Correcting Some SR "Myths"

[camoloc]

I have to admit, I'm intrigued by the idea of a shavette. Not quite intrigued enough to pull the trigger on one yet, but, well, let's say paying attention.

For SR the stroping, honing, et al, how much different is that than any other blade? Let's say for argument sake I had Arkansas stones up to 8k and leather strope with a diamond as well a polishing compounds for knives. I will usually use my leg to check sharpness. If I can take hair off, I'm good and will strope and polish from there.

Arks will be useful. still would need a bevel setter stone or film to initially get the bevel right.

different world than knife sharpening. shaving hair and slicing tomatoes or cherries in my case is a beginning to confirm bevel set.

if you choose to go down the path, you will learn a new world of sharp. I like ending in a 12k, 14k film. or Blk Ark.....then moving on to pasted balsa progression. I do have a few that are finished Ark only.

end sharpness test for me......

slices belly and chest hairs holding the razor 1/2 inch away from skin & HHT with the wifes hair over different areas of the blade.

I've joked about it before......but i really wouldn't want my hunting or skinning knives this sharp!!!!

camo

 

[RookieGuy]

My hunting knives, no. My skinning, filet, cleaver, carving, slicing, and pocket knives, absolutely! Especially the filet, slicing, and pocket knife.

But that's good information about sharpening razors. I think shavette would be far enough down that particular rabbit hole.

 

[Clay S]

I have to admit, I'm intrigued by the idea of a shavette. Not quite intrigued enough to pull the trigger on one yet, but, well, let's say paying attention.

For SR the stroping, honing, et al, how much different is that than any other blade? Let's say for argument sake I had Arkansas stones up to 8k and leather strope with a diamond as well a polishing compounds for knives. I will usually use my leg to check sharpness. If I can take hair off, I'm good and will strope and polish from there.

You would have to level the stones before using them. I forget the actual term for this. This is because getting the correct angle to hone an SR is easy. Hold the razor so that both the spine and the edge are touching the stone and then move the razor across the stone. If the stone isn't flat, not all of the blade will get sharpened, and the high spots could fold/break parts of the edge as well.

 

[Member357]

A ton of shavette info can be found here for those interested:

Shavette And Barber Razor Enthusiast (SABRE) group

Are you a Shavette And Barber Razor Enthusiast (SABRE)? Do you own and use a “Shavette”? If so this group is for you. Use this thread to post pics, reviews, and your experiences with those replaceable blade straight razors. Are you curious about shavettes? Then read this thread and...

www.badgerandblade.com

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[KrstGor]

You would have to level the stones before using them. I forget the actual term for this. This is because getting the correct angle to hone an SR is easy. Hold the razor so that both the spine and the edge are touching the stone and then move the razor across the stone. If the stone isn't flat, not all of the blade will get sharpened, and the high spots could fold/break parts of the edge as well.

The terms you're looking for is "flatten". You flatten the wetstone. Another term to describe the same process is "lap", like in lapping my Naniwa. Cheers

 

[Clay S]

The terms you're looking for is "flatten". You flatten the wetstone. Another term to describe the same process is "lap", like in lapping my Naniwa. Cheers

Thanks. Lapping is what I was trying to recall.

 

[Sukeroku]

Here you go.

View attachment 1135648

Oh my, that is beauty. I can feel SRAD tingling....

 

[chilehed]

But because it’s hard and rewarding once you get it down in a way that only difficult, hard won, skills ever are. Straight razor shaving is not for everyone. It’s for eccentrics and Mavericks that chose to follow a path that others fear to tread

To me this is the most compelling reason to try it.

 

[KQY61]

Hi,

I have a machine shop and could make straight razors, but still have zero interest in them. I have two laying in the top of my Dad's machine shop toolbox (he was a master toolmaker and most of this machine shop stuff was his), and never even looked at them. I think he had them for fine-work gasket scrapers. They might have been his Dad's, but he never said. They have always bee 'just there'.

I also have one I know was his Dad's. Homemade from a really large colbat steel lathe bit after WWII. Well, as homemade as anything gets in a professional machine shop. I know his Dad was also a toolmaker and that was a special bit he wore out. It's excellent steel, about the best there is, so the nub got remade. What I don't know is if my Dad made it or his Dad did. In fact, I don't know exactly where it is now. It's around here somewhere in wood box from some other machine shop tool.

