Maintenance?

[RicoSuave]

Am seriously considering learning to use a straight razor for SOME of my shaves (most likely my leisurely Sunday ones!)

I'm curious as to how much one should expect to spend on MAINTENANCE on a regular basis?

Sure, I could go out and spend HUNDREDS of dollars on getting ALL the appropriate honing stones and honing the razors myself, but I feel it's probably best left to the "professionals," a la a"Razor Emporium."

So, how much should I expect to spend on a REGULAR basis? Would I need to get my blade sharpened YEARLY, esp. if I'm only using it once, twice a week?

What should the average price for a basic sharpening be?

Thanks for sharing your invaluable knowledge, gents!

 

[Darth Scandalous]

RE wouldn't be my first choice for honing. Somewhere around here is a list of "honemeisters" although I don't know how up-to-date it is. Alfredo (@Doc226 ) or Nelson (@Bayamontate ) have solid reputations here. I've used Alfredo personally and would recommend him unconditionally. There are other guys here too and I don't mean to dismiss them by leaving them out. Other non-member options would be Max Sprecher, Brad Maggard, and Jarrod at the Superior Shave. I don't know if @Matt_GriffithShavingGoods does custom honing but the edges he puts on the razors he sells are good.

Honing ought to run in the $25 to $40 range plus postage and depending on the razor.

As far as longevity, if you know how to strop effectively, you can probably get anywhere from 40 to 150 shaves off a blade, really depends on your beard, technique, and the razor's steel. Newbies tend to be harder on edges and less skilled at stropping, so expect the lower end starting out, maybe a lot lower.

 

[H Brad Boonshaft]

Yup, maintenance is all about stropping, skill and strop quality.

The beauty of a straight razor is that you can tailor an edge to your face and beard, for keenness and comfort.

You do not need a large investment in stones, just a finisher or two, unless you damage the edge.

Do get your first razor purchase professionally honed, then learn to maintain it.

 

[Seaswood]

I would second that the honing process is not that elaborate three stones watch some videos.
enough razors so you can rotate through them.
the strop is as said above very important a quality strop is required.
& the brush quality good there also has to be cleaned properly to last.

 

[RicoSuave]

Yup, maintenance is all about stropping, skill and strop quality.

The beauty of a straight razor is that you can tailor an edge to your face and beard, for keenness and comfort.

You do not need a large investment in stones, just a finisher or two, unless you damage the edge.

Do get your first razor purchase professionally honed, then learn to maintain it.

"Razor Emporium" said you needed MULTIPLE stones costing thousands of dollars for sharpening at home...

 

[Legion]

"Razor Emporium" said you needed MULTIPLE stones costing thousands of dollars for sharpening at home...

Of course they did. They sell a honing service.

If you only need to maintain an already sharp razor you only need a finishing stone. In fact you could probably get away with using paste for ages, so you don’t really even need that.

Personally I’d suggest you get the razor honed professionally, and then get a finisher, a strop, and you will be good, potentially forever.

 

[RicoSuave]

Of course they did. They sell a honing service.

If you only need to maintain an already sharp razor you only need a finishing stone. In fact you could probably get away with using paste for ages, so you don’t really even need that.

Personally I’d suggest you get the razor honed professionally, and then get a finisher, a strop, and you will be good, potentially forever.

Oh, so CYNICAL...

Seriously though, sounds about right, esp. if you plan to be an OCCASIONAL straight razor user like myself.

I'm assuming these "finishing" stones come in different GRADES, or would it just be the one?

How do you use paste?

Thx. for the info!

 

[Legion]

Oh, so CYNICAL...

Seriously though, sounds about right, esp. if you plan to be an OCCASIONAL straight razor user like myself.

I'm assuming these "finishing" stones come in different GRADES, or would it just be the one?

How do you use paste?

Thx. for the info!

There are different types of finishing stones to choose from, but you only need one.

Paste, like diamond, chromium oxide etc is spread on a substrate like leather or balsa wood which you strop on, and since it is slightly abrasive it can keep a razor sharp for quite a while.

