometimes when no one is looking. I do not use soap, only the finest creams and I do not use aftershave. . . ever. I also downshift.

Well, I've been doing a lot of reading, here and at various other sites before I finally dived in. All that reading left me with more questions. Unfortunately I didn't ask any till I discovered there was actually a Mac friendly version of this site (why this   under a tab for Mac users I don't know). For the past couple months I was reading the Yahoo healthgroups version without any organized grouping of threads- just reading thousands of posts as they came in- trying to follow it all. Then I stumbled over here and the forums actually work and everything is grouped semi-logically. Mac straight-razor Nirvana! Who knew?
Anyway... Now I'm here.
I figure if I can't go shopping (having sent the last of my disposable income off to Ray) might as well join the fray and get some questions answered.

That sounds like a good idea. Its odd that we would have this conversation without anyone else commenting. I don't want you to think that my comments are "correct". Just my opinions. You'll get more comments, its slower during the holidays. Some of this stuff you just gotta try for yourself. Its really the practice that is the key and the quality of the shave. For example I use a little pressure (just enough to feel a pull) when I strop. The quality of my shave tells ME that is what I should do. Others will tell you never to do that, and their correct. So what do I do? I get the highest quality shave I can get, regardless.

I suspect it's because none of my posts appear on the other 2 versions of the forums. I know they're not appearing over on the Yahoo healthgroups. Just as well really. Perhaps by the time they make the main forum Mac compatible I'll know what I'm doing, have become a true Honemeister, and only the select few lucky ones (that log in here) will have reached the conclusion that I'm an idiot instead.

Yea, well its ok, I've been at it for two years and I'm still in the same boat. :-) Those other sites aren't really very good. They are sort of the baseline testbeds of this site. Both were created by Lynn. How a newbie would learn without the search function of this site is beyond me. The odd thing about this site is all the people are just so "normal" and cool. Some of those other sites are like visiting an asylum.