Thread: to shave or not to shave?

after sanding with all grits from 220 all the way to 2000 is it ok to shave with? or should i also get it honed? and if so where can i buy some decently priced razor hones?

the blade looking nice and the sharpness of the blade are two totally different things. if i were you, i'd send it to someone with a honing service here to get it taken care of because right now it is not shave ready.
do you have any pictures of the restoration?

hcintineo, is correct. Sanding is done to improve the aesthetics of the razor. While honing improves the sharpness of the edge. Real pretty razor doesn't mean your face will be afterwards if the edge sucks. I've restored (in an amatuer sense) a couple of blades and sanding can get them fairly sharp! Sharper than some cheapo steak knives. But, not even the same ballpark as something to shave with.

Do some research around here and figure out what hones are quality. You will want to buy a new one. It is not advised to start with a pre-owned. I bought a Norton 4k/8k combo stone off ebay that works for me. If you do not know how to use a honing stone, watch as many videos as you can in the wiki.

Of course, if you can afford it, ideally you will send it out to be professionally honed. Then you know what a proper edge feels like. Researching through this forum, you will find vendors, moderators, and owners that run razor businesses and will hone yours for $20-40 (last I looked) plus shipping to and from. Not a bad expense to treat your face right.

Me thinks: Do you have a strop? You should look towards the wiki if not. You will find a list of necessary gear and how to go about the entire process from ebay purchase of rusty metal to smooth face.

And pics!

Definitely get it honed properly. You will not be sorry you did. That is, send it out to someone who knows how to properly hone a razor - unless you want to buy several different hones to manage the job, and then take the time to learn how to use them. If you want to do the job yourself, many advocate 4 hones, or 3 at least, unless you want to get naturals which are fairly expensive. Once the bevel is set and the razor is proper sharp, you can maintain it yourself for a very long time using a barber's hone or maybe paste on a strop.

Originally Posted by Peasel

You will want to buy a new one. It is not advised to start with a pre-owned.

Why not?

str8fencer, I read several times in the wiki that pre-owned hones, for a newbie, are a bad idea. More effort to lap them. More than likely newb won't know the true grit. So on so forth.

Being still green myself, I stated it "is advised" because that has been what I've read. Not my limited experience.

Ah yes, lapping ofc can be a problem to someone new.
I was thinking along the lines of naturals, where unused stones are hard to find.

If they are still there, JimmyHAD... had a nice set of Norton hones in the classifieds - may be worth looking in to. You would probably need to buy a finisher to use on top of the 8k but I'm no honing expert and it is debatable from what I understand.

Your razor will definitely need sharpened, though. My primary suggestion would be to mail it out to be professionally done.

Pre-owned hones are fine, so long as you know what you are getting. For example, buying a random lot of sharpening stones at an antique shop would probably not be advisable (unless you can identify the stones without a doubt), because you may get something useless. But buying pre-owned, known hones is totally fine. Most guys will even make sure the hones are lapped and ready to go, if you ask them.

Originally Posted by Peasel

str8fencer, I read several times in the wiki that pre-owned hones, for a newbie, are a bad idea. More effort to lap them. More than likely newb won't know the true grit. So on so forth.

Being still green myself, I stated it "is advised" because that has been what I've read. Not my limited experience.

This is true on the surface.
If the pre-owned razor is in good shape
having a pro hone it is your best bet.
If it is not in good shape the honemaster
will have to work a lot harder and may charge more.

A homemaster will have a big selection of hones
to sharpen your razor. You can invest $500-$1000
and have a kit of hones that $25-30 honing fee will
invoke. Once a razor is correctly sharpened the
kit needed to maintain it shave ready is a lot less.
In addition the honemaster has done it before and
knows what a sharp razor is.

Yup.. a +1.

Your razor may look great, and kudos to you for doing that. Now it's time to make it shave.

Check the classifieds. There's probably someone really close to you who can 1) hone it and send it back or 2) meet up with you and hone it or 3) may even invite you over, hone it, and show you how that's accomplished.

In any of these three cases, you'll end up with a professionally sharpened razor with a guarantee of sharpness.