Thread: Preparing a home for new razor

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.

I like this site better because the topics are grouped and the search function works much better. But one other thing that I REALLY like is that there are no political diatribes on this site. The site's theme is str8 shaving, not politics!