Bright-Eyed, Bushy-Tailed and In Need of Advice: an inherited razor and a lot of questions.

[bluesman 7]

Hang out here for a few days and keep reading, someone will be along to help you with honing your razor.

if you live in the US, i will offer to hone free of charge. why would a crazy man offer this for free? i like honing and all my stuff is in order. all you would need to decide upon would be final finish (balsa/diamond, Ark, Cnat, Jnat, Jasper, etc.)

camo

See there. I have no direct knowledge of camo other than here on the forum, but I would expect him to give you good, trustworthy service as he has been quite active in the honing forums.

You kind of have the same situation with your strop. Someone with experience would likely be able to give you advice on that. It's hard to give advice on the strop without having it in hand. Is it stiff, or supple at this point?

 

[Slash McCoy]

I recommend against learning and making your beginner mistakes with a family heirloom. Start with a shave ready razor. New or vintage, doesn't really matter, as long as the seller is known in the community and members of this or of other forums vouch for him. Learn to shave first, then learn to hone as per The Method. Hone a couple of fleabay rescues and when you think you are ready, hone your DD and shave with that. You will make mistakes. Make them on a razor that you don't care about. Your strop may be salvageable. Use your shave brush and either shave soap or saddle soap, and lather up that strop. Work the brush vigorously on the strop. You are cleaning, hydrating and softening it. Rub it down good with a soft towel or old tshirt. Hang it up. Before it is fully dry, apply a half dozen drops of neatsfoot oil to the palm of your hand, and then rub down the strop. The more you rub, the better. If the strop still seems stiff when it dries, repeat the neatsfoot treatment. Don't overdo it. Hand rub every day for a few minutes. BUT, again, this is an heirloom item. You WILL damage your first strop, so buy one that is not a member of your family, to learn on. You can re-knot the brush later, so go ahead and use that.

 

[bluesman 7]

Regarding the strop.

I would be most cautious about adding oil. My personal feeling is that too much oil nearly ruins the feedback that I prefer in my strops. Depending on the starting condition of the strop I may begin with saddle soap. After that, if and only if, I thought that the strop needed oil I may try a few drops of oil rubbed into my palms and then rubbed on to the water dampened , non working side of the strop. The oil will slowly work its way to the working side. Too much oil is hard to remove, too little is easily remedied. I have personally had good results with tiny amounts of mink oil. On the last strop that I used it on it helped with suppleness pretty quickly. About three years on it seams as though that tiny application has worked its to the surface and is more than I like. I am actively trying to remove the excess oil from the working surface by cleaning with a damp cloth whenever the surface gets a waxy glazed feel.

Like all things shaving, everyone has their preferences. So...YMMV

 

[tl_smurf]

Sorry for being MIA for the last few days, midterm season is upon us in full force around here!

If you want to learn to hone, don't do it on an heirloom razor Try a Gold Dollar or an ebay bargain which looks salvageable (ie it isn't heavily pitted with rust).

I would strongly advise against having a go at honing it yourself. If you don't have experience, chances are you are going to cause damage that would spoil it. Send it out to someone that knows their stuff. if you want to develop the skill, practise on a Gold Dollar until you get it right.

Alright, seems like the consensus is that I most certainly should NOT learn to hone a blade starting with an heirloom. I'll look into sending it off to someone who has the materials and knows how to use them better than I.

You have an heirloom straight razor, strop and brush from your grandfather.
Sooooo jealous! Even if it wasn't a bublduck satinedge,I would put the
time, money, and effort to restore the SR. You might need to reknot that brush
as well and spend some time restoring that strop (vintage cordovan!)
All worth your effort!

Right?? I have wanted to get into straight edge razors for years, and to have my dad tell me that we have a family heirloom. It was better than Christmas!

 

[tl_smurf]

Transferable, yes. Identical...arguably not. But many start with a shavette. I did. I much prefer a honed blade as opposed to disposable, but that is neither here nor there. A shavette would be a VERY cheap way to get your feet wet and they will provide a very nice shave in the mean time.

