SR like cutting butter with a hot knife

For some reason, I'm under the impression that a SR should cut through facialial hair as if slicing butter with a hot knife. Is this true? If so, does this happen through experience and learning proper technique? Is it a matter of having a very very sharp SR? Will learning to hone a razor myself allow me to get a razor sharper than mailing it in to be honed?

Lastly, I would describe my facial hair as being relatively thick. I currently have a 5/8 SR. Would a 6/8th or 7/8 make a noticeable difference for shaving my thicker/stiff facial hair?

So learning to hone is a great thing but it might take time before you get the same edge that experienced honer gets.
There is something to be said about experience. Also hardware matter.
Some expensive stones might yield better result. Some might argue they beat the best natural stone with dirt cheap film and that might well be true (noticed I did not say it is or it is not to avoid a religious argument here), but even using film needs to be learned as there seems to be tricks.

I have very thick coarse hair myself and I can not make any rules for what works best.
I had a super hollow thin 8/8 give me a wonderful shave. Some great 1/2 hollows in the 6/8 range do the same. But I also have a 9/16 red imp wedgy thing that works heavenly too.
You might want to try a few different things. The feel of a wedge or a frameback on coarse hair is nice.

As far as your hot knife analogy the answer is both yes and no. Will you get a one pass BBS? Almost certainly not, that being said a 3 pass SR with a nicely honed razor is the best shave I've ever gotten. Will it take development of technique to get there? Absolutely. I have only been at it for about six months and am only now getting those quality of shaves and getting better all the time. There are other factors that will contribute to a quality shave worth considering as well. Quality of prep, lather, and choosing products that compliment your beard as well as your skin type. These are often overlooked in favor of a sharp razor to do the heavy lifting. I've never had any of my razors honed professionally and I know my honing isn't perfect, but with time , patience and effort I am improving. I have chosen to be as self reliant as possible and owning my own progress. I do "study" intently by watching videos and reading through the forums. It is helpful I'm sure to have a razor professionally honed as I'm not sure I know what a truly "shave ready" razor feels like. What I do know is that my honing is improving and my razors shave which is good enough for me for now anyway. Hope this helps...I use naniwa 1k 5k 8k 12K progression for honing BTW.

absolutely true. the right repeatable honed edge is likened to a velvet squeegee. its undeniably different than anything else in shaving and once youve had that edge, you look at in marvel and wonder why anyone would have changed.

i have coarse hair as well, thick beard and it does not matter. a good edge doesn't discriminate.

^What Jon said.

Cheers, Steve

Welcome to B&B sir Neil!
while it took some practice, my SR shaves are often my smoothest and most comfortable.
indeed about edge quality, experience and prep.
three thoughts.
get your SR professionally honed.
or try out a shavette with feather or Kai blade.
last...patience and practice!
enjoy the journey!

Sharp razor + good technique = hot knife & butter. My favorite math.

^^^^ What Larry said....straight shaves that leave your face BBS are addictive so be aware...lol.

Yep. Sharp razor, on your own probably takes a while, so if you want one now you must have a straight fanatic hone it. Good technique? Pay attention to what you're doing. Know that your off hand has something important to do, and keep that spine down. Prep? We all know how to take a shower.

The thing about good technique is that you can know what to do without being able to do it. The razor has to spend enough time in your hand to become a comfortable extension that is at home sliding around your face and throat. That is a different amount of time for different people, but it is time.

An analogy to straight shaving is sharpening a chisel. A guy who has only used a sharpening guide can get perfect results every time. It's super easy. He can expertly sharpen a chisel. If you take away his guide, he will very likely not get close to the same results, and maybe just have a disaster. But with time, though he already knew technically how to do it and tried hard but failed, he will be able to match his guided results, and do it more efficiently. And then he can quickly do things that were impossible, or a pain in the butt, with the guide in the way.

The short version of my advice is to get a razor (whether it's the one you have or another one) honed by somebody with a reputation for making lightsaber edges and to lather up well and use a shallow angle and see how that turns out. Also, don't strop before the first shave, that way you can be sure you haven't dulled the edge.


The long version takes the form of a story. There once was a DE shaver who decided to try SR shaving. After his first dozen or so shaves with a straight, he was at about the same point you are, Nsgators, wondering whether what he was feeling was what straight razor shaving was supposed to be like. He was getting OK results in terms of closeness and irritation, but the experience during the shave wasn't what he had expected - there was some strong tugging along the jawline and chin, and even in the easier spots the blade was a little tuggy and it didn't seem like he could use zero pressure and still have the blade cut hair. He had purchased his razor (a NOS Klas Tornblom 11/16 faux-frameback barber's notch blade that had been put in cheap plastic scales) from a guy on another site who was a well-reviewed restorer and honer there, and while the scales seemed rather loose (though he didn't have anything to compare to at the time) and he had used the technique commonly recommended (30 degrees/2 spinewidths WTG), he figured the edge must not be the problem. He could shave a little better at a much shallower angle (about 1 spinewidth or about 15 degrees when going WTG), but it still was much tuggier than he though was right.

