Hi everyone and Merry Christmas. I am very new to straight razor shaving. The reason I took the plunge? I was sick of single, double, big fancy new razors yanking my whiskers out instead of shaving them. I actually started using clippers that leaves stumble due to being so annoyed with the razor industry. So, always wanting to be a cowboy, I decided to shave like one. Two weeks ago I started. See previous post “I feel the burn”. I read your wonderful replies and advice. Hot towel and Pre shave balm. Relaxed and let the old razor do the trick. It was closer and no razor burn. I love vintage tools. So of course I thought “old razor on eBay”. Found several. Didn’t know crap about them but I really liked the double duck. Love the brass high lights. The look, the age etc. so, I got one. 5/8 that was pretty dirty. But, the pics showed no damage and a straight edge blade. I also found a 3/8 F.W Engles Leader. So I got that too. Spent over a week cleaning and polishing them. Now the honing. Started with 1000 grit stone. Then to 3000. 5000, 8000. Then 12000. The first shave was nice but not as close as I had hoped. It was still pretty nice using such antiques though. Tried honing again. Same thing on next shave. Close, no razor burn but still not as close as I wanted. Ordered a 15000 grit whetstone. Honed both 90 laps. Honed another 45 then 20 then 10. Shaved this morning. I am not exaggerating when I tell you, my face hasn’t been this smooth since I was 12. Easy, short strokes. The double duck blade eased down my face and neck. Cutting so effortlessly, I knew the new stone was worth it. The 3/8 Leader was so easy to use under my nose, I barley felt the whiskers being cut. As I finished, I found myself wanting my whiskers back so I could shave again. The experience was over too soon! Wow am I a happy wet shaver. Thanks all and again, I wish all of you a very Merry Christmas! p.s. I tried to upload pics but for some reason I keep getting error messages. edit; i fixed the pic size so they are below.
I've recently learned honing and am not as adept as you as I'm still struggling but can certainly get a good shave out of it. Congrats! Its nice going from crap to comfortable all by your own doing!
Make sure your file size is not too large. Size it to under 1K and you should be alright. Btw, my oldest razor is a W. Greaves & Sons from 1831.
Congratulations and welcome to the 'dark side.' Developing the skills to shave and maintain a straight razor is an accomplishment you should be proud of and it certainly adds to my enjoyment of shaving. Merry Christmas.
Thanks for your reply. Honing two blade broad heads and hunting knives for a few decades so, I just needed to get used to the angle.
From how you described them, I was concerned what they would look like, but those are beautiful razors! Way to go in bringing them back to life! ...Aaaand welcome to the straight razor shaver club!