I'm sick of buying two dollar razor blades for my Fusion razor and by nature I gues it can be said that I'm a "retro grouch" in a lot or areas. Shaving with a straight has always fascinated me but I've never done it. Now, having discovered 2 Wester Bros. "Anchor" brand straights and another one called a "Rockwell" (along with a Rockwell strop) among my dad's personal effects, I'm going to give it a go. None of the three razors are remotely shave ready and so I need to hone and strop them. So now, I'm trying to learn the craft of honing a straight (watching YouTube vids) and trying to buy quality, but affordable stones for the razors. I'm looking at the "Norton Waterstone Kit" and it seems like a good price delivered to me for about $120.00. Is the Norton stone a good one? Also, what do you think about these ancient razors? Worth restoring to shave quality? (The Rockwell seems much more modern than the Wester Bros razors.) I just checked at "FeeBay" and the Wester Bros. razors seem like a dime a dozen. Any comments much appreciated....
Congratulations on your decision to try straight shaving!! I think you might like it. May I suggest that instead of spending $120 on a norton stone, you might want to spend $20 to send your razor out and get it honed. Or three times that to get them all honed, and maybe get a volume discount. Still, all three would cost half as much as the stone you are looking at. There are lots of places you can send it, including people in our forums (see classifieds) who can do it for you. The only reason I suggest this is because of a) price b) steep learning curve and c) time involved. If those things are ok with you, then proceed. As far as the stone, I would need more info and there are more qualified people who can tell you what to get.
The Norton 4000/8000 combo stone is one of the most used stones for honing straight razors. That plus some sort of finishing method (such as balsa pasted with Chromium Oxide, or Diamond pasted hard felt, or a Chinese 12K stone) should be all that is necessary to put a keen edge on most straights. The 220/1000 stone also included in that kit is a bit less useful. You will never use the 220 side on a straight razor, and the 1000K side should only be necessary if the straight is really messed up (if there were major issues, that had to be honed out like nicks, dents, and cracks). As mentioned above, it usually not a good idea to hone your 1st straight yourself. Without experience actually shaving with a straight razor, you will not no when the edge is sharp enough, and you won't have experience to know how a truly shave ready edge should shave. You are far better off to allow a professional hone your razor, at least until you have perfected your technique enough to know how a straight razor should feel, and shave. As for the value of your particular straights, the fact that you dad owned them gives them much more worth to you, than what they would draw on Ebay. Also a lot of the vintage straights work just as well as, if not better than the new straights being sold today. See if you can take a few photographs, and post them. Hopefully none of the straights have severe damage to the edges.
In the Stickies at the top of this forum you will find a link to this thread and other great info to read through... http://www.theshaveden.com/forum/showthread.php?p=277136#post277136 That thread is one that I put together some time ago to help answer questions like yours... I tried to include as much info as possible there... Enjoy And Yes I haven't found a razor yet that I can't get shaving sharp with the full Norton set, also a little advice here, "If you can't get a comfortable shave off the Norton 8k you need more practice honing not more stones".... Honest... Once you have mastered that set, is the time to start thinking of what else you Want... not NEED
The link gssixgun posted is good, basic info. How much work your dad's razors need in order to be made shave-ready again is an important factor you'll probably want to have a handle on. Maybe the razors only need minimal sharpening, or maybe the razors require some level of repair before real honing can begin - got any pictures?
Another good reason for newbies to seek out advice from trusted sources. I'm proud to say that we can be considered one! Thanks to all who replied.
This is my fifth post and I"m putting this up so I can put up pictures (hopefully in the following post)
Here are three pix of my dad's razors. The first two are two different razors from the same manufacturer, Wester Bros in Solingen. The third is the Rockwell.
Michigan (and all) I took your advice and had one of the Wester straights professionally honed (by John Crowley in Ft. Worth, TX) and just got it back this afternoon. Woo Hoo! Now the experiment begins. Inasmuch as I shaved this morning, I'm going to wait a couple of days to get a good growth going. Here's another question (probably covered ad nauseum elsewhere here) for a very first shave: Do using standard pressurized gels like Edge or Gillette Foamy work for shaving soaps? If this works out, I intend to make my own soaps for shaving...but I'm talking for the first ever straight razor shave. No harm to the razor or skin from using such commercial products?
I would recommend looking for a nice solid shave soap or cream and a mug and brush. It really adds to the overall experience.
Canned crud gets very little love here. I would get a VDH kit from Wally World and use it. Why curse the razors with canned goo?
Well, this is just for the first shave. I actually make my own soap, but I haven't made a shaving soap yet. Don't even own a mug and brush yet. If I survive this first shave (scheduled for tomorrow) without slicing my carotid artery open, I'll go the next step and buy all the "stuff" (though not on your level of acquisition!). If you don't hear from me, send an undertaker, 'kay?
Nah, it'll be alright. I just recently started with str8s and it is not too hard, you just have to remember what you are doing.