 

[Wid]

If all I were doing is a shave a week, I’d go the pasted strop route. If you ever need to have it re-honed send it out to one of the aforementioned honers.

You could go a very long time once you learn to strop.

 

[Darth Scandalous]

"Razor Emporium" said you needed MULTIPLE stones costing thousands of dollars for sharpening at home...

That's ridiculous. Sorry. It does say something about their credibility, though.

Note: you absolutely *can* spend thousands of dollars on stones if you want. But you don't need to.

Nothing wrong with sending your razor(s) out to be honed either.

 

[Jakebullet]

When I started I bought a pack of lapping film.
Lapping film is essentially very fine sandpaper in the form of thin plastic sheets.
It comes in a pack with different sheets of different grit sizes, the coarsest of which can fix almost any chip and the finest of which are great for maintaining a crazy sharp razors edge and are cheap and big for learning on.
They’re ideal.
I think they cost around £30 though I haven’t used them for awhile.
Buy the non adhesive backed type and an 8x3 x 1 inch acryllic block to lay your cut pieces on.
Spray water on the block, lay a cut to size sheet of film on there and squeeze the air bubbles out with a credit card.
This makes the film stick nicely to the block.
Run your razor back and forth.
That’s it.
It’s cheap, easy to set up and will give you a start into the beautiful practice of keeping your own razors sharp.
You don’t even need a full pack.
You can buy them in singles.
One single sheet of 1 micron grit size film will cut up into about three useable pieces each of which will be good for a year apiece if you only use them to touch up once or twice every couple of months.
Touching up a razor is easy once you try it a few times, 30 - 50 light laps is all you need.
With this in mind, you’re looking at the cost of a shave ready razor, (best to buy two) a strop (as little as £30 upwards) and a piece of film and acryllic block.
Done for years.

 

[RicoSuave]

There are different types of finishing stones to choose from, but you only need one.

Paste, like diamond, chromium oxide etc is spread on a substrate like leather or balsa wood which you strop on, and since it is slightly abrasive it can keep a razor sharp for quite a while.

Excuse my (obvious) ignorance, but you apply the paste to the same leather strop you use to hone your razor?

Thx!

 

[JPO]

Excuse my (obvious) ignorance, but you apply the paste to the same leather strop you use to hone your razor?

Thx!

For best results you apply it to the fabric component of the strop. You don't need much. Too much can actually work against you.

 

[Luc]

Am seriously considering learning to use a straight razor for SOME of my shaves (most likely my leisurely Sunday ones!)

I'm curious as to how much one should expect to spend on MAINTENANCE on a regular basis?

Sure, I could go out and spend HUNDREDS of dollars on getting ALL the appropriate honing stones and honing the razors myself, but I feel it's probably best left to the "professionals," a la a"Razor Emporium."

So, how much should I expect to spend on a REGULAR basis? Would I need to get my blade sharpened YEARLY, esp. if I'm only using it once, twice a week?

What should the average price for a basic sharpening be?

Thanks for sharing your invaluable knowledge, gents!

In between shaves, you need to strop the razor. It depends on how fast (or not) you do this and how many laps. Some do 20, some 50, some 100. I usually do between 50-60 laps so it's more around 70. That would take around 10 mins.

On the honing part, it depends on the razor, your stropping, and how sharp you like the blade. General rule of thumb, I would do between 15-20 shaves between honing. When I hone, I use a diamond plate that's 1.2k and a Japanese finishing stone. I lap the Japanese finishing stone and hone the razor on the J-nat only for a few laps (until the edge looks refreshed). That could take between 10-15 minutes, maybe 20 minutes, depending on how quickly you go and how difficult is the razor. I use a small 5$ microscope to look at the edge.

Regarding the microscope, it depends on what you want to see. Some go 10x, 100x, 1000x. I can't remember what mine is but it's enough to see if the edge is now very shiny and refreshed from honing.

 

[Honedright]

I’ve been able to get by just fine for many years with just a small selection of barbers hones and an IRS #361 strop. With new straight razors, or vintage without weird defects (be selective when you buy old razors), this is all you should need-just a course and fine hone and a good strop. In addition, you just need to keep your hones and strops clean and your razors dry.

