I received an inexpensive GBS straight razor kit as a well-intentioned gift. Being new to straights, I have looked in the excellent TSD tutorials and sticky threads. The GSB straight razor is about as dull as a cheese cutter. Is it worth my time to try to learn to hone on this blade? I have read that one will inevitably nick their first strop. This one is 18" long, 10" on the stropping area, 2" wide. It seems a bit small, and does not have a linen side. The kit came with no instructions. Whether I use this strop or when I inevitably get a proper strop after nicking this one, does a new strop need to be treated with strop paste?
You would have to invest in the supplies to get it shave ready and learning to hone when you are learning to straight shave would be a frustrating task. I know from experience. Honing a new budget razor could pose it's own challenges. Do you have a shave ready straight razor? The strop is smaller, but you could work with it. Some old barber strops we're pretty small. Strop slow and develop muscle memory to avoid cutting the strop. You can use a clean piece of denim instead of linen. Paste is personal preference. It polishes the edge on a honed razor and refines it a bit. I use a clean strop and touch up my razors on a hone when needed. A pasted strop can help you make the edge last longer before it needs to be touched up on a stone again. Trying to write this quickly so sorry if missed some questions. There is probably an intro to straight shaving for beginners here with more information. If you have more questions though let us know.
Thanks @Joshua223 . That is very helpful. For the record, to learn the "how to shave" part, I have a Feather AC. This GBS is not the setup I intend to actually shave with. I have very low expectations for the razor, and frankly think this set should be illegal to sell. I don't think this razor is fit to open an envelope. As recommended in the straight razor stickies, I have followed the advice of @Trigger and have a Dovo on the way, and I do not want to ruin that one. Answering one of my own questions, I have learned that a new strop does not require any special treatment except occasionally rubbing one's palm over the leather.
I know that I am biased, but that's a great choice Eric. Looking forward to seeing the razor and eventually using it.
Thanks Joe. From your tutorial post, your experience, and other research I have done, it looks to be a good choice at the right price.
Glad it helped. I'm don't think some of the cheaper razors are even made with a bevel angle for shaving. Some are more like novelty knives. Unfortunate, because people have probably been turned off the hobby by them. Is this a new Dovo or did the previous owner hone it? If you want to add one to the rotation later you can usually buy a shave ready vintage for about what is costs to send a razor to a professional for honing.
@ewk if you go with that razor I would send it out to be professionally honed the first time in case there are issues with it, plus you’ll have a ‘reference edge’ to know what to shoot for. Glen Mercurio at Gemstar Customs or Alfredo Gil at Doc226.com are the usual suspects. Once you have a fine edge sitting on a well formed bevel, you will need a hone to periodically maintain it, the Naniwa 12k is a good choice, easy to use, does a good job, and not too expensive. If you want to get deeper into honing like getting typical eBay razors up to speed, you will need some coarser stones. The strop is probably fine to begin with. If the strop paste is abrasive (not just to condition the leather) and you use it on your strop, you’ll need a another strop that’s free of abrasive to finish the edge on and for daily maintenance. Tony Miller and Whipped Dog make some basic strops for beginners at an excellent price. Good luck sir!
Thank you very much for the insight and advice @Joshua223 and @Steve56. The Dovo arrived today. The prior owner of the Dovo had it professionally honed and he used it only one time. The edge passes the "thumb friction" and shaving the arm hair tests. The GBS is as dull as a letter opener. I have some synthetic stones I picked up for learning how to sharpen my kitchen knives. Just for fun I am going to run the GBS through the 1K, 4K, and 8K progression. I will then use it to develop muscle memory using the included strop. I will look into the recommended strops and pick one up when I am ready to devote some time to actually shaving with the Dovo. Depending on how my honing experience goes, I may even pick up a Naniwa 12K. I am glad to have some recommended hone-masters.
I believe "GBS" must stand for "Get a Better Shaver." Executive summary: the GSB straight is too dull to be a letter opener out of the box. After a few hours of amateur honing, it might open a letter that was delivered on a rainy day. I have a set of inexpensive synthetic stones that I use to sharpen my kitchen knives. I am no expert, but my knives are sharp enough to not be dangerously dull. I know that these stones are effective for sharpening knives. After watching the honing vids in the TSD I thought I would try running the GSB over the stones. On Friday night I ran it over the 1K stone for a while and did not notice any difference in the butter knife edge. I tried the 400 stone for a while. No real change in the blade. I held the stone in my left hand and employed a very light touch as I had seen in the videos. After about 2 hours I called it a night. This morning I went back to the 400 grit stone and decided to put the stone in the holder and hone on the countertop. Soft strokes did not improve the blade. I used the left hand to help guide, and eventually applied pressure with the left hand. Ran through 400/1K/3K but no change in sharpness. I added tape to the spine to change angle and started over at 400. I saw black slurry develop, but still did not achieve any change in edge sharpness. I tried 3 pieces of tape to increase angle. I ran the blade over 400/1K/3K/8K. I can tell the blade is sharper than when I started, but still will not remove any arm hair at all. The day was not a total loss. I did touch up my kitchen knives while I had the stones out. And I have developed a feel for how the razor should move over the stones.
