Thread: thoughts for newbie shaving sucess

Sorry, I am not tekkie enough to download pics(Ineed to change that) but if you go to ebay and run a search on barber hones, you will probably find some, for that matter run a search here and see what happens.

Hi, I´m quite new to straight razors, and have looked for a place to hone my razors and so far with limited success (I live in Sweden).
And honing a razor seems to be quite an exact process, but I´ve found a great (in my opinion) tool called edge-pal which made it easy to achieve a very good edge with very good control of the angle, and it wasn´t that expensive. For trying I picked up some worn down bengalls at a local antique-shop and made new edges on them (I am by no means an expert). Now (4 days later) they are shave-sharp (Took som honing on a newspaper as well to achieve the hair-popping edge).So if you are not an experienced sharpener/honer (like me) it might help you to hone your razors.

Originally Posted by jonken

I´ve found a great (in my opinion) tool called edge-pal which made it easy to achieve a very good edge with very good control of the angle

Tools like that would be useful for general purpose sharpening, and I see no reason why you shouldn't use them on straight razors. But one of the things that attracted me to using a straight was the elegant simplicity of the design.

A hollow-ground razor comes with its own honing guide - the back of the razor itself! OK, it doesn't allow you to make and maintain a double bevel, but you don't really need/want to do that on a razor anyway.

A double bevel serves two purposes, it makes it easier to do regular touch-up sharpening without having to wear away lots of metal, and it gives the final cutting edge a slightly wider angle than the main grind, making it less likely to be damaged by heavy impacts/use.

On a hollow-ground straight razor the hollow grind already makes regular resharpening easy without having to wear away metal from the whole blade width. And there is no need to increase the angle of the cutting edge, as this has already been optimised for the only material the razor should ever be cutting - your beard.

So a double bevel is unnecessary and mostly undesirable.

I have to admit I'm theorycrafting here as I'm new to this, my actual honing results are probably no better than yours.

I've been shaving with a Merkur DE for a couple of years now & am interested in getting into a Straight. Is the shave actually closer with a straight? Also, I'm very cheap & even more so in this economy. Are there ANY straight razors that are good yet inexpensive? I would hate to spend $100+ on a razor & end up not using it. I think my wife would kill me too!

Bill

I have very recently started shaving with a straight razor, and I have had no trouble with it. I have watched several videos on the subject, and made sure that I was doing it exactly right, and had all of the proper equipment. I use a strop, a shaving brush, and I make my own foam from a mixture of shaving lotion, soap, and water, and, of course a stainless steel straight razor. The reason I use it is to trim around my beard. Nothing works better. Along the edges it will cut an even slice all around, and then shave the extra away. I have had no problems with it.

I am a newbie and the first thing I learned was to hone a razor properly. When I get a new razor, even "shave ready" I have to tune it to my face and beard, either by rehone the edge from 1,000 grits and up the grit scale or starting with 8,000 grits and up to final strop with horsehide. Honing does not require a college degree, only logic, low grits few strokes, high grits more strokes. The hardest honing razor I have encounted was the spanish Filarmonica, it must have Toledo steel, but after I finished with the hone it shaved great. While you learn how to hone, you are learning how to strop at the same time. Sometime you will encount a wire in the edge, german steel will do that sometime, I learned to spend more time with the 8,000 grits stone to eliminate the annoying edge wire. Read everybody's advise in honing, I read every instruction I could get my hands on and then I practiced honing, shave ready is the result. Juan.

Ok, I'm almost ashamed to post here, but I have never used a straight razor but have always wanted to. At 54, I don't grow a heavy beard, but would like at least the very basic instructions if someone would be kind enough to post them.

Where to get my first razor - who do I have sharpen it? What do I do first? I am confused on the terms, strop, paste....etc.

Would someone be willing to provided the ABCs for a "true" newbie?

Thanks
Michael

Originally Posted by mljoshua

Ok, I'm almost ashamed to post here, but I have never used a straight razor but have always wanted to. At 54, I don't grow a heavy beard, but would like at least the very basic instructions if someone would be kind enough to post them.

Where to get my first razor - who do I have sharpen it? What do I do first? I am confused on the terms, strop, paste....etc.

Would someone be willing to provided the ABCs for a "true" newbie?

Thanks
Michael

Read everything in this, Category:Beginners - Straight Razor Place Wiki.

Then read the rest of the wiki and watch the videos.

/ignore the sections on honing and restoration for now though Concentrate on one thing at a time.

Originally Posted by mljoshua

Ok, I'm almost ashamed to post here, but I have never used a straight razor but have always wanted to. At 54, I don't grow a heavy beard, but would like at least the very basic instructions if someone would be kind enough to post them.

Where to get my first razor - who do I have sharpen it? What do I do first? I am confused on the terms, strop, paste....etc.

Would someone be willing to provided the ABCs for a "true" newbie?

Thanks
Michael

The link to the Wiki is a good idea.

Terms is something you pick up, but the ones you mentioned:
1. a strop is a length of leather, you run the razor up and down it before you shave and it restores the edge. It doesn't sharpen, more reshapes.

2. paste is something that can be applied to strops, to give them polishing and sharpening properties. You still need a normal, unpasted strop. A pasted strop can be used as a final honing stage, or to refresh an edge.

What should you do first? Well, if I were you I would get down to Walmart and pic up the brush, bowl and soap kit they do, I believe it is $10. The general consensus is it's not GREAT stuff, but it does work. You might want to invest in a better soap, perhaps tabac or the straight razor designs (google them), as I understand the soap is the weakest link.

This will allow you to learn how to lather, and use the lather with your mach 3 or what ever, while you read up on the other stuff and choose what you want to purchase.

There are vendors on here who comes highly recommended for strops, Kenrup and Tony Miller both produce high quality, good value strops. Links to their websites are available in the vendors section on this site, at the bottom.

For a razor, buy one shave ready. There are links to sites in the vendors section that sell shave ready razors, if you're not sure CHECK ON HERE - don't email the site as they may not have any idea what they're talking about. The Art of Shavings razors are not shave ready, for example, even though they say they are.

Alternativly, the classifieds section on this site gets a plethora of razors sold by members every day, and you will be able to find some very good deals on there. Again, the adds say if they're shave ready.

So, to sum up - the walmart set, a strop and a razor are all you really need, nivea aftershave balm is a good idea - you will more likely than not need it. Very soothing, very cheap.

Another option, one I did not take and I'm not sure I would now, is to buy a starter kit like Straight Razor designs sell. It's all good quality stuff and is good value. I don't really have a good reason not to go down this route, it's just not something that appeals to me. The razors from their are all honed by Lynn Abrams who runs this place, he is a bit of an authority on honing and you will have no worries about shave readiness if you order from there.

Either way, it doesn't make much odds how you get the kit, just that you get it!

When you've got all that, look on youtube at the videos on there. There is a section in the general section for videos, there are stropping, shaving and even lathering vidoes. Personally I found Jockeys (a member) videos helpful, as they cover everything and he gives a good commentary.

I hope this is useful, do not be ashamed to ask. Far as I know, no one popped out knowing everything there is to know about straight razor shaving, or shaving in general, we all started from nothing - as you are!

I recently bought a DOVO from Vintage Blades LLC. It arrived shave ready with a decal on the box from Lynn saying that he had personally prepared it and that it just needed cleaning and was ready for shaving.