Shaving with a straight razor is something that I was always interested in doing but never did primarily due to a lack of confidence in my manual dexterity, not having the proper equipment, not knowing much about how to shave with a straight ( let alone maintaining a sharp edge ) and a fear of an exposed sharp blade next to my face. After much internal debate my desire to prove to myself that I could shave with a straight edge overcame my better judgement. After doing as much reading as possible on this ( and other internet sites ) I knew that I did not want anything too costly to begin with until I decided whether or not this was going to be feasible for me. Anything I got was going to be shave ready from a reputable source so I would not have to worry about honing issues to start. I looked at new Dovo Best razors but was unwilling to spend $100 or so on an initial trial purchase. So that left vintage or Gold Dollar razors as my best options. Clearly there are pros and cons to both, but I ended up choosing a Gold Dollar 100.
Why? A large issue for me was that, if I went the vintage route, I would end up ruining the blade through poor stropping and honing technique and hate myself for ruining a wonderful razor with a rich history behind it. It may not turn out to be the best decision in the long run, but I think I can use the GD to learn how to do things well before getting a more permanent razor. My limited understanding is the major drawbacks to GD razors are 1) Lack of quality control/ variability 2) Flimsy scales 3) Aesthetics and most importantly 4) Honing difficulty to to a protruding shoulder. I figured I could live with 1-3 and, if I got a shave ready razor, issue 4 would be handled by someone with the experience and expertise required to overcome this obstacle. In the positive column, the quality of the steel in GD razors appears to be quite reasonable. I do have a professional background in materials and I looked carefully at Seraphim's comparitive micrographs in his very informative discussion. It may be a small sample size, but the GD shown had a finer, more refined grain structure and a very clean honed edge. If it does not hold an edge as well as others, for me that's not so bad as this is very much a learning experience and I can practice my honing skills more often. I've prepared a large number of metallurgical samples for high magnification microscopy in my misspent youth so I'm not scared of this part of process. I know this is different ( still even pressure, wet/dry papers to start but fixed hones not a spinning wheels with ultrafine diamond pastes on the polishing cloths to finish) but not that different ( particularly in comparison to pasted strops ). I hope I'm not going to be unpleasantly surprised when it comes time to cleaning up an edge.
For strops, virtually everyone I read said that you will ruin your first strop learning how to do it properly. Learning on a paddle strop also seems to be considered easier than a hanging strop. So I cut down a scrap 4x4 down to a finished 3" x 3" x 12" , sanded it smooth,added a dowel section for a handle and glued strips of leather ( one rough, one smooth ) and strips of canvas from some of my wife's scrap leather collection. This way, I don't have an enormous investment and if I ruin a side or have adhesion issues it can be easily replaced. So far I've just tried the leather but I plan to experiment with pastes on the canvas as soon as my 1 micron diamond paste shows up. Not knowing where to begin, I choose 1 micron as a start and hope that it isn't too coarse for edge maintenance. By trial and error I may be able to figure out what works best for me and refine my technique before picking up a Tony Miller strop that I would love to have but not until my abilities warrant. Again ruining one of Tony's works of art for me would be devastating.
My razor arrived yesterday without incident. The shoulders were ground down to allow honing. The blade was straight and closed evenly in the scales. It measured up at 6/8 and had a solid, hefty feel to it ; this of course coming from someone with absolutely no experience with a straight whatsoever. The edge seemed OK in cutting arm hair as a test so I was good to go. This morning, I went through my normal preshave routine, lathered up with Cella and tried to shave without doing too much damage. I just did the easily accessible areas ( finishing with my Slim ), more to get a feel for how to hold and manipulate the blade comfortably and gain some much needed confidence. It was definitely not an artistic success in terms of shave quality ( nowhere near as close as a quality DE shave ), but I was able to get a satisfactory result without any blood loss- no nicks whatsoever and surprisingly little irritation. I consider this to be, for me at least, very satisfying. I'm not completely hooked yet and I have a lot of work to do just to become marginally proficient, but its a start towards a goal that I was always to afraid to try.
Now the fun begins.
Why? A large issue for me was that, if I went the vintage route, I would end up ruining the blade through poor stropping and honing technique and hate myself for ruining a wonderful razor with a rich history behind it. It may not turn out to be the best decision in the long run, but I think I can use the GD to learn how to do things well before getting a more permanent razor. My limited understanding is the major drawbacks to GD razors are 1) Lack of quality control/ variability 2) Flimsy scales 3) Aesthetics and most importantly 4) Honing difficulty to to a protruding shoulder. I figured I could live with 1-3 and, if I got a shave ready razor, issue 4 would be handled by someone with the experience and expertise required to overcome this obstacle. In the positive column, the quality of the steel in GD razors appears to be quite reasonable. I do have a professional background in materials and I looked carefully at Seraphim's comparitive micrographs in his very informative discussion. It may be a small sample size, but the GD shown had a finer, more refined grain structure and a very clean honed edge. If it does not hold an edge as well as others, for me that's not so bad as this is very much a learning experience and I can practice my honing skills more often. I've prepared a large number of metallurgical samples for high magnification microscopy in my misspent youth so I'm not scared of this part of process. I know this is different ( still even pressure, wet/dry papers to start but fixed hones not a spinning wheels with ultrafine diamond pastes on the polishing cloths to finish) but not that different ( particularly in comparison to pasted strops ). I hope I'm not going to be unpleasantly surprised when it comes time to cleaning up an edge.
For strops, virtually everyone I read said that you will ruin your first strop learning how to do it properly. Learning on a paddle strop also seems to be considered easier than a hanging strop. So I cut down a scrap 4x4 down to a finished 3" x 3" x 12" , sanded it smooth,added a dowel section for a handle and glued strips of leather ( one rough, one smooth ) and strips of canvas from some of my wife's scrap leather collection. This way, I don't have an enormous investment and if I ruin a side or have adhesion issues it can be easily replaced. So far I've just tried the leather but I plan to experiment with pastes on the canvas as soon as my 1 micron diamond paste shows up. Not knowing where to begin, I choose 1 micron as a start and hope that it isn't too coarse for edge maintenance. By trial and error I may be able to figure out what works best for me and refine my technique before picking up a Tony Miller strop that I would love to have but not until my abilities warrant. Again ruining one of Tony's works of art for me would be devastating.
My razor arrived yesterday without incident. The shoulders were ground down to allow honing. The blade was straight and closed evenly in the scales. It measured up at 6/8 and had a solid, hefty feel to it ; this of course coming from someone with absolutely no experience with a straight whatsoever. The edge seemed OK in cutting arm hair as a test so I was good to go. This morning, I went through my normal preshave routine, lathered up with Cella and tried to shave without doing too much damage. I just did the easily accessible areas ( finishing with my Slim ), more to get a feel for how to hold and manipulate the blade comfortably and gain some much needed confidence. It was definitely not an artistic success in terms of shave quality ( nowhere near as close as a quality DE shave ), but I was able to get a satisfactory result without any blood loss- no nicks whatsoever and surprisingly little irritation. I consider this to be, for me at least, very satisfying. I'm not completely hooked yet and I have a lot of work to do just to become marginally proficient, but its a start towards a goal that I was always to afraid to try.
Now the fun begins.
