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New straight razor and stone suggestions?

My name is Jeff Meeks and I am a newly registered member of this forum. I've been wetshaving with a safety razor for the last 6 years but now I feel it is time to finally move up to a straight razor. Does anyone have advice or tips about new razors for beginners? Full or half hollow? Also are new razors required to be honed out of the box and what kind of stone would be best for honing? Is it necessary to use multiple stones of different grits for honing a new straight from the box? Thank you!
 
My only advice is to go through the straight razor forum and learn all you can about them. Also, ask plenty of questions.

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for low cost: 2 5/8s vintage both honed by someone who can hone. some film and paste to maintain and rehone as needed.
 
I started shaving with straights, then started using DEs as travel razors along with shavettes... so my experience transitioning between the two is kind of backwards. That said, global_dev's method is a reasonable way to enter the straight shaving game - roctraitor on reddit has some good deals in these types of razors and so does Larry at whippeddog.com. Lightcs1776 is right in that the straight razor forums/threads will have a wealth of info to guide you. Personally, I would start with a half hollow and then move to full hollow as your technique improves; a Norton 4k/8k is good starter stone, Tony Miller/Heirloom Strops are good strops even in his lower grades.

Another alternative, and the one I would probably recommend, is to pick up a quality (used) shavette - a Feather SS or a Kai - and once you have the technique down and are sure you want to dive deeper into straights, go for a proper straight, strop and stone. Shavettes are kinda of a trail by fire in the sense that they are generally less forgiving than a well honed quality straight, but the cost of a pack of Feather Pro Guard blades and a used Feather SS shavette will be less than that of most quality honed vintage razors, a quality strop and a good flat stone. The advantage of taking this route is that you will always able to throw in a new blade and be guaranteed an acceptable shaving razor. Honing is everything and also hard - though easier to learn now with youtube than when I started, it still requires a considerable amount of time (years) to get really good at. I feel a lot of people get turned off to straights because, even if they start out with a well honed razor, they aren't able to maintain that edge past the first few shaves.
 
for low cost: 2 5/8s vintage both honed by someone who can hone. some film and paste to maintain and rehone as needed.
+1 on this

I can't stress enough that it is as important who gives your razor as the Razors itself. It's tempting to buy brand new, but a vintage, restored by a good honemeister will likely be a better razor setup.
 
Depends on where you're located, but I can personally recommend a vintage razor from Matt at Griffith Shaving, based in Rhode Island. I picked up one from him over the holidays and the edge was most impressive. I asked him about the honing procedure and he said it was a 1k Chosera > coticule w/slurry followed by water > green Vermont slate > leather. So if you were to follow this, you would just need the green Vermont slate for touch-ups to maintain the edge (although at 8" x 3", it's a little large for my taste). As for the grind, half-hollow vs. full-hollow, I wouldn't be too hung up on this for starters. The main thing is to receive a razor you like with a shave-ready edge. Beyond this, it has to do personal taste and your budget. Matt also sells nice strops, but I would suggest something cheaper and less nice than what he sells, as there is a very high risk of cutting or nicking the strop in starting out.
 
Ruling out Gold Dollar razors, new straight razors are going to cost considerably more than vintage razors.

Whatever way you go, your first straight should be honed by a known reputable honer. You will need a strop, but I will recommend a cheap one to start. Lapping film will be needed to keep a proper edge on the blade.

Straight razor shaving is not cheap and the learning curve is steep. I never really had an issue honing and found that I could put an acceptable edge on a blade easily enough in my early days. Once I developed my shaving technique and got the hang of honing, I found straight razors to be very rewarding.

Let’s talk cost. I started with a vintage Solingen no name razor that cost me all of $14. I shipped it out to Glenn at Gemstar for honing and that cost me $15 plus shipping. I bought a cheap strop for $16 and King combo 3k-8k stone that cost me maybe $35. All in it cost me $80. I figured if straight razor shaving was not for me, then at least I didn’t break the bank. If I were to have purchased a brand new razor, I would have been looking at an additional $150 in upfront cost.

I’ve upgraded everything since then and I’m quite pleased with the results. I have a set of Naniwa hones, shell strop and 8 straight razors in my den.

If you take the plunge, this should give you some idea of the initial cost.
 
Why do so many make this so complicated. Get a $10 razor off eBay. Buy a $30 packet of non adhesive 3m lapping films, get a $4 marbel tile. Get a $20 leather strop.

If you have questions, send me or @steveclarkus a PM. We will get you one the right path.
 

steveclarkus

Goose Poop Connoisseur
I’ve used film since April and much prefer it over stones except for bevel setting. Film and synthetic stones are much the same except stones have the grit imbedded in a substrate where the grit is applied to film. With film, you never have to lap it - it’s always flat and it is a cleaner simpler process. The cost difference is huge so you dont have a serious loss if you decide you don’t enjoy straight shaving. I would encourage new guys to begin with film as neither produce a better edge than the other.
 
