Printable View
Don't know if this has been done before, but here it goes:
Challenge:
To get a decent straight shave set-up for as cheap as possible.
Has to produce a good shave.
Equipment:
Razor - made of anything (butter knife, real razor, bit of steel)
Strop
Honing / sharpening tools - eg. concrete footpath/sidewalk, cardboard
Shaving lubricant - oil, soap, whatever
Have fun!
Something I hace done... Kitchen knives that I already have... Hiromoto AS petty 120 honed and stropped on stuff I already use for kitchen knives...
That was a weird shave... Worked though
Ya I'm a bit :beer2:
Shave ready razors can be had for as little as $25 here on the forum; I know because I've sold them as low. Strop? Newspaper or jeans = free. Honing? Barber hone for maybe $10 or so. Soap? Puck of VDH for a couple bucks. Hand lather into the face - no brush.
Total cost = $40ish.
If you find hunt around for deals:
Cheap 2-sided barber hone - $10
A sheet of 325 grit wet/dry sand paper to lap it on - $1
VDH set from the drug store - $9
The ugliest razor your can find without a frown or chips in the blade - $5
An old belt and an old pair of jeans out of your closet to make a strop - $free
many many many hours of patient honing and re-lapping on your 2-sided barber hone - $free (sort of)
Total cost - $25
So far, the best I have done is a NOS razor found at the flea market for €3 (could have used a touch up hone, but it was essentially ready to shave).
At the flea market I have in the past been 'gifted' the odd bit of leather that would (if pressed) serve as a strop. I'll put paste on the other side and so call it a 'hone'. (Off course, I'm also up to the wazoo in old belts)
From my past business travels I have little complimentary bars of soap from all sorts of hotels. That should do nicely as shaving cream if I cannot find better (for the same price).
That brings my 'best ever' price down to around just that €3 (about $4.25). OK, OK, I was lucky. :)
Now if you want me to throw in a real Belgian coticle I'm going to have to add another €5 (Yes, I have found old ones for that price at the flea market here!). Along with that I'll be generous and add about 30 euro cents for a sheet of wet-r-dry (again at the flea market) so that I can flatten the stone prior to use. (Again, I'm really floating in sandpaper at home, but I'm staying true to the question at hand.)
I'll say that that brings my 'best ever' price up to around €8.30 (about $11.80). Now all I need is an old, shiny hub cap or a woman's makeup compact to serve as a shaving mirror...
For a super cheap lather bowl, i went to walmart and found what they called a "sundae dish" for icecream, stands about 4" high, and has a 5" mouth. Super big bowl, and i can build up some pretty thick lather in it..
its nice an heavy about 2 lbs, and i usually just let it sit in a sink with hot water while im showering, and the lather stays nice and warm.
and best of all, it was on sale for 97 cents.
This is all kit I actually own (with the expection of the barbers hone which I sold):
Razor - My 'Le Petit' which ran me $3
Strop - Leather hanging strop which also ran me $3
Hone - BBW/Coti and a barbers hone $7.50
Soap - Palmolive shave stick $1
$14.50
Razor - http://straightrazorpalace.com/gener...-now-open.html
Strop - http://straightrazorpalace.com/gener...-now-open.html
Honing / sharpening tools - bum some strop paste from someone and apply it to the backside of the strop you won in the giveaway
Shaving lubricant - http://straightrazorpalace.com/gener...-now-open.html
Monetary Cost: $0
Razor - SE wedged and taped into a used chopstick - $1.00
Handsoap - $2.00
No Strop
No Stone
Cost $3.00.