Thread: Advice on Possibly Upgrading My Razor and Strop or Learning to Hone

Originally Posted by Annixter

Part of me knows full well that this is good advice, yet part of me struggles against the thought of having to send out the razor and spend money having it honed that could be put toward the honing equipment. That being said, maybe it's money well spent to get a better shave-ready razor and the honing equipment to learn to hone on my current razor.

How are you going to judge your progress as you learn to hone if you don't have a sharp razor? You are learning to shave and learning to hone simultaneously so is it the honing or the shaving the cause of your not having a good shave?

IF you can't strop well enough to keep your already shave ready razor shave ready what is the point of adding the confusion of learning to hone?

If you have a shave ready razor it would be odd for your to send it out for honing more often than every few months. The cost is insignificant.

There is at least one member in the classifieds who offers to hone any razor you buy from him 3 times. He usually offers superior razors at beginners prices and they are gone in a day or two.

Slow down and smell the lather.

Get a sharp razor, learn to strop it correctly to keep it sharp, learn to shave with it until you have consistently comfortable shaves, and then approach honing with all the issues it will bring to the table.

Or not just jump in and figure it all out as you go along and re-invent the wheel which has been rolling along for centuries. Oh by the way YourMilageMayVary it probably will mine did.


It really does just keep getting better.

Annixter...Here's my take on the best and cheapest way to arrive at a quality shave (I'm an attorney so it is in our nature to boil things down to the most useful parts): I, personally, would skip the Norton and go right for the BBW & Coticule Combo stone ( thesuperiorshave.com/Coticules.html). It may cost you a little more but it is worth it. It's all I use to hone my razors - having retired all the other useless junk. In addition. I then run it abt. 10 passes on chrox (green) paste and abt 3 passes on a homemade balsa with feet diamond spray on felt rig that works just dandy. Then, I do a couple of laps across my felt (not so much to "even" the blade up as id often discussed, rather simply to remove the prior paste. Then 50 laps on leather...but if you have the time, 100 would be nicer. And get yourself a great razor. Don't just buy one, study them. I have a "small" collection by most standards - - abt. maybe 2 dozen or so. But truthfully, my rotation is kinda like this: I use [both] my Holzhauers often they [the 5/8 & the 7/8] always hone up exceptionally sharp (scary sharp!). Next in line is my 7/8 Hart. I love it. And I am very fond of my RW Purist. The Purist being a "near" perfect razor [the next time I come across one I'm not going to go for the square point when it's offered in a round point {my misatke, I'll eat it}. But make no mistake, the RW is more than just a razor, it is a functional piece of art (Bravo to RW!!!). I also occasionally use a beautifully restored Wostenholm by yours truly. It gives a great shave and I love it for its age and beauty. In nay event sir, you would be hard pressed to go wrong buying a razor from this site that would do you wrong. Just put aside your beliefs as to what size razor might be most comfortable on your face. For example, I'm a small to med size man. I'm abt. 5'5" and weigh abt. 160. Small face, for the most part. Naturally, following the advice herein I tended to gravitate to the thinner lighter used models. Ads surprisingly, I am much more comfortable with the oversized cleavers. So good luck buwanna!

Everyone's going to have different opinions, and no-one knows what your beard's like in comparison to theirs, so it's all subjective, but...

I'd get a Norton 4/8. I actually think one can learn to hone without TOO many problems if you take it easy. Seriously, I am a really inept user of tools and I didn't find it too hard; though I had two razors...

Actually, you need everything you've spoken of, really. You need another razor, a hone and possibly another strop. You say you've wrapped the strop around a door knob. Is it even when honing? Check that it's not buckling, as if it is the razor's edge won't touch it completely all the way along.

I don't think you can really tell how good an edge is from a photo, though it might help to show damage or a warp, etc. I don't know enough about honing to judge that edge, but it does look to me that your razor has some hone wear.

The good thing about a Norton 4/8 and such is that you can use almost a formula to start off with the honing.

It could be you have a really tough beard. But other than the easy to see difference in one another's closeness of hairs, I don't think we really know a lot about COARSENESS or hardness of hair; unless we go around feeling each other's faces, which I don't...

All you really know is what works for you and what you like. So get a hone, get a good strop (IF your strop is curved or damaged only) and get a second razor (shave ready) if you can. Then experiment on your face!

