A collection of complaints and questions

[imomri]

Hi,

OK, so this isn't really working. I started wet shaving about a year and a half ago with Mach 3s and go a TI SR by AoS for my B-day. I was nowhere near sharp, and we have NO ONE who can get a SR honed in Israel. I recently got a Dovo and had it honed, but rounded the edge with the strop and couldn't get it sharp again. So most of the time I use a Shavette, which works just fine, but I don't really care for it. The question is: should I learn how to properly hone and strop for myself? Or should I just get a DE and get it over with? How long before I can hone a razor to give me a good shave?

Besides, I still can't get my neck to be not-irritated after an ATG pass, so I leave it with just the WTG one. It still has redness and the occasional zits. Not only does it get flashing red if I want it to be silky smooth, it's best mode is constant pink. I can't get, technique-wise, to shave my neck in any other direction than north-south/south-north.

All I want is the PERFECT BBS, no irritation, always razor sharp razors, every single morning forever and ever, with little hustle and no effort. Is that too much to ask?

 

[BakerAndBadger]

Hi imomri and welcome.

I started SR shaving in June and got a coticule at the same time. It honestly isn't difficult to hone but the best thing you can do is get a shave ready razor to compare your home-honed razors to.
I would suggest, for sake of argument and cheapness, to get a sight unseen from Whipped Dog. It comes shave ready and you can then use it as a yard stick for your own honing exploits.
Go for a coticule and try the unicot method. Even for people like me who tend to be heavy handed it's easy to get an HHT3 straight off the coticule.

If you want to get a finishing stone to get your blade really sharp (albeit losing the smoothness of a coticule) then a lot of people like the CNAT which apparently runs in at about 12K and comes lapped for about 30 USD.

Good luck, I hope you manage to get sorted soon.
If not then send me your TI and Dovo so that they aren't gathering dust and I'll use them as they were meant to be!

 

[O.G.]

Get a coti. Honing on them not really all that hard. Most irritation comes from a number of factors but a not well honed straight is up on the list. I have curly facial hair and a coti edge provides me with the best skin friendly one honing set-up possible. Since you have two razors get the coti and have a go at it. Im not currently a rocket scientist but my first straights I learned to hone on a coti from reading and watching videos and just trying it outand it worked. I did mess up my wapi from usining to much pressure but now you know DO NOT press down to hard on the hone. You could send it out and thats not a bad idea but try first cause sending it out all the time is expensive.

 

[Locham]

we have NO ONE who can get a SR honed in Israel

There's a dude in the Golan (Katsrin) who collects, restores, and (likely) hones. Send me a PM and I'll shoot you his details.

 

[Sando]

Learning how to hone a razor required alot of dedication at first, for me. I made several mistakes, learned from them and went on. I watched a ton of videos until it all started to come together. I'm no expert but I can get most razors from dull to shaving sharp using some combo of King 1K, Duo Sharp, coticule and lapping film. It's not hard but it does take time and trial and error.

Alex aka manah at strazors is in Israel - he does restore and honing. http://www.strazors.com/index.php?id=10
I don't know him or ever used him but his website looks good.

...Ray

 

[smalltank]

took me 2 months to shave my face with my 1st straight razor..thats due to the fact my bathroom gets REALLY humid..got honing down in 2 months..

 

[xMackx]

Honing is a lot easier than people will tell you, if you practice consistently you'll be having comfortable shaves within a few months. The difficulty in learning to hone your own razors comes from thinking it's difficult in the first place. Get a cheaper quality razor and a basic 4k/8k stone and have at it.

 

[life2short1971]

Yes learn how to hone and you will be a richer Man.

 

[Mike H]

...
All I want is the PERFECT BBS, no irritation, always razor sharp razors, every single morning forever and ever, with little hustle and no effort. Is that too much to ask?

Yes.

You will only get out of it what you put into it. IMO, the learning curve is steep, but the rewards great.

 

[Go West Young Man]

If you aim for perfection, you'll get blood.
If you just enjoy the process of learning, one day you'll be surprised at how great your shaves have become while you weren't looking.