Get ready for a ton of questions, I just bought a Straight and Strop

[brucered]

Well, I'm coming up on 2y of DE shaving and everything is going perfect. BBS every day, enjoying the brushes, creams, razors, no issues to bring up.

I've had straights on my mind the past few weeks, don't know why. So what did I just do? Purchased a straight and strop from the BST from VT_Hokie.

I figured for the price, it looked like a nice beginner set up. It seems to be well regarded razor and from what I've seen the 5/8 is the one to start with. It is coming honed, no issues with blade, he's the original owner and it should be shave ready, so I'll give it a try.

Wish me luck

Here is a shot of the razor:

Boker King Cutter 5/8 with a 2" Black Leather and Latigo strop

 

[dpmtherrien]

Bring on the question's, and get ready for a ton of answers.

 

[superbleu]

Congratulations!!!

Questions are always welcomed, but have a look through here first if you haven't already.
http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showthread.php/190873-****Straight-Razor-Shave-Clinic-Stickies****

The more specific and detailed your questions, the more detailed the responses will be.

 

[Mike H]

Very nice!

 

[brucered]

thanks everyone.

i'll be bookmarking that link immediately and watching some YT videos etc as well.

 

[Kentos]

Welcome to the "cool" side of town!

 

[Alum of Potash]

Hello Bruce, from the music-tag thread! The razor looks good, and assuming the blade's okay, as I suppose it will be, your lesser hurdle, apart from shaving with it, will be stropping. You mentioned a 2" wide latigo strop. Can you be specific here as to brand, length, and whether or not it is a hanging or paddle strop, etc.? Is there a linen or canvas component as well? If it is hanging, I would recommend that you only use around a 12" length of the total strop at a time. Attempt to use the full length and you will probably nick the more distant ends. Better still, find a junker razor that you can completely dull and practice stropping with (and even removing lather with from face) before you risk to damage things with a sharp edge from the start. Perhaps a Gold Dollar for around $10, and then dulled for practice?

 

[brucered]

thanks Alum.

don't know much about the strop, but here is a pic. appears to be hanging and possibly leather and fabric (1 each length?).

thanks for the tips on the strop and practice razor. why the heck did I buy that razor, when i can get a Gold Dollar for $9 shipped

 

[Mr_Spiffy]

You bought that Boker because Bokers are excellent razors. (At least, that's what you should be telling yourself.) Gold Dollars? Not so much... From what I have read, the steel quality is questionable, and they don't hold or take edges well. You get what you pay for in the world of cutlery. If you pay $20 for a 40-piece set of kitchen knives, be prepared for a poor experience. (Although, some people have never experienced anything else, so they think they're fine. Whatever. You can keep those cheap chinese hunks of garbage that pretend to be knives.) Buy a $100 single high-quality chef's knife? You'd be amazed at how big the difference is. I've had people that were shocked at that price for a knife that we own. But they absolutely ROCK! (Think Wusthof, Henkels, or Shun. THOSE are awesome knives.)

Now, that's just cutting vegetables and meat. Cheap out on a straight razor? Well... do you really want to find out how good that Gold Dollar is using your face? Not me!! If I'm going to buy something that will last a lifetime, I don't plan to cheap out on it. Especially when I'm planning to put that blade to my own face.

 

[rickboone1]

That Boker is crap. Send it to me for disposal! Seriously, bro...thing's a friggin' beaut! That's why you bought it!. The $9 GD likely will need a lot of work to get shave ready.

@ Mr Spiffy. I can agree with your kitchen knife assesment, however you are forming an opinion of a razor (GD) without ever trying one.

To the OP, GD's (with work and effort) can become EXCELLENT shavers. I have some expensive razors and some GD's. I have Bokers. Shaves are excellent from either one. And I mean EXCELLENT!

Rather than spend your money on a practice razor, use a practice strop. Cut some newspaper to strop size. Make it several pages thick. Make a loop with some string and put a hole in the "strop". Strop away. Worst thing, you cut the paper. What's more is newspaper makes an excellent strop in itself.

 

[brucered]

Well... do you really want to find out how good that Gold Dollar is using your face? Not me!!

Sorry, I was just kidding...I realize the Gold Dollar is just that, a Dollar Store Straight Razor. I'm more then willing to spend the money I did on a razor, let alone a razor and strop. If I am going to make an honest run at straight shaving, I'm not about to try with a cheapo.