This shaver had a long trip coming up at that time, and he took the opportunity to grab a Feather AC and a pack of blades. The very first shave with it at a hotel was the best shave he had ever had at the time (he had been DE shaving for probably 8 months before he tried straights), with the true "hot knife through butter" feel and no irritation. Now, the technique is a little different for a shavette (even a good Feather or Kai barber razor) than it is for a traditional straight but it's not that different, and knowing he could get good results gave him some confidence that he wasn't losing his mind or totally incompetent.

By this point he also had taken a shine to the look of some other razors he saw listed online, and he bought a Baurmann honed on a conventional synthetic progression ending with an SG 20k by a different honer. He tried that out, and the results were nearly as good as with the Feather! The next dozen shaves with the Baurmann went about equally well. Shaves with the Klas Tornblom on the other hand still went quite poorly. He wasn't stropping any differently than he had been before and his technique was identical with both razors, but the results shaving with the two were night and day.

The shaver now went back to the guy who he had purchased his first razor from and inquired in the least accusatory manner he could about how it had been honed. The answer he got was that it had been finished on an Imperia La Roccia stone with 4 layers of tape used, and that this produced the keenest and smoothest edge imaginable. I won't say what the implication is here though I'm sure some folks can guess.

As you probably figured out, the shaver was me. A couple of hundred shaves later, my technique has improved and I'm happy with where I'm at and glad I neither gave up on the enterprise nor accepted the results I was getting with that first edge as normal. Unfortunately, the lovely Klas Tornblom razor never became what it deserved to be - I sent it to a guy who is well-recommended here to have the scales replaced, and he accidentally snapped the blade in half during repinning and refunded me the purchase price of the razor plus the price of the scales and shipping. Good customer service, though I would have preferred the blade not being broken in the first place. Someday I'd like to get another Klas Tornblom, though I doubt I'll ever find another NOS one and certainly not for the price I got the first one.

A few months ago, I bought a different razor from the same guy I originally bought the Klas Tornblom from and it tugged too until I rehoned it. It's had lapping film and jnat edges on it now and has become kind of a standard test piece for me as I work on my honing skills.

Great story. Thanks for that.

Great story!

Even though I knew something like it had to be coming, I actually cringed at the honing reveal

I actually think it might pull a little bit but you get used to it.

A laser sharp and smooth razor certainly helps and may even be your foundation. As far as what razor will work best for you can only be acquired by you venturing out, opening up your pocket book a bit or a lot, and sampling different widths, grinds, steel, brands, countries. That's were the fun is, at least for me.


~Royce

Some really fantastic edges are available through our Badger and Blade Honemiesters. If you are using a very good edge from a well respected honer I would say look toward technique. Technique, technique, technique!!! Perfect it in every step of the shave. Prep, lather, choice of lather, blade angle, stroke, all are important. Turn the blade slightly so it meets your whiskers at an angle like a slant DE would. A very slight scything motion to the stroke helps to effortlessly remove those whiskers. I even have a favorite soap that I wash my face with in the shower before the shave. (yes, I am a touch OCD ) The point is, even a great edge can let you down if you don't have the total picture completed.

^^^^ well said!

global_dev said:

absolutely true. the right repeatable honed edge is likened to a velvet squeegee. its undeniably different than anything else in shaving and once youve had that edge, you look at in marvel and wonder why anyone would have changed.

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Because it takes a deal of skill, that's why it changed.

benhunt said:

Because it takes a deal of skill, that's why it changed.

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There's some truth in that for sure. It takes a good razor hone and enough practice to understand how to make the edge you like, which is not going to be for everyone. But you don't have to hone, there are plenty of folks that love to. If you have a few razors, send them to Alfredo, Scott, Bayamontate, etc when they need honing and you'll never be without that velvet squeegee.

Cheers, Steve

Steve56 said:

There's some truth in that for sure. It takes a good razor hone and enough practice to understand how to make the edge you like, which is not going to be for everyone. But you don't have to hone, there are plenty of folks that love to. If you have a few razors, send them to Alfredo, Scott, Bayamontate, etc when they need honing and you'll never be without that velvet squeegee.

Cheers, Steve

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Even shaving with a SR takes more skill than other options. I love it, and it helps me hang on to what remaining sanity I have, but notice that in general people gravitate to what they perceive as easier options, even when they're measurably worse. (Otherwise there wouldn't be so many users of Windows & Word.)

Plus ... it appears that for many, easier means going along with marketing pressure. Like sheep to the slaughter, the way I look at it. Straight razor shaving can represent a commitment to thinking for yourself. Or, it can just be following another, smaller herd.

benhunt said:

Even shaving with a SR takes more skill than other options. I love it, and it helps me hang on to what remaining sanity I have, but notice that in general people gravitate to what they perceive as easier options, even when they're measurably worse. (Otherwise there wouldn't be so many users of Windows & Word.)

Click to expand...