I’ve used film since April and much prefer it over stones except for bevel setting. Film and synthetic stones are much the same except stones have the grit imbedded in a substrate where the grit is applied to film. With film, you never have to lap it - it’s always flat and it is a cleaner simpler process. The cost difference is huge so you dont have a serious loss if you decide you don’t enjoy straight shaving. I would encourage new guys to begin with film as neither produce a better edge than the other.
Yep, given the endless and newby confusing advice on stones, films just make sense. The films will also act as a tutor for later stone use.
 
Why do so many make this so complicated. Get a $10 razor off eBay. Buy a $30 packet of non adhesive 3m lapping films, get a $4 marbel tile. Get a $20 leather strop.

If you have questions, send me or @steveclarkus a PM. We will get you one the right path.

Yep, given the endless and newby confusing advice on stones, films just make sense. The films will also act as a tutor for later stone use.

Let us recall that Jeff inquired about razors, grinds, and sharpening stones, not lapping film. So adding a host of variables that he did not bring up may also be taken to be complicating things. Using a touch-up stone to maintain a shave-ready razor is a time-honored practice that is not complicated in itself, and not necessarily expensive. (Actually, stropping is more complicated in starting out.) Comments like, "We will get you [on] the right path," seem polemical and also ignore some of Jeff's other concerns as stated. I'm not saying that the use of lapping film is wrong, just that one should not say that it is necessary or that it is "the right path," as there are many roads to Rome.

About blade sizes, I would recommend 5/8 or 6/8 in starting out, perhaps giving the nod to 5/8 as they are fairly ubiquitous and a bit more versatile IMO. AJ on the UK ebay often sells 6" x 2" Welsh purple slate sharpening stones which are quite good at maintaining the edge and inexpensive. A red-pasted strop will also keep things going for a very long time, but this implies that you have your stropping skills down. Jarrod at The Superior Shave has an entry-level strop for $19 which is nice because it can also be used as a travel strop or as a dedicated pasted strop, once you've got your licks down and want to try something nicer.
 
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Let us recall that Jeff inquired about razors, grinds, and sharpening stones, not lapping film. So adding a host of variables that he did not bring up may also be taken to be complicating things. Using a touch-up stone to maintain a shave-ready razor is not complicated, and not necessarily expensive. (Actually, stropping is more complicated in starting out.) Comments like, "We will get you [on] the right path," seem polemical and also ignore some of Jeff's other concerns as stated. I'm not saying that lapping film is wrong, just that one should not say that it is necessary or that it is "the right path," as there are many roads to Rome.

About blade sizes, I would recommend 5/8 or 6/8 in starting out, perhaps giving the nod to 5/8, as they are fairly ubiquitous. AJ on the UK ebay often sells 6" x 2" Welsh purple slate sharpening stones which are quite good at maintaining the edge and inexpensive. A red-pasted strop will also keep things going for a very long time, but this implies that you have your stropping skills down. Jarrod at The Superior Shave has an entry-level strop for $19 which is nice because it can also be used as a travel strop or as a dedicated pasted strop, once you've got your licks down and want to try something nicer.

I took his inquiry differently. Perhaps he can clarify, but it appeared to me he wants to learn to hone.
 
I took his inquiry differently. Perhaps he can clarify, but it appeared to me he wants to learn to hone.

Point well-taken, thanks. A shave-ready razor only needs a strop for starters, and a new razor, out of the box (e.g., Dovo), usually only needs a little bit of tweaking with a touch-up stone or a pasted strop or lapping film if you will. One does not need a range of stones or films in starting out; and in starting out, I would recommend that a beginner start out with a genuine shave-ready razor, shaving with it one time before stropping it as effective stropping can be difficult to achieve at first.
 
Why do so many make this so complicated. Get a $10 razor off eBay. Buy a $30 packet of non adhesive 3m lapping films, get a $4 marbel tile. Get a $20 leather strop.

If you have questions, send me or @steveclarkus a PM. We will get you one the right path.
Straight razor, strop and stone? Doesn’t get much simpler than that.

I’m sorry, but I didn’t mean to make it sound complicated.
 
I started with a shave ready vintage from eBay. Pretty sure the edge was not great but my shaving ability was worse. Then I got a strop and stone from whipped dog. Then I went nuts and have been buying all kinds of stuff I don't need. Try to have fun with it. More dollars don't always buy a better product. If you like I could send you a straight razor. Then you will just need a strop for the first few shaves. Message me if you'd like. The razor will be vintage ,honed and absolutely free.
 
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