About six weeks ago I bought my first straight razor, an eBay 4/8 spike point. I waited for it to arrive, then I ordered a strop from Tony Miller (Heirloom #2 latigo hanging strop). Well, I gave it a go, and it was TERRIBLE! Nice little slices on my upper cheek...just....bad. FWIW, there is no such thing as "shave ready," unless you do the honing yourself or get a known honemeister like Lynn at SRP, or Joe C. or Bill here to do it. But, in my dogged determination to make this work, I decided to bid on another straight, and won a 5/8 roundpoint. Then I decided I was gonna shape these things up myself, so I bought a Norton 4k/8k waterstone. I also picked up a real cheapy on eBay to practice with, a little 3/8 spike point. So, the tally so far is three razors, a hanging strop, and a waterstone. Still no decent shave. On the occasions I tried to use the straights I had, my technique was still poor enough that I had to finish with a DE razor. Well, to finish this rambling tale, I have finally honed my razors up to a passable sharpness, and a couple of times this week I have shaved exclusively with a straight razor with nearly BBS results. The cuts are healing, and the "stripes" are less noticeable. I don't think I'll be giving up my DE razors anytime soon, because there are days when I don't have time to shave with a straight. But it sure is fun learning. My daughter laughs at me and my shave geekness. She told me the other day, "I knew you would try a straight eventually...I told you!" (I hate it when she's right! )
Good job and keep it up. I'm about two steps behind you. I have a Dovo 4/8 INOX that has been honed and I tried it out and didn't slice my throat but I have much more practicing to do and before that happens I am definitely sending it out to be honed. Then, I'll work on honing it up myself. I'm leaving that to the masters for now.
Good job buddy! I will get in to this soon. After the Fatboy and the Slant and the new Merkur that is coming out are mastered.
Good show Blair, glad to hear things are shaping up for you & the straights :happy088 I gotta say, with all these sweet straight razor restore-jobs going on around here, I have been :drool
I'm impressed that you were able to get a shaving edge on a razor yourself in such a short space of time. If you want to take your shaves to the next level then I would recommend a paddle strop with some .5 micron Chromium Oxide paste on it. Hit the paddle after the 8k side of your Norton and you should get a fantastic, smooth shaving edge without having to worry about the myriad other options out there. Regards, Alex
Yeah. Me too. I'll get into cut throats as soon as I have 1 solid month of Perfect BBS shaves. .....dont see that happening for quite awhile !
Nice going Blair!!! Keep it up and things will get better. The learning curve is somewhat steep but you can do it. Always be aware of where the edge is and what it is doing. You will get nick in the begining, it happens to everyone, until you become familiar with the edge and technique. If you have any questions about honing just ask. I am by no means a honemeister but I can be of help. Welcome to the brotherhood!!!...the secret handshake comes later Raf
Blair, Glad to hear things are going well. I'm actually shaving with straights more and more myself. Pretty much only use the DE for Hydrolast these days, and sometimes I even use the straight on it as well. I have my collection of DE's trimmed down to just three razors now. The learning process is definately interesting. Probably the most fun I've ever had that resulted in me taking a chunk of flesh out of the side of my face :rofl
Thanks, y'all. Mike, I hear ya. I think some of my coworkers still think I was in a bar fight with someone with a big class ring or something. :rofl Alex/Raf, I think beginner's luck has something to with the honing success. I was taking edges that were already "pretty close" and just getting them in better shape. But I am definitely looking to get a pasted paddle strop next. To everybody, I appreciate the support. I tell folks "on the outside" about my shaving success and they either: a. think I'm nuts, or b. roll their eyes and say "that's nice" while looking for a way to get away from me!