I took your advice and jumped on a shavette. My feet have been thoroughly wetted, and my face bloodied, but i love it! I'm going on my third shave now and can feel myself getting a little more confident (and marginally more competent) each time I do it! Thanks for the advice!

I would also pick up a cheap strop, most new folks tend to nick if not outright cut a strop, your strop may not work well as it might de dried out but it is worth keeping for the sentimental value.

Thanks for the advice, it would have been a sad day for me to have hurt the strop because I didn't know what I was doing. Once I get it honed, I will for sure pick up a cheap strop to learn on.

 

[tl_smurf]

Strops can be cleaned and reconditioned. I got this one a while back which was horribly dry and caked up with all sorts of nasty stuff. You can see how much of it was scrubbed off; this WAS a clean towel. Cleaned it up with some saddle soap. Works just fine now. May hit it with some neatsfoot oil later. we shall see.

Awesome news. I'm really excited about getting the strop cleaned up and functional, and your pictures give me hope that it is actually possible. Saddle soap and neatsfoot oil are in the shopping cart!

You kind of have the same situation with your strop. Someone with experience would likely be able to give you advice on that. It's hard to give advice on the strop without having it in hand. Is it stiff, or supple at this point?

The strop is not overly stiff. That being said, I have never held a "proper" stop, so I'm not sure how trustworthy my evaluation is. It bends without feeling like its going to break, if that helps...

Use your shave brush and either shave soap or saddle soap, and lather up that strop. Work the brush vigorously on the strop. You are cleaning, hydrating and softening it. Rub it down good with a soft towel or old tshirt. Hang it up. Before it is fully dry, apply a half dozen drops of neatsfoot oil to the palm of your hand, and then rub down the strop. The more you rub, the better. If the strop still seems stiff when it dries, repeat the neatsfoot treatment. Don't overdo it. Hand rub every day for a few minutes. BUT, again, this is an heirloom item. You WILL damage your first strop, so buy one that is not a member of your family, to learn on.

Regarding the strop.

I would be most cautious about adding oil. My personal feeling is that too much oil nearly ruins the feedback that I prefer in my strops. Depending on the starting condition of the strop I may begin with saddle soap. After that, if and only if, I thought that the strop needed oil I may try a few drops of oil rubbed into my palms and then rubbed on to the water dampened , non working side of the strop. The oil will slowly work its way to the working side. Too much oil is hard to remove, too little is easily remedied. I have personally had good results with tiny amounts of mink oil. On the last strop that I used it on it helped with suppleness pretty quickly. About three years on it seams as though that tiny application has worked its to the surface and is more than I like. I am actively trying to remove the excess oil from the working surface by cleaning with a damp cloth whenever the surface gets a waxy glazed feel.

Like all things shaving, everyone has their preferences. So...YMMV

Perfect. It sounds like there is a consensus that I should for sure use saddle soap, and the oil is a little bit more of a controversial topic based on preference. I'll plan on re-stitching the handle on (It is coming off), and saddle soaping it, then I'll report back for me advice. The amount of knowledge and willingness to share it on this forum is mindboggling. You guys are incredible!

 

[Jbird45]

As a new straight shaver myself, here is my best advice.

Slow and focused
Shave slow, strop slow, hone slow. Take your time when learning and dont get over confident. Dont be anxious or nervous, but be relaxed. Be confident yet cautious, but relax an enjoy the process.

The best advice given here is to start with a shave ready razor and learn backwards. Learn what sharp feels like and then learn from there. Learn to shave, then strop, then hone. I am still new, so i am still focusing on stropping and shaving. Once that is perfected, I will learn to hone. And i was ignorant when I started thinking the experience i had with my wood tools and knives would make honing easier. I quickly found out its not as easy as it seems.

And dont learn on heirloom items. Buy shave ready razor or send a ebay razor to get honed and learn on that. Its great that you got your grandfather's items, but sentimental items are not for making mistakes on.

Speaking of mistakes, they happen. Dont beat yourself up for learning. You will probably knick yourself, and even with as slow and careful as i try to be stropping, i knicked my strop last night. I have the fromm Illinois razor strop, which is relatively inexpensive, so im not out lots of money and dont feel as bad. Its part of the learning experience.

Good luck on your journey.