Newer to straight razor shaving and need some custom advice.

Well that is a shot in the dark

No AoS blades are NOT considered shave ready to most people's standards,,, now and then one of them hits it right and continues the conversation all over again about factory edges

I have been Honing for several of the AoS stores for about 10 years. they are required to tell people "The Manufacture says these are Shave Ready" that is what Dovo and TI tell them but they also slip my business card in the bag

They are simply TI and Dovo's with laser etch that says AoS you can buy the same razor in the same condition online for less they still need to be honed

 

I do not normally use tape. I won't write a book here and tell you my reasons. Maybe in another thread some day. Most professional honers do use tape unless requested not to, but that is a different thing altogether. But since the W59 already has a spine that is too thin, a couple layers of tape are not out of place. I would wait until the finish, though. Just send all the pressure to the edge. With this blade profile it won't come natural. The ergonomics of the blade profile will naturally send most of the pressure to the spine and you do not want to remove steel from the spine more than necessary to keeping spine and edge in alignment. Anyway the finish is not your immediate goal with this razor. Get the bevel sorted out, first. And apply some torque to keep the edge bevel wearing more than the spine bevel.

 

You might check out Ralf Aust razors for a nice beginner blade. I think they offer good value for the price. I would also recommend having it honed, and @gssixgun does a terrific job.

 

So far what I'm taking away from this thread is that the way to go would be purchase the blade I like and as soon as I get it, send it to GSSixgun to have it honed. Once I get it back, go for it and see what a properly honed blade should feel like, then try to replicate it in my spare time with another blade.

 

Sure and if you want, send me the GD so it arrives at the same time and I will try and dial that in for you as a favor, I can't guarantee that edge, however I can probably hone it but I won't know until I try

PM me for more info


ps: Honestly the best way to learn to hone is from the top down but no one listens
Learn to maintain the Shave Ready edge then work your way down the honing ladder as you gain more experience

 

We all learn differently, and personally, learning to shave with a straight was hard enough that I chose to wait until I had that mastered before starting to hone. I never got to honing. After shaving daily with a straight for a year, life got busier and something had to give, so I went back to shaving mostly with DE and SE razors. I still use the straight on a day off and when time permits, but far from daily now. I never learned to hone.

If you are like me (of course I was never accused of being the sharpest tool in the shed), I would also recommend focusing on learning to shave first. You will find there are days the razor feels smoother than others, even with a good edge on it. Is this because of the edge or the one using the razor? By having good technique down, it does help to eliminate shaving technique from the equation when evaluating the edge.

However, I know there are people who have learned both at the same time, so like all things shaving: "Your Mileage May Vary."

 

For the 2 vendors I mentioned, I believe so. I have a number from Superior Shave and was happy with all. I have not done business with Maggards, but not heard any negatives.

 

No argument here. The finishing/touchup stage is exactly the first thing that should be learned first. Only problem is it requires an already or previously or nearly shave ready edge to learn on. OP has a razor that probably does not have a proper bevel set, which is why I was stressing bevel bevel bevel.

That's a very generous offer!

I was amazed at the factory "edge" on the W59's I looked at recently. It's gonna be a piece of heavy handed honing but it can be done, if you have a good bit of time to spare. Me, I do not like that model at all anymore because of the way they are screwing up the edge at the factory. I have always had some misgivings about the thin spine, but I could deal with it. The final bevel angle is gonna be crazy skinny but you will see that and you know what to do for it.

 

I don't remember ever buying any razors from them but I have bought horn, laminates, pinning stuff, things like that from them and always satisfied.

 

Yup, that will give you a known benchmark and a good personal standard to shoot for in your honing journey. Plus it will let you concentrate on developing your shaving skills for a while, with no doubts about the edge. And finally, when it does start getting a bit dull, you can work on refreshing the edge that has only been dulled a bit through normal use. That is like 95% of all the honing you will do, most likely.

BTW, 74% of all statistics are just made up on the spot.

 

I was told that is only true 36% of the time.

 

It depends on who's giving them. If it's from an encyclopedia, it's bullshit. If it's from Facebook it is totally legit. Or something like that.

 

Not true, I listened and agree 100%.

 

+1

 

I bought a Dovo 91 from Jarrod (Superior Shave) and was very pleased. Yes, I had him hone it first.