That's the way it is here. Boxes full of several generations of stuff which is still useful just as soon as a use for it turns up. Some might say hoarding, but none of it is junk. It all still works as well as ever it did.

Next time I find it, I'll take a pic and post it. I might even go out on the next rainy day and get those other two and look them over and see just what they are.

 

[Mitzie]

Going ATG, on the upper lip and shaving those whiskers directly under the nose, which I need to do, is dodgy with a straight, and takes a lot of skill. Something I never mastered. Presumably that's why in the Victorian and Edwardian eras, before DE shaving caught on, many otherwise clean shaven men grew a mustache?

 

[TexOkie Shaver]

I recently started a thread asking why some do not shave with a straight razor (that includes shavette type razors). Of course, straight razor shaving is not for everyone. Some have sound medical reasons why not, and others have well founded psychological reasons against SR shaving.

The replies so far have been interesting. Here I will try and enlighten on some of the “myths” that I have discovered in the replies so are.

1. LEARNING TO HONE (not required for shavette type users)

Honing is not rocket science (which is also not so complex), all it takes is a bit of time and practice. This forum has some excellent threads that explain in great detail how to get that dragon edge on your straight razor.

I have taught myself the Method as developed by Slash McCoy, et al.. I read the three threads (burr bevel-set, lapping film use, and pasted balsa strop use), assembled all the needed gear and practised. After a total of about about 30 of my hours spread over a month, I was producing a very acceptable shaving edge on my second attempt. With further refinement, my edges were noticeably better than a new Gillette Rubie DE blade – the best I have available to compare it against.

I dare say that others, who are quicker learners than I, could get there within 20 hours. Even slower learners should succeed well within 40 hours. How many hours did it take you to learn to drive to get your licence?

It now takes me less than one hour to hone a butter-knife-blade edge to an easily tree-topping edge.

A straight razor only needs a full honing once, unless the razor’s edge is physically damaged. After that, provided the edge is properly cared for, the razor might need only a very light quick honing about once every 3 to 6 months.

If this is all to much for you, there is also the option of getting another experienced SR shaver to do your honing for you.

2. EXTRA EQUIPMENT COST

Straight razor shaving does require some extra equipment and that will normally cost you, but not as much as you may think. You will of course need a straight razor (preferably two). These can had new for a couple of dollars (generic shavette type) or ten to twenty dollars for a reasonably good SR (e.g., Gold Dollar, ZY or Titan). You also might be lucky enough to pick up a used older SR that is “shave ready” for twenty to fifty dollars.

The only other cost for shavette type users is blades, but you need those also with all other types of wet shaving.

The only other additional equipment that non-shavette type straight razor users needs is:

• Strop
• Bevel setting whetstone (optional)
• Lapping film and substrate
• 3 x balsa strops
• 3 x diamond pastes

My additional equipment costs (excluding razors) was about USD 59. I dare say that most could set themselves up for well under USD 100 in total.

3. EXTRA TIME NEEDED

Once you get your technique right, shaving with a straight razor takes about the same time as DE/SE shaving to get the same or better result, plus edge maintenance time.

Edge maintenance time (not applicable to shavette type users) adds about 2 to 3 minutes to your shave. Many would spend a similar time each shave cleaning their DE/SE razor. Edge maintenance involves stropping your razor plus about 50 laps on a 0.1 micron pasted balsa strop. In addition to this you might have to spend 5 or so minutes once every 100 to 300 shaves to refresh your SR edge on some lapping film. Some only need to do this about once a year.

I’ve read this thread several times since you started it, but now I’ve got to throw in my two cents worth.

I plan on retiring next summer. In order to make that a reality, I must cut expenses everywhere. One of those is shaving.

Right now,I’m happy as a pig in slop with my DE razor. I haven’t settled on “the blade” yet, but I’ve got a year of samples in the drawer, so there isn’t a rush.

Now, you have tempted me with straight razor shaving. Shame on you. I was perfectly happy in my ignorance and fear. My son in law uses a straight, but then he is an artisan when it comes to putting an edge on a blade. I on the other hand can take a dull blade and make it worse. I just can’t master that craft.

