What is the easiest, simplest, or cheapest way to maintain a straight razor?

[mglindo]

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Three pieces 3/4" x 3" x 12" for $27.52. Better than glass or marble. Strong, light, thick enough to hold and hone in hand safely.

Nobody makes balsa strops to sell. Takes up too much time for such a low ticket item. Just make up a set yourself. Anybody not handy enough to do that, probably isn't handy enough to use them, anyway.

I'll admit I do like to chase the great edge so I did do this! This method with the above materials is what I have decided what I will stick with as far as maintaining my straight razors. I do have honing stones of different types which I will keep getting acquired razors to a shave-ready condition.

The "Method" (balsa pasted strop) is an inexpensive way to keep razors already shave-ready, shave-ready.


Mike

 

[Bob L.]

IMHO Slash's method works best for me. The pasted balsa strop has been keeping my edges perfect for months.

 

[macintoshBR]

I am currently using 3-4 laps on CrOx after shaving, and normal linen/leather stropping before shaving.

I honed my razors using lapping film in the beginning of the year and none of them has shown any sign of tugging so far.

 

[Legion]

I like it....how do you buff it in? cloth rag?

Paper towels or tissues. Keep changing the towels until they stop going too green, then you know all the excess is off the strop.

 

[Slash McCoy]

facial tissue is very gentle to the balsa and it should work really well. I might be a bit leery of paper towels. Me, I use a cotton tshirt. At any rate, for best possible performance, it is important to not leave a coating on the balsa. The magic is in the abrasive being embedded in the balsa rather than scooting around on the surface.

 

[Joshua223]

• Hard pasted strop (balsa or something else)
  • If someone sells a prebuilt balsa strop, I may buy one.
• Unpasted leather strop + lapping film
• Unpasted leather strop + sharpening stone + lapping stone
• Pasted fabric strop?
• .....

For years I used a diy leather strop and a finishing stone I picked up at an antique shop to maintain my edges.

 

[marshmellow]

Shavette is easiest and cheapest. I am very happy with my 2,50$ Cloud shavette with Cloud long blade snapped in half. It lasted 12 shaves ! A shave cannot be cheaper, can it ?

DE blades seem a lot cheaper than shavette blades. It's hard to beat DE razor in terms of convenience and cost.

 

[Slash McCoy]

DE blades seem a lot cheaper than shavette blades. It's hard to beat DE razor in terms of convenience and cost.

My shavettes use half DE blades. I use Feathers. By the hundred, they are cheap. I get two blades out of one, and they are very sharp. It is a lot easier to get a great shave out of a half DE blade shavette, than a DE razor. Win/win. Next best thing to a straight razor.

 

[marshmellow]

Next best thing to a straight razor.

Why is it the next best thing to a straight razor?

 

[Sisyphos]

DE blades seem a lot cheaper than shavette blades. It's hard to beat DE razor in terms of convenience and cost.

I guess you mean AC type blades. Yes you are right. But my cabinet long blades cost me 8.50/100 blades and half blade lasts ca 10-12 shaves !

 

[Slash McCoy]

Why is it the next best thing to a straight razor?

You can see where the edge is. You can adjust the shave angle more than a DE. It is just more elemental. The shaver is more in control. Better form factor than hoe handle. The only advantage of the straight is monolithic construction. Well, and not having to buy all those blades. The edge of a straight is more customizable. Of course a shavette doesn't require stropping. It is very much a hybrid between a straight and a DE razor, or SE, actually.

 

[marshmellow]

The only advantage of the straight is monolithic construction.

So, do you think shavette is better than a straight razor?

 

[Legion]

So, do you think shavette is better than a straight razor?

I think what he is saying is that a shavette is easier. Whether that equals “better” is YMMV. For most of us here, Slash included I suspect, much of the appeal of a traditional straight razor is that we can maintain it ourselves indefinitely, and that gives a DIY sense of satisfaction.

Personally, the straight I usually use is well over a hundred years old, and was dull and rusty when I found it. I personally cleaned and honed it, and now it is an antique that can be used daily, with no expense, other than my own time and skill.

 

[Slash McCoy]

So, do you think shavette is better than a straight razor?

No, not quite. Like I said, a straight is one piece, pinned between two scales and a wedge. It has a solidity that can be very perceptible compared to a shavette. Of course for some users a shavette, for practical reasons, is better because less equipment and fewer specialized skills are needed, and maintenance consists only of rinsing the razor and changing blades as needed. And like Legion said, there are certain pleasures involved with the ownership, honing, stropping, and just plain nostalgia that resonate with some shavers to some varying degree but not in others. When you have pretty much mastered the use and upkeep of the straight razor, it can be very satisfying. There is a certain element of elitism there, too, I suppose.

For a shavette to deliver a better shave than a very very sharp straight, it must also have decent blade exposure. often the open side of the blade holder part intrudes into the plane of the ideal shaving angle, essentially limiting how flat an angle can be used effectively. And some have too thick of a "spine" that also limits angle. There is a practical limit to blade exposure, of course, because the blade must be firmly held so as to minimize flutter or wobble or whatever. A shavette really shines with a sharp blade and a low angle. Of course there is another popular style of shavette shaving: use of a milder blade and a higher shave angle. Not my thing but it works for many shavers.

So no, I do not think a shavette is (generally speaking) better than a straight razor. However, I do not make ugly faces when the shavette is mentioned. I know now, like I did not know back in the day, that a shavette can give a very nice shave, for me better than a DE razor. YMMV very much here.

 

[marshmellow]

Pasted balsa strop on a piece of acrylic plate + leather strop = win?

 

[Slash McCoy]

Pasted balsa strop on a piece of acrylic plate + leather strop = win?

Yes. From a stone or 1u film, you need a progression of three diamond pasted strops to max out the edge sharpness, but once you have dialed in the edge, just the .1u grit diamond is needed for regular maintenance, along with the hanging leather strop right before shaving, of course.

 

[Legion]

Diamond paste still costs a bit though...

The thread was easiest, simplest, CHEAPEST. YMMV, but CrOx powder costs way less than diamond paste, works, and is pretty fool proof.


Having said that, if I was starting from scratch, a good finishing hone costs a lot, but will last several lifetimes. How are we measuring this?

 

[marshmellow]

a good finishing hone costs a lot, but will last several lifetimes.

You are going to need a lapping stone on top of naniwa 12k finishing stone.

 

[Legion]

You are going to need a lapping stone on top of naniwa 12k finishing stone.

I only use natural stones, so budget maybe $100-$150. $100 for a shave ready razor. $70 for a strop.

could you do it cheaper? Yes, of course. Will the above last you all your life, and then get bought by some other geek to be used 80 years from now? Yep.

 

[Slash McCoy]

You are going to need a lapping stone on top of naniwa 12k finishing stone.

So called lapping or flattening stones work but must themselves be kept flat somehow. Not eyeball flat... precisely flat. And usually they are not big enough to prevent overrun when lapping the hone. A sheet of sandpaper on heavy glass or acrylic works better and saves the startup cost of the lapper. win/win.