Rookie Straight Razor Mistakes.

Daltongang sent me a KYOEI Japanese straight razor along with a strop.

As you can see in the picture, I damaged the strop accidentally while trying to restraint it so I could strop the blade. I put something that was moderately heavy on it to hold it down (I have no hook on a wall to latch it to), but the leather was much more delicate than I thought it would be and I discovered a small gash in it after trying to strop for the first time. I think I may have also put an inadvertent nick in the strop but cannot be sure I did that. The nicks in the middle and lower section might have already been there, I can't remember, but I might have accidentally done those while trying to strop without even realizing it. I have zero coordination at stropping and it's obviously going to take practice.

Well, it still looks like I can strop with it, but it won't be as easy. I let Daltongang know about the damage and he seemed to have predicted I would make a mistake like that. I will eventually buy my own strop and razor at some point. The first shave with it was a bit awkward but defintiely cool. I know at some point I'll get much more skill but for now it's like shaving for the first time, but worse. The blade is exposed and it very easy to be unsafe with it just due to a lack of coordination.

Any tips, tricks or suggestions?

Here is the post of my first shave with the blade:
http://theshaveden.com/forums/posts/1314301/

 

Great first shave! Put a carabiner in that strop and latch it onto the towel bar. Pull the strop straight out, which should be a good position. This is what I do. Watch the vids, and go slow. With time and muscle memory, you'll be doing 100 strokes in a minute or less

The nicks in the strop are easy enough to repair. Don't ask us how we know these things
Scott: @DaltonGang is a stand up guy; which is evident.

 

Yes, I have suggestions. Don't sweat the nicks. No big deal. Tie a shoestring to the top, and anchor it to a door handle. Then, take your time. The razor was 100% shave ready when you got it, so hopefully it still is. Do 25-35 strokes on the linen, then 40-60 strokes on the leather. That should bring it back to shape, after a few mistakes. Test it with a single hair from your head. It should snap the hair, in half, easily, all the way down the edge. If it does, it's shave ready.

 

Start with just your cheeks, then go farther as you feel comfortable. I woul finish with a DE.

If you are in a hurry or it doesn't feel right, put the straight down and pick up a DE.

 

You don't have to use a straight, but it is quite an accomplishment to get a great shave with a straight. It also takes patience, a lot of patience. Go slow. Watch lots of videos. Stropping is a fun activity for me now. I even strop some old GEM Junior blades for my Lather Catcher. I haven't ruined my strop yet. You just have to go slow and pay attention.

 

Billy..

 

Hey, @Tim Spencer , how are your Straight Razor adventures coming along??? We haven't heard a peep from you, in a while.

 

I will have time to do my next shave tomorrow morning because I will be telecommuting from home and will have an extra 20-30 minutes to work with the straight. My thick facial hair I think is dulling the blade because my last shave I got tugging. I'm wondering if my stropping is ineffective at keeping it sharp (either because of the aberrations on the strop or my total inexperience at stropping). I will try tripling my stropping efforts tonight in hopes of having a good shave in the morning.

 

Try doubling up on the linen strokes, and tripling up on the leather, and see if that brings it back. Keep it taught, and use very little, if no pressure, when stropping. If the stropping techniques are good, then you should be able to get a lot of shaves, up to a year, before needing another touch up, on the stones. The small nicks on the strop shouldn't matter.

 

Too much pressure with your razor on your strop can dull an edge faster than your facial hair will.

Also you can lay your strop on a coffee table or other flat surface and strop it there. Again light pressure. Fast isn't good...it's sloppily ruining your strop and razor edge. Focus on doing it correctly... speed will come from practice. It happens when you aren't even noticing.

 

Can't wait to hear how it goes. Make sure you are keeping the spine of the razor on the strop, so it is sitting flat. Too many people try to strop like in movies and lift the spine. This will roll your edge and make the razor need to be honed. @JohnDB has a great suggestion on laying the strop on the counter or a table. What you want to do is build a good muscle memory of stropping, and fix any muscle memory if you have experience stropping knives. (I had to get over that, I was rolling edges.)