So, if I want to use a straight, it’s either a shavette, or I get him to sharpen my straight every so often, and I really don’t want to do that.

So the decision seems clear. If I move to straight razors, it would have to be the shavette variety. So, $100 on a razor, and then a buck a week for blades. SWMBO is going to say that I just spent $100 on my 6S, why do I need another $100 razor? I don’t have an answer for that.

So, here I sit. Wanting to try straight shaving, but unable to justify it when my DE does such a good job.

To think how happy I was before this thread came along.

 

[kingfisher]

I’ve read this thread several times since you started it, but now I’ve got to throw in my two cents worth.

I plan on retiring next summer. In order to make that a reality, I must cut expenses everywhere. One of those is shaving.

Right now,I’m happy as a pig in slop with my DE razor. I haven’t settled on “the blade” yet, but I’ve got a year of samples in the drawer, so there isn’t a rush.

Now, you have tempted me with straight razor shaving. Shame on you. I was perfectly happy in my ignorance and fear. My son in law uses a straight, but then he is an artisan when it comes to putting an edge on a blade. I on the other hand can take a dull blade and make it worse. I just can’t master that craft.

So, if I want to use a straight, it’s either a shavette, or I get him to sharpen my straight every so often, and I really don’t want to do that.

So the decision seems clear. If I move to straight razors, it would have to be the shavette variety. So, $100 on a razor, and then a buck a week for blades. SWMBO is going to say that I just spent $100 on my 6S, why do I need another $100 razor? I don’t have an answer for that.

So, here I sit. Wanting to try straight shaving, but unable to justify it when my DE does such a good job.

To think how happy I was before this thread came along.

I use a Feather SS shavette for every shave, and I use Schick Prolines. So here's the skinny:

1) You can get the Feather SS for about $70 (plus or minus 5 or 10) on amazon.

2) You can get a 30-pack of Schick Prolines for about $30* (haven't priced one out in a long time; the next numbered point will explain why)

3) Shaving 4 times a week, the Proline lasts me a month to 6 or 7 weeks. All of them have made it at least a month, so that's the bare minimum. The last one went almost two months. I have fast-growing, coarse stubble that dulls a DE blade after about 4 shaves or so.

If we take the bare minimum of one month for each blade, that 30-pack of blades will last me 2.5 years. It is likely to last at least slightly longer than that. A buck a month. I can't imagine that would be a deal breaker.

The razor itself will outlast you, so it is one-time investment. Since you can just replace the blade, you don't need to invest in stones, strops, lapping film, balsa, or any of that.


*actually just checked the price of the Prolines. Even at Bullgoose Shaving, which is a U.S. domestic outlet, they are $23.50 for 30. So, for me at least, blade expense is WELL LESS than ONE DOLLAR A MONTH.

I don't think this is an expensive way to shave.

 

[rbscebu]

I’ve read this thread several times since you started it, but now I’ve got to throw in my two cents worth.

I plan on retiring next summer. In order to make that a reality, I must cut expenses everywhere. One of those is shaving.

Right now,I’m happy as a pig in slop with my DE razor. I haven’t settled on “the blade” yet, but I’ve got a year of samples in the drawer, so there isn’t a rush.

Now, you have tempted me with straight razor shaving. Shame on you. I was perfectly happy in my ignorance and fear. My son in law uses a straight, but then he is an artisan when it comes to putting an edge on a blade. I on the other hand can take a dull blade and make it worse. I just can’t master that craft.

So, if I want to use a straight, it’s either a shavette, or I get him to sharpen my straight every so often, and I really don’t want to do that.

So the decision seems clear. If I move to straight razors, it would have to be the shavette variety. So, $100 on a razor, and then a buck a week for blades. SWMBO is going to say that I just spent $100 on my 6S, why do I need another $100 razor? I don’t have an answer for that.

So, here I sit. Wanting to try straight shaving, but unable to justify it when my DE does such a good job.

To think how happy I was before this thread came along.

Generic Stainless Steel Shavette Type

A cheap but functional shavette style straight razor.

www.badgerandblade.com