New to straight razors
- Thread starter marty2905
- Start date
Welcome!
A lot of the answers depend on what and where you purchased.
New/vintage, which vendor?
As for care, it can vary, maybe honing every 3 mths is required, maybe every 6 mths.
Really depends on your beard and how often you shave.
Just make sure its shave ready before you begin using it.
A lot of the answers depend on what and where you purchased.
New/vintage, which vendor?
As for care, it can vary, maybe honing every 3 mths is required, maybe every 6 mths.
Really depends on your beard and how often you shave.
Just make sure its shave ready before you begin using it.
If it's brand new out of the box, you will need honing. If it wasn't specified 'shave ready' then, it will need honing.
How often? Depends on your technique, stropping, straight itself. You got a strop too?
Here's a list of honemeister to get it sharpen: http://wiki.badgerandblade.com/index.php/Honemeister
How often? Depends on your technique, stropping, straight itself. You got a strop too?
Here's a list of honemeister to get it sharpen: http://wiki.badgerandblade.com/index.php/Honemeister
I would suggest once it comes back from honing, do not strop it. It will have been stropped after coming off the stones and you don't want to roll the edge with bad strop technique. This way you get a clear picture of what the edge should feel like.
You might get away with a few shaves this way, but you gotta learn to strop sometime. Strop after your shave, before your next, or both.
When it starts to tug and not feel as good as you remember, despite improvements in technique, it's probably ready for a touch up with either paste on a linen strop or balsa strop, or on a hone.
If you get a barber's hone, make sure it's from someone who knows that it's good. I got a mystery barber's hone with my first old straights and I have a feeling it's not that great for touch ups...
Better yet, if you find you like straight shaving get yourself a backup from Larry at whipped dog, this way when your main razor needs a touch up, send it back out for honing, use your backup until it returns.
You might get away with a few shaves this way, but you gotta learn to strop sometime. Strop after your shave, before your next, or both.
When it starts to tug and not feel as good as you remember, despite improvements in technique, it's probably ready for a touch up with either paste on a linen strop or balsa strop, or on a hone.
If you get a barber's hone, make sure it's from someone who knows that it's good. I got a mystery barber's hone with my first old straights and I have a feeling it's not that great for touch ups...
Better yet, if you find you like straight shaving get yourself a backup from Larry at whipped dog, this way when your main razor needs a touch up, send it back out for honing, use your backup until it returns.
welcome to the supurb world of straights.
check out the link in my sig for what you need and why.
check out the link in my sig for what you need and why.
Congrats, Marty. You've got a lot of reading to do.
I'm going to answer your questions based on my personal experience, and not from "conventional wisdom" keep in mind, I have been using a straight razor for many years and did not grow up with any of the shaving sites.
You will need to strop your razor before each use. Stropping serves to polish the edge and remove any irregularities left over from the previous shave. You can probably get by skipping one or maybe even two times, but the shave will become increasingly uncomfortable. Stropping on an untreated strop does not sharpen the blade. You will see a number of references to how many passes on the strop are required. In my opinion, these are usually much higher than necessary. 10-15 strokes are usually sufficient. I actually do it by feel, but this is an aquired skill. Passes above the number actually aquired do no harm (as long as they are done correctly), they are just a waste of time and effort. You will also need to strop following honing. This is done to smooth the irregularities left on the blade by the hone. If you send you blade out to be honed, who ever did it probably stropped the blade as well, so you can skip the initial stropping.
I typically find that I need to do a good touch-up honing after about 60 shave, others have reported more frequent requirements. Again, I do this be feel. When the blade gets to the point that it no longer gives a smooth comfortable shave after stropping, it needs to be honed. I have always honed my own razors, and personally I never found this to be the esoteric art some make it out to be. If you are not comforatable with doing this yourself, then there a a number of people providing this service. Personally, I have a problem using a razor that someone else has shaved with so if you do send it out for honing I would recommend someone who does not do a "test" shave.
Beyond this, treat your razor as you would any other fine edged tool. Keep it dry and clean, store it properly and it will give you years of service.
You will need to strop your razor before each use. Stropping serves to polish the edge and remove any irregularities left over from the previous shave. You can probably get by skipping one or maybe even two times, but the shave will become increasingly uncomfortable. Stropping on an untreated strop does not sharpen the blade. You will see a number of references to how many passes on the strop are required. In my opinion, these are usually much higher than necessary. 10-15 strokes are usually sufficient. I actually do it by feel, but this is an aquired skill. Passes above the number actually aquired do no harm (as long as they are done correctly), they are just a waste of time and effort. You will also need to strop following honing. This is done to smooth the irregularities left on the blade by the hone. If you send you blade out to be honed, who ever did it probably stropped the blade as well, so you can skip the initial stropping.
I typically find that I need to do a good touch-up honing after about 60 shave, others have reported more frequent requirements. Again, I do this be feel. When the blade gets to the point that it no longer gives a smooth comfortable shave after stropping, it needs to be honed. I have always honed my own razors, and personally I never found this to be the esoteric art some make it out to be. If you are not comforatable with doing this yourself, then there a a number of people providing this service. Personally, I have a problem using a razor that someone else has shaved with so if you do send it out for honing I would recommend someone who does not do a "test" shave.
Beyond this, treat your razor as you would any other fine edged tool. Keep it dry and clean, store it properly and it will give you years of service.
If you strop it correctly, it will not need to be honed anywhere from a month, to 3 5 and so on months. It all depends on how efficient your stropping is. I strop my razor before I shave, and after. Another maintenance tip: When it's time to dry the razor after you finished shaving, make sure it's dry. Inspect the blade for water bubbles. If left on the razor, the water bubbles will become a stain. Also, use a thin piece of paper towel or toilet paper and run it through the scales so there won't be any moisture that will rust the blade.
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