If the razor left stubblefrom day one, I would hesitantly say that it wasn't sharp enough.

If you decided to stick with it, I'd suggest getting a second razor. I'd also suggest to upgrade your strop to a quality one, as a good strop is necessary to get a good edge. A good vintage strop is nice, but most require fixing up, so I'd suggest getting a high quality new one (from a reputable vendor and manufacturer) to actually use (carefully) before shaving next to perhaps some practice stropping on the one you have.

About the razor: besides it not being a beauty queen, there doesn't seem to be anything inherently wrong with it (as far as I can tell from the pictures). Wostenholm made razors until into the 20th century, so I would frankly be astounded if they HADN'T made any 4/8 razors. Yours might as well have been one originally, but based on the etching on the blade face I'd estimate it at having been around a 5/8 or a 6/8. I've never heard anything bad about any Wostenholm from any period, so I don't doubt that your razor is of good quality. But getting a second one is always a good idea.

Until you get anything new, I'd suggest you follow DGilloon's advice to either use the pastes (I have never used any pastes, though, so I can't really give advice on how or what) or use your grandfather's barber's hone. What I have done in the past when I still had and used a barber's hone was spread a little lather on top and give it about ten to fifteen forward X-strokes, followed by a good stropping.

As for shaving, try telling yourself while shaving "Use less pressure". After about 1.5 years, I still find I sometimes need to tell myself.
Another tip I noticed that will greatly reduce irritation is to never stretch your skin in both directions. What I mean with this is that when shaving in your neck area, try not to stretch your skin by tilting your head too much, just get it taut. Try to stretch with your hands in the opposite direction your stubble grows (and also that not too tight). Low angle, low pressure and effective stretching of the skin are three key ingredients for a painless shave, and it will take time to get thoroughly acquainted with them.

Just start with getting another razor that is shave ready and then go from there.
It's all good advice above but the first step is another razor.

The pictures appear to show an uneven edge - if this is so, it will not be easy to hone the razor yourself. Your description of the effects of each shaving pass indicate that the razor is just not sharp enough so my advice would be to invest in a better razor that has been professionally honed so that you have a starting point of excellence to measure against. A close up of your strop will, I'm sure, generate more advice on whether it is up to the job.

Okay, sage advice all around and much appreciated. I've gone ahead and purchased a shave-ready vintage razor from stimpy52, and based off his reputation I trust it's a very nice razor like he says--that unused c.1900 German Montgomery Ward's 5/8 hollow in the classifieds.

As for the "poor man" strop, the way it hangs no matter where I hang it potentially causes distortion by design because it hangs from the center alone with no bar going through the entire width; the problem of which I've always been wary is that there's no handle of any sort on it, so I must wrap the end around my index finger, pinch with my thumb against the palm, and pull taut. This doesn't create a completely even pull like a metal bar for a D ring or leather handle would create, so added with the weight bearing on the center at the mounting point, there's some cupping that appears to flatten out as I strop. I knew the strop would be lacking in some ways because it was a $14 piece of leather, but I didn't want to jump into the deep end before I knew if I liked the water. I don't mean to judge Larry's design or anything of the sort, as others have had success with the poor man strop.

This all being said, I've made my nicking and technique mistakes on the strop and feel confident in my ability to not damage a good one. Since I just spent money on another, nicer razor, I went ahead and took advantage of a sale, purchasing an SRD 3" Premium I strop. Members here give it good reviews, so it's a starting point to hopefully keep the new razor well maintained.

As for honing, I'll keep my eye on Whipped Dog for a deal on a Norton setup, and I like the idea of eventually purchasing a 4K/8K Norton, a Norton prep stone, and a DMT 325. I think I might hold off on sending out my current razor for sharpening until I can purchase the honing setup. That way I have a razor on which to practice. Even if it will be a difficult task because of the uneven edge that UKRob warns about above, I feel more comfortable practicing on it than the new razor when its turn comes.

Thanks again for all the input, links, and references. The consensus is for me to get a better razor, which I've done, and I now have a nice strop to complete the setup in the event that the old strop is questionable. With these nice items, I'll at least be able to say it's not the equipment but the operator. I'll hold off on getting into honing for a couple months until I have the gear, and I'm sure I'll be asking questions in the honing section when that time comes.