Thread: thoughts for newbie shaving sucess

Which is why calling an Arkansas stone 600-1200 grit, while technically true, is quite misleading. I have personally honed e-bay razors (2 of them) to shave ready status on my two Arkansas stones--a soft white and a surgical black. I can attest that if you are willing to spend the time (they are VERY slow cutting stones), the surgical black has given me an edge that is comparable to that coming off of my coticule.

I no longer use them (the Arkansas stones) on my razors as I have other things to do with my limited time, but they will work and the more dense stones are quite capable of honing a straight.

Just another data point,
Ed

This thread has been great reading. A few posts in particular (#22 and #38) inspired me to write something. I'm still a new guy at the straight but I'll write a few things that may be of some use to another ng.
Honing is something I learned from the get go. I did some research first and found out pretty quickly that if a guy wants the smoothest transition to straight razor shaving, you gotta have a blade thats in a whole different league of sharp. They rarely come shave ready out of the box (I had purchased a new Dovo and a Thiers to prove that) so I purchased a Norton 4/8k and a few of Tony's strops. When the time came to make the transition, I had the tools that were needed. Razor honing is not the mystical complex skill that some make it out to be. Some consistency and genuine attention to what was happening on the hone was all that was required for me. Maybe I was lucky but my first attempt resulted in 2 shave ready razors.
Without a doubt the vast experience on these forums and Lynn's DVD were invaluable on this.
The icing on the cake is that after only 2 weeks of shaving with a straight, I am getting some amazing shaves. No, they arent perfect and I did get a few minor nicks, but the last 2 shaves have had zero nicks and less irritation than I have ever had from ANY other shaving style, electric and D.E. included.

It is worth it.

I'm with Dave_D, in that I'm new to the Straight. As of right now, Im using a beard and mustache trimmer to shave with, leaving massive amounts of stubble, which I dont mind as much as I mind the chronic irritation I get from multi-blade disposables. I went to the Barber today and decided to get a full shave along with my haircut. Needless to say, I've fallen in love. I plan to force myself to learn honing and stroping skills right from the start.

I have found this thread to be a very informative, and sometimes entertaining read. One thing that I dont think was touched on is quality of the blade. I have some experience with hunting knives/pocket-knives, and as long as not mis-used a better quality knife will maintain a better edge longer, than a knife made of poor steel. I'm sure all of you more learned straight razor users can either dispel or improve upon this, but i think the quality of the razor's steel would have alot to do with: shave quality, ease of honing, how often to strop, and probably many other variables in razor upkeep.

Originally Posted by thebigspendur

Well I'd like to put a monkey wrench into this discussion and maybe play devil's advocate but think about it, we all have to start somewhere and universally we buy the razor and the soap then the brush then the strop and then duh how do I sharpen this thing or keep it sharp or isn't it shave ready when I buy it or well I'll send it to lynn for sharpening and then what as it becomes dull?

Don't we all approach this thing from a backwards approach? Isn't honing one of the (if not the) most important and difficult things to master?

Maybe, just maybe we should worry about mastering honing before we think about actually using a straight. maybe we should recommend that newbees get an eboy special and a hone and go at it until they master the skill and then buy the real razor and all the other paraphanelia.

What do you all think about that eh?

I am just beginning and bought a dovo tortoise,an apprentice strop,a norton 4k/8k and a belgian( maybe a little too much). I honed my razor right away because it would pull instead of shave and I have it giving me a decent shave. I feel it may be better to have a razor that is not deadly sharp right away. I have made a few mistakes shaving(like not pulling my skin tight) and am glad that my razor did not grab me and give me a good cut. Now if it was deadly sharp I would probably have an 1 1/2 inch cut on my cheek right now.So, maybe learning slowly how to get a deadly sharp razor can be a good thing. As long as it is shaving you.

Hello there!

I just don't strop anymore...

But BBS every blessed morning...

That is an interesting idea. Maybe we should strop only once and a while.

Interesting thread. My whole shaving kit (including my very first straight) is still in the mail, but my only problem right now with buying honing gear and learning how to hone is the PRICE.

I don't think price was mentioned at all in the thread. The Norton 4/8 runs around $70, and a 12k another $70. So $140 for honing equipment. I dunno, that's kinda steep for me, I'd rather learn how to get a proper shave first (and yes I did order a shave ready Double Arrow from Kenrup).

For a new shaver all you need is a good barber hone such as the swaty, keen kutter etc, they can be found on ebay cheaply and will maintain an edge indefinately(its all I used for years and then I found SRP) The nortons, coticules , shaptons etc are for edge restoration and can be put off indefinately, unless you fail to maintain or ding your blade.

JMO It seems like there are a number of new guys buying stones they dont need, some of them are for razors they havent even used yet.

Originally Posted by nun2sharp

JMO It seems like there are a number of new guys buying stones they dont need, some of them are for razors they havent even used yet.

That is a keen observation. When I was first looking at SRP to find out what I needed in order to use my straight razor, I was under the impression that the best way to maintain my razor was with a strop and a 4k/8k Norton hone.

Originally Posted by nun2sharp

For a new shaver all you need is a good barber hone such as the swaty, keen kutter etc, they can be found on ebay cheaply and will maintain an edge indefinately(its all I used for years and then I found SRP) The nortons, coticules , shaptons etc are for edge restoration and can be put off indefinately, unless you fail to maintain or ding your blade.

JMO It seems like there are a number of new guys buying stones they dont need, some of them are for razors they havent even used yet.

Oooo interesting, what exactly is a barber hone?