People have had problems honing nicer razors, so I wouldn't expect one of those to be very easy. Thumb friction? Arm hair test? Can you elaborate?
I was referring to part 3 of the honing video series on the straight edge sticky post. https://theshaveden.com/forums/threads/honing-videos.5681/ Part 3: Sharpness Tests (TPT, TNT, HHT) David, the instructor, describes 3 tests for sharpness. A blade is sharp if you encounter friction by 1. lightly running the blade over a wet fingernail, 2. pad of your thumb encounters friction on the blade, and 3. if the edge lops off hair on your arm.
I’ll hone it for you if you want, then you’ll have a reference edge and I can tell you if there are problems with it.
Update: My conscience is troubling me for making pronouncements about things I know nothing of. I have unfairly characterized the GBS razor. It may or may not shave some day, but I really have no standing to assess its merits or its quality. I purchased a Gold Dollar this week. Out of the box it shaved my arm hairs. I just finished taking the Gold Dollar to my inexpensive synthetic stones, and I have reduced it to the same level of letter opener At least I am consistent. I will try lapping film next. I thank those that have offered to hone the razor. I take the view that SR shaving is a marathon, not a sprint. I have a shave-ready Dovo as well as a Feather DX shavette for when I am ready to shave. I have read that one should not learn honing and SR shaving at the same time. I am really in no hurry. I am enjoying the idea of honing over SR shaving at the moment. When I know that I can hone and maintain a proper edge, I will devote the 100 days to actually shaving with them. In the mean time I have more than enough DE razors to keep the area above my shoulders and between my ears clean and tidy.
Those 3 tests mentioned, were you using those to determine if it shave ready or just judge sharpness?
@ewk I am going to give you some advice you probably won't take, I learned this from many years of teaching these skills at the Skills Meets we had Pre-Covid What you are doing is teaching yourself bad habits that you are going to have to break in the future, I know it seems like you are learning by grinding away at steel on stones but your not The real way to learn to hone is from the top down First you learn to strop Second you learn to maintain a set edge Finally you learn to set the bevel Nobody listens
My advise is to listen to @Steve56 , and @gssixgun . There are only a handful of members who have enough experience with all facets of Straight Razor Honing, that I would trust with gleening advise. If Steve offered to hone your razor for free, take him up on the offer. This will allow a baseline for what you need to strive for, with your stropping, then honing. If Glen tells you to learn to strop, before you hone, do it. Learn to walk, before you run. If you skip steps, you will not know where you messed up, when your edge isn't up to speed.
Your advice makes abundant sense. One learns to operate a car safely, then learns how to keep the gas tank full, oil change, routine maintenance . . . My honing experiment is the equivalent of choosing rubber for manufacturing tires, installing a serpentine belt, gapping spark plugs, . . . and then driving. This all came about when I received a well-intentioned gift of an inexpensive straight razor at Christmas that was dull as a butter knife out of the box. Last year I purchased an inexpensive set of synthetic stones from Amazon to sharpen up my dangerously dull kitchen knives. I know the "you get what you pay for" rule. Nevertheless I have used these stones to maintain my kitchen knives to an acceptable and safer sharpness. Out of curiosity I took the GBS razor to them. It is said "a poor craftsman blames his tools," and I fully acknowledge that I have no skills or expertise in this area. Fairly or unfairly, I ignorantly maligned the GBS razor, where subsequent research has revealed that others find these stones do not work well for straight razors. Knowing the amount of commitment involved, the gift comes at a time when I am not prepared to begin the SR journey just yet. I do want to do it correctly, and yes @gssixgun , I am listening I truly appreciate everyone taking the time to give good advice. I am in the process of gathering the right tools, and when it comes time to shave, I will indeed do it in the right order! I now have an inexpensive razor and strop to practice on and hopefully not nick up a new strop when that time comes. Thanks for your support!