Thanks for the tip above on the newspaper, I had read about newspaper stroping, but had no idea what or why you would do it, now I know.

I am both excited and a little afraid for it to arrive. Excited to see it and hold it. Afraid to actually shave with it, actually more nervous then afraid but I got a few weeks to prepare until it gets here (US to CAD)

I've already read some of the above tips in the CLINIC section, how to hold, how to strop etc, so I'm already farther ahead knowing about straights then I was yesterday.

Plus, a ton of new names and posters in here. It's like being on the wrong side of the tracks, or is it the right side (DE vs Straight)

 

[Predict]

Nice setup Bruce! I'm just getting into straights myself. I cheated and went the artist club route but I'm about to get a "real" straight and strop and hone.

 

[rickboone1]

Sorry, I was just kidding...I realize the Gold Dollar is just that, a Dollar Store Straight Razor. I'm more then willing to spend the money I did on a razor, let alone a razor and strop. If I am going to make an honest run at straight shaving, I'm not about to try with a cheapo.

Thanks for the tip above on the newspaper, I had read about newspaper stroping, but had no idea what or why you would do it, now I know.

I am both excited and a little afraid for it to arrive. Excited to see it and hold it. Afraid to actually shave with it, actually more nervous then afraid but I got a few weeks to prepare until it gets here (US to CAD)

I've already read some of the above tips in the CLINIC section, how to hold, how to strop etc, so I'm already farther ahead knowing about straights then I was yesterday.

Plus, a ton of new names and posters in here. It's like being on the wrong side of the tracks, or is it the right side (DE vs Straight)

You guys have lots to learn before discrediting a Gold Dollar. You've not yet even tried one and are ruling them out. If I had an extra one I'd give it to you so you could see what you're missing. But I already gave what I had away. The others I have were gifts to me. Talk to Seraphim, MyCarver or Trick420. I really don't care what your opinion is or what you like, I just disagree with people discrediting something and tossing it aside with no self-knowledge nor experience. You can't listen to all you hear. I hate Feather blades and Proraso. Look at the slew of people here that love it. I'm not going to make myself love it because everyone else does. So, why makes yourself hate something because someone else does? Try it for yourself.

 

[brucered]

You guys have lots to learn before discrediting a Gold Dollar. You've not yet even tried one and are ruling them out. If I had an extra one I'd give it to you so you could see what you're missing. But I already gave what I had away. The others I have were gifts to me. Talk to Seraphim, MyCarver or Trick420. I really don't care what your opinion is or what you like, I just disagree with people discrediting something and tossing it aside with no self-knowledge nor experience. You can't listen to all you hear. I hate Feather blades and Proraso. Look at the slew of people here that love it. I'm not going to make myself love it because everyone else does. So, why makes yourself hate something because someone else does? Try it for yourself.

I guess I shouldn't have dismissed it like I did. But I'll give the Boker a try 1st and then see what happens. For $9 shipped, it's probably worth picking up and using for something (practice, travel etc)

See, I've only been here a few hours and already causing a ruckus .

You guy sure you want me in the Straight forum section?

 

[Predict]

Well when I looked at gold dollars I saw 'made in china' that's all it took for me to know that I don't want one. While I haven't tried a gold dollar I have had enough experience around china steel to know that it is garbage. No disrespect intended to anyone here that's just my $0.02. You may keep the change.

 

[Mr_Spiffy]

You guys have lots to learn before discrediting a Gold Dollar. You've not yet even tried one and are ruling them out. If I had an extra one I'd give it to you so you could see what you're missing. But I already gave what I had away. The others I have were gifts to me. Talk to Seraphim, MyCarver or Trick420. I really don't care what your opinion is or what you like, I just disagree with people discrediting something and tossing it aside with no self-knowledge nor experience. You can't listen to all you hear. I hate Feather blades and Proraso. Look at the slew of people here that love it. I'm not going to make myself love it because everyone else does. So, why makes yourself hate something because someone else does? Try it for yourself.

This way of thinking completely makes sense. But, at the same time, I've yet to see any quality cutlery come from China. Nearly all of the good steel comes from Japan or Europe (particularly Germany or Italy). I can only assume this also carries over to straight razors. It's possible to put a good edge on any razor. But, if the steel isn't good, it's hard to maintain that edge. I'd suspect that only an experienced "honemeister" could keep a GD in excellent, shave-worthy order.