 

I'm curious how it's going too, @Tim Spencer . The Straight Razor should be cutting sharper than a DE razor, unless the edge has been killed.

 

A some tiny rust spots developed on the razor. Is this normal? I cleaned them off and applied some light oil to the metal to try to prevent the rust.

Also, I don't think the blade is cutting as well as the DE. It still shaves. I haven't done anything drastic to the edge that would kill it. At least, I doubt it. The stropping takes practice. I watched some videos. As someone said earlier, I'm trying to keep the spine of the razor on the strop while letting the edge touch from an angle so the strop should sharpen it. But I don't have nearly enough dexterity to have a good pace with it. And I'm at times not keeping the spine perfectly on the strop like I intend. It's just a matter of practice and time.

Also, just to point out that Las Vegas water is very highly mineralized, so the slightest imperfections on steel will rust when in contact with this water. I had butter knives that this happened to where the slightest blemish of the surface would allow rust to form. And I wanted to emphasize that the rust is not on the 'edge', but rather on the iron/steel surface where it looks like tiny discolored spots/surface imperfections exist. Nothing anyone can do about those. I will just have to keep a light amount of oil on the steel.

I'm going to try putting even more time into stropping and see if that has any benefit. I figure it couldn't hurt to try.

 

Stropping need not be fast. But even a little off on angle will be detrimental to the edge. Not aiming to be fast should make keeping the blade flat easier.
Rust of any kind on a previously clean blade is bad juju. Unless your sharing your space, it's rusting because you didn't dry it well or stored it in a place you shouldn't have. Either way, it's on you. Straight razor maintenance isn't as hard as it is meticulous. And it's not everyone's cup of tea.

 

Razors that have been Restored or Buffed to Take Out Rust or Pitting are Sometimes Susceptible to Rusting in My Experience..Or Razors that are Showing Signs of Corrosion in General..A Coat of Oil will Help to Prevent it..Make Sure they are Dry..

As Far as Stropping Goes Just Be Mindful of Keeping the Blade Flat from the Spine to the Edge..Also..Make Sure the Blade Doesn't Lift Length Wise..The Blade is FLAT in Other Words.. Just Keep the Blade Flat on the Strop..

Billy..

 

The problem might have started, even before you had your first shave. You stated you were practicing your stropping, before the first shave. This could have dulled it slightly, before you even had a chance to use it. I made sure it was super sharp, and "Totally Shave Ready" before I mailed it. I wanted you to see what it was supposed to feel like, before you took it to the strop. No harm, no foul. The biggest issues with rust, is storing it in a humid environment(Bathroom), or not drying it out well, after use. The blade might have been dry, but the inside of the scales could have had water in them. No biggie. That's why I put a very light coating of oil on my blades, after each use. That, and because I live in the tropics of Houston.

 

Yeah, it was on the bathroom counter, but I wipe all water off of the sink and gear after a shave to keep everything looking nice. The water here in Vegas will leave calcium on 'everything' it dries on unless it's wiped off. I didn't think to coat it in oil but from now on I will. Also, the plastic handle the metal folds into might have been carrying some residual drops of water that I couldn't get to with my towel.

I'm sure that my inexperience with stropping is the culprit for the blade not being as sharp.

 

If it were me, since the blade possibly isn't optimally sharp, just do a 2 pass shave, avoiding the ATG pass. Also, make certain the blade is most flat, against the face, with the spine slightly off the cheek, and do some skin stretching. If after around 25-30 strokes linen, then 35-45 strokes leather, and it pulls or tugs on the WTG pass, then give up. The blade might be too dull.
Please keep us filled in, on your shaves.

 

Speed is not needed for stropping, the razor needs to be flat and with very light pressure. If you have been lifting the spine off the strop then likely you have rolled the edge... meaning it needs to be honed.

I also have a tough beard and do a 4 pass shave. After 2 to 3 shaves, I will take my razors to the pasted strop. I need to keep the edges sharp to get through my stubble without issue.