As far as time spent, I rarely hone my razors. I consider myself fairly experienced at stropping and that helps. I only hone when I feel it’s needed and that may be only once, or twice, a year and that is with frequent use. If using a straight only intermittently, it could be much longer between honing, as in years. Using a rotation of a few different razors will make a difference in how often each razor needs honing. And, I’ve never sent a razor out to be honed. I learned the hard way and have spent only sweat equity on honing. Using a straight razor, beyond the initial cost of equipment, should be very inexpensive, YMMV.

 

[H Brad Boonshaft]

"Razor Emporium" said you needed MULTIPLE stones costing thousands of dollars for sharpening at home...”

So, years ago, way pre internet, I bought my first razor from my barber, he ordered the razor, strop and a 6X2 in Arkansas Translucent. He honed the razor on his hard Ark probably a Lilly White, and finished on the translucent, in a few minutes, (interestingly there was no mention of “flattening” either stone.

Instruction was, you do this, circles and this, X strokes, test shave, if it pulls do a few more laps. Hone it 15-20 laps every week and strop daily, like this. End of instruction.

I honed and shaved with that razor daily for 10 years until I started collecting.

Paste works, again years ago, I and a few others once stropped a razor on Chrome Oxide and shaved with it daily for a year. The edge was keen and smooth, for the whole year. There was no stria on the bevel after a week or so. At the time there was some debate about if one could overuse a Chrome Oxide strop and “ruin” a razor.

Paste a separate strop, test paste on a piece of cardboard, inside of a cereal box, there are many kinds and grits of paste. Chrome Oxide at about 30-50,000 grit and $10 for a lifetime supply, has been used for hundreds of years to maintain razors.

Once you settle on a paste, buy a dedicated linen from Tony Miller for a few dollars. Tony will also make you a quality strop that will last a lifetime.

Maintenance is all about stropping, Stropping is way under rated.

 

[Honedright]

Just for example, I recently saw a Dubl Duck combination dry hone online for $40, a vintage Ern German made straight razor for $28.00 shipped, and a new IRS 361 strop for $62.00. Add a tub of Proraso at $10.00, a Semogue shaving brush for $24.00, and a 16 oz bottle of Gabel’s bay rum for $16.00 and you’re at about $180.00 for just about everything you need. Learn to hone and strop. It doesn’t have to be expensive.

 

[Honedright]

" (interestingly there was no mention of “flattening” either stone.”

The only barber I’ve been to for a shave, in 1980, was a little old (I think he was in his seventies and “old” to a twenty year old) Italian barber who had a shop on Main Street in Santa Monica Calif. I was just starting to learn how to shave with a straight razor and wanted to experience a shave from an expert.

I remember watching him hone the razor on a single stone. I’d swear that hone was severely dished in the middle, and anything but flat. But the shave was excellent.

 

[Legion]

Excuse my (obvious) ignorance, but you apply the paste to the same leather strop you use to hone your razor?

Thx!

No. You need a clean strop that you use every shave, and a separate strop for the paste you use every seven (or so) shaves. I recommend bonding the pasted strop to a flat surface like a piece of acrylic or wood. It will help reduce the chance of you rounding the edge with bad technique.

 

[Frank Shaves]

You need one razor, one leather strop, and at least one working arm and hand.

The amount of time and money required for maintenance depends on how deep you want to dig. If you want to set bevels and finish razors using every kind of stone ever made, you will need to spend thousands of dollars. If you just want to keep edges shave-ready sharp, you have three options:

1. Diamond paste on balsa for less than $100
2. Film for less than $100
3. Naniwa Gouken 12000 purchased from Amazon for less than $100

I had the same concern when I started my journey over 3 years ago. I started by buying one new and one vintage razor, and using diamond paste on balsa. And then I caught the honing bug and now own tens of stones.

Just make sure that you start with a properly honed razor or two as per what Matt (@Darth Scandalous) said and you should be good.

Lots of choices!