I'd be willing to give a Gold Dollar a shot, should someone reputable hone it up for me. But, I can't say I'd deliberately buy one for my own use. Again, you nearly always get what you pay for, especially with blades, knives, razors, whatever it might be. Just joking, I'm not really trying to pick a fight here. Just sharing my own opinion on the matter.

I guess I shouldn't have dismissed it like I did. But I'll give the Boker a try 1st and then see what happens. For $9 shipped, it's probably worth picking up and using for something (practice, travel etc)

See, I've only been here a few hours and already causing a ruckus .

You guy sure you want me in the Straight forum section?

Sorry, I took your post too literally. I think my sarcasm meter needs to be recalibrated.

ETA: Absolutely, we want you in here! The more, the merrier!

 

[Alum of Potash]

The Boeker promises to be a great razor, and the strop looks fine too. Again, my mention of the Gold Dollar was just to have a cheap razor to dull completely (by drawing the blade's edge across the thick rim of a drinking glass) for preliminary practice purposes, in order to allow you to get the brutish handling of the physical objects down first, rather than trashing a strop (or a face for that matter) from the start with a fully sharpened razor. It was certainly not a recommendation over the Boeker in and of itself. Later on, the GD could also be practiced upon for honing purposes too, which hopefully then would not be a discredit to the GD either.

Seeing your pic of the hanging strop(s), I would again suggest that you not take on the entire length, just around 12 inches at a time, and only use the leather strop from the start. It is possible that the second strop is synthetic (nylon). In such a case, I would recommend lightly pasting it with the aluminum oxide 0.5 micron sharpening paste that sharpeningsupplies.com sells. This would be in place of chromium oxide on linen or leather or balsa, which would generally be used otherwise. Once you have the motions down with the dulled GD razor (or anything else for that matter, just so long as it is a truly dulled razor), shave with the Boeker as received for starters, not having stropped it (assuming here that it is truly "shave ready"). For the second try, strop 60 laps on leather and shave again. Assuming all goes well at this stage, 3-5 laps on the AlOx pasted synth followed by 40-60 laps on leather daily should keep your Boeker "hone-free" for quite some time; and when the razor becomes too sharp, just strop on leather for a spell, returning to the AlOx synth strop followed by leather strop as needed afterwards.

 

[cleanshaved]

welcome to the staight razor side of B&B Bruce.

 

[TnutsShave]

Welcome to the dark side, brother.

And for the record, Rickboone sent me a gold dollar in a friendly little honing exchange. It was arguably one of the finest edges I've ever put on a blade and it shaved like a dream. Rick had already done the hard work in terms of necessary grinding to fix some of the "geometry" problems that are inherent in GD production, so that helps.

I'm not sure it's so much the quality of the steel, but moreso the actual construction of the blade shape that is a problem.

Not a darn thing wrong with getting a good piece of german steel right out of the gate though. She's a beaut, enjoy!

 

[Legion]

You bought that Boker because Bokers are excellent razors. (At least, that's what you should be telling yourself.) Gold Dollars? Not so much... From what I have read, the steel quality is questionable, and they don't hold or take edges well. You get what you pay for in the world of cutlery. If you pay $20 for a 40-piece set of kitchen knives, be prepared for a poor experience. (Although, some people have never experienced anything else, so they think they're fine. Whatever. You can keep those cheap chinese hunks of garbage that pretend to be knives.) Buy a $100 single high-quality chef's knife? You'd be amazed at how big the difference is. I've had people that were shocked at that price for a knife that we own. But they absolutely ROCK! (Think Wusthof, Henkels, or Shun. THOSE are awesome knives.)

Now, that's just cutting vegetables and meat. Cheap out on a straight razor? Well... do you really want to find out how good that Gold Dollar is using your face? Not me!! If I'm going to buy something that will last a lifetime, I don't plan to cheap out on it. Especially when I'm planning to put that blade to my own face.

Well when I looked at gold dollars I saw 'made in china' that's all it took for me to know that I don't want one. While I haven't tried a gold dollar I have had enough experience around china steel to know that it is garbage. No disrespect intended to anyone here that's just my $0.02. You may keep the change.

You aint from' round here, are you, boys? LOL.

http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showthread.php/273180-Competition-3

Rough they might be, but the steel in GD's is fine. They can be made to shave, and shave well. Whether or not it is worth the effort is up to you, and it is not a beginner project IMO, but I encourage you to question some of the "absolute certainties" on internet forums.

I once shaved exclusively with a GD for over a month. And I've tried one or two different razors in my time.