Thread: Question..... working on SR work journal?

Quick question.... I am wanting to keep record/ journal the repair, restoration work I am wanting to do on some of my straight razors..... Where would a good place to have this at? Is there a section already or just make a thread and keep adding to it daily? I am also wanting advice on things as I go along too. I'll be learning as I go pretty much......

Thanks in advance!

Not sure if this will help but I use two systems.

Exel Spreadsheet - That Engineer/shave geek - I have tabs for:

Razors - what it is, when I got it, what I paid for it and if I had it pro-honed, and who did that.
Shave Journal - Shave #, Date, Razor, and comments (soap, how did it go etc.) this helps me know how many shaves I have on a blade - this comes in handy as the years roll on.
Honing Notes - If I do anything other than strop a razor I make a note. Date, Razor, What did I do (4/8/12 one layer of tape etc.) and some notes about the shave test.

And Evernote (www.evernote.com)
This is my alternate brain and I have tags for Shaving, Honing, and related.
I scan in the honing notes from Glen for instance or copies of receipts, web sites for material, pictures of work in progress etc.
So if I put "Hart 6/8 Baxter" in the search box I can see when I bought it, if I replaced the scales etc.

Find something that works for you and don't be afraid to modify, but keep notes, they will save you.

Originally Posted by MJC

Not sure if this will help but I use two systems.

Exel Spreadsheet - That Engineer/shave geek - I have tabs for:

Razors - what it is, when I got it, what I paid for it and if I had it pro-honed, and who did that.
Shave Journal - Shave #, Date, Razor, and comments (soap, how did it go etc.) this helps me know how many shaves I have on a blade - this comes in handy as the years roll on.
Honing Notes - If I do anything other than strop a razor I make a note. Date, Razor, What did I do (4/8/12 one layer of tape etc.) and some notes about the shave test.

And Evernote (www.evernote.com)
This is my alternate brain and I have tags for Shaving, Honing, and related.
I scan in the honing notes from Glen for instance or copies of receipts, web sites for material, pictures of work in progress etc.
So if I put "Hart 6/8 Baxter" in the search box I can see when I bought it, if I replaced the scales etc.

Find something that works for you and don't be afraid to modify, but keep notes, they will save you.

I keep a record of the razors..... Prices and dates of purchase.
Shave journal.... Not so much.... But it IS something I do need to do....
And the honing notes...... I need to get better on that one......
And yep... I agree....As I get older... I have a hard time remembering what I did yesterday.

So here on the forums I can keep a work in progress post? I see some guys have such postings...... Show the work I am doing and get hints when offered or when help is needed?

I believe our SRD profile has some provision for a blog, but I have no knowledge of the topic. Perhaps the wise ones will chime in?

I am not 100% but i think most members just start a thread in the appropriate forum.
You could always start a master thread and post a link to each seperate thread you have started, but that may get a bit messy as time goes on, but a good thing is that in each thread you could also post a link back to the master thread

Keep in mind that all time spent on taking pictures and writing things down is time wasted for the purpose of actual restoration
I still take pics of the finished projects, but no longer of in between stuff.

Hi there yes totally agree with keeping a record. I meant to so I knew the history of each razor when honed who by with tape touch ups etc. So that thought went out of my head because I thought that I'd be able to remember, absolutely not.
I've now got 8 Taylor's Eye Witness 6/8ths, some sent out for honing to two different people some that I've honed as I've got better at it. Now as they all look alike and I've moved them around to different boxes, guess what, who knows how they were honed and by whom, I didn't. To compound the issue the initial few razors seemed to have multiplied almost overnight to around 50+.
So I now have a spreadsheet with which box they're in, which hones were used whether tape was used. I also have details of any touch ups required, such as CrOx or back to a high grit hone. I also make a note of how I think they've shaved. Sounds a lot of work but I find it easier now to keep track. I print an up to date copy about once a month and make a manual note each morning after my shave. Works for me!

Originally Posted by Bruno

Keep in mind that all time spent on taking pictures and writing things down is time wasted for the purpose of actual restoration
I still take pics of the finished projects, but no longer of in between stuff.

Oh I agree with you on taking the pics as I go......but there will be some I will do that when I get stumped or need someone with wisdom on razor restoration to chime in. I've looked at a few of people's project on here and a lot of great knowledge is shared via there trek to a great looking and fully shaving straight razor. As time goes by and I get better and more comfortable in doing restoration work, I'll be posting less and less pics of the in between work.

Originally Posted by edhewitt

I am not 100% but i think most members just start a thread in the appropriate forum.
You could always start a master thread and post a link to each seperate thread you have started, but that may get a bit messy as time goes on, but a good thing is that in each thread you could also post a link back to the master thread

Makes sense to me...... I'll do that in making a post and go from there. If a mod sees what I am doing and it belongs in a different section, I'm sure they will kindly move it.....lol

Originally Posted by MJC

I believe our SRD profile has some provision for a blog, but I have no knowledge of the topic. Perhaps the wise ones will chime in?

I see now there is a blog section..... I guess I could start it in there ...... I was just looking at it a second ago......
Ummmmm....How does a person start a blog? Not seeing where I can make one at......