Loving straight razor shaving. Hating straight razor ownership.

Hear me out.

I've been fortunate enough to acquire some pretty stinking nice straight razors. I love them. To me, they're functional works of art. I love looking at them AND I love shaving with them.

But, being the beautiful works of art that they are, I obsess about them remaining 100% pristine. I am constantly freaking out thinking about rust, water spots, and any other anomaly that can mar the beauty of the blades. I am positively terrified by the things that are surely happening in the pivot area where I cannot reach to clean. I keep my razors oiled, but I swear I still see small rust spots or discoloration spots developing on them. I have some horn and some ivory scales, and I'm worried about them drying out or discoloring. I know I should just relax, but I can't. Were any of you guys this way? Are any of you still this way?

Oh, also, I bought a decent strop because I thought I'd gotten the hang of it with my Whipped Dog starter strop. Apparently I haven't, because I'm wrecking my nice one. Any advice on that?

Thanks in advance.

Relax

I never oil my straights, I never do any scale upkeep. If they live somewhere dry and without massive temp fluctuations they'll be fine

Yep, chill. I know how you feel, especially with the expensive stuff. But think of it all as "character", and putting your own mark on your tools. It's not damage, it's "patina".

They are tools. They will show signs of use and wear. Even if your razor looks horrid after a few years, chances are it can be restored back. However, as you use it, this is unlikely to happen. It's when it's been left alone for ages. The only time I'll oil a blade is when I know I'm going to put it up for a long time. Then, it's only because it's there. The ivory scales have been fine for the past 140 years. Why should you need to do something now?

_MementoMori_ said:

Oh, also, I bought a decent strop because I thought I'd gotten the hang of it with my Whipped Dog starter strop. Apparently I haven't, because I'm wrecking my nice one. Any advice on that?

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take your time. Start slow then build up speed. It is way too easy to get hypnotized by the back and forth motion. If you start to lose concentration. stop. Blink a few times then start again. Pay a little more attention when you first sit the razor on the stop. This is when you run the risk of a cut/nick before you start to move the blade.

don't sweat it. It will come naturally soon enough

Buy a couple of daily shavers and put the others in a showcase if it's that much of a concern. Stainless steel blades, G10 scales.
Replace the strop when it becomes unuseable and don't spend for a Kanayama.
Actually, I think you're worrying about it too much.

Breathe you are over thinking it.

Pick up some daily shavers, (you mentioned Whipped Dog. I can't believe the quality of Larry's sight unseens!) move on with life.

High end razors typically have a washer between the tang and scales so the pivot can breathe. Keep this oiled, you can dry the space with a piece of paper if you must.

Get or make a paddle strop. You may be more satisfied. (or not so don't break the bank)

Enjoy the shaves.

Phil

A layer of tufglide on all my razors seems to be working quite well for me in lieu of mineral oil that didn't seem to really cover all the metal, but instead bead and leave areas exposed.

Don't sweat the small stuff. You could get a nice set of dailies from whipped dog for the price of some straights. We've been there.

Put the razor in front of a small fan when your finished using it. It will dry immediately and eliminate many of your problems.

I rinse mine with hot water then dry with a towel. that way the blade is warm and any dampness left behind will evaperate off.

Patina looks better.

I don't do anything special with mine. They just sit on the shelf and dry. I don't own any super special ones anyway. As for my strop, I have a Legion Moo-Roo that's just awesome. Unfortunately I have put a ding or two in it. It still works great though

buddydog said:

Patina looks better.

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Bingo! Clearly David, you're not in the proper mental state to have these beauties just quite yet (totally understandable). Send them to me and I'll watch over them until you're ready

I second making the strop too...in fact, I started with the Poorman's kit and it became broken in so nicely that I just dressed it up a bit...I'm loving that thing!

Although I still drool over the kanayama pictures!

Thanks for the words of wisdom, all.

I do actually have a nice "beater" straight razor that I use most often. It's a Shumate Barber razor in black plastic scales.

As for the strop, just how nicked does one have to be before it's considered a write-off? I have this one:

http://www.straightrazordesigns.com...esigns-3-red-latigo-strop-with-leather-handle

Does the strop still work? OK. You are fine then.

If you are like me most of your nicks cause leather fuzzies at the edge, with a few deeper slices that are smooth and do not significantly affect stropping. You can lightly sand the edges to remove the worst of the fuzzies if it bothers you

If you have taken a large number of deeper slices and nicks that have lifted up or removed flaps of leather then you might have impacted the stropping ability of the strop smoothly. You can use CA glue to bond flaps down, then sand lightly to remove excess glue and help restore the strop to functional. Use 400 grit sandpaper and remove any leftover grit.

Phil

_MementoMori_ said:

Thanks for the words of wisdom, all.

I do actually have a nice "beater" straight razor that I use most often. It's a Shumate Barber razor in black plastic scales.

As for the strop, just how nicked does one have to be before it's considered a write-off? I have this one:

http://www.straightrazordesigns.com...esigns-3-red-latigo-strop-with-leather-handle

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I have a very similar strop from Vintage Blades that served as my starter strop (I didn't know any better at the time to use Larry's services when I started) and it got nicked/cut up as I was learning. As long as you're able to still successfully strop on it you should be go. I found most of my major nicks/slices were near the bottom/top as I had issues in rolling the blade properly to do the next pass. If it's bad in these areas you can just avoid them as you strop. If they're in the middle you're probably ok too as long as they're not that bad. If you have hanging pieces you can glue them down and sand them. Minor nicks can be sanded also.

Maybe take a picture of the strop and post it for a bit more advice.

http://thesuperiorshave.com/Dovo_Straight_Razors.html

Place them in the sleeve and don't worry about it.

Doc226 said:

http://thesuperiorshave.com/Dovo_Straight_Razors.html

Place them in the sleeve and don't worry about it.

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Does that sleeve affect the scales in any way?

Another vote for the superior shave sleeves.