Damn Comfortable Shave

[Cal]

I've read both a few times, but not enough.

You've posted 5,001 times, but not enough!

Congratulations Jim.

 

[Chan Eil Whiskers]

You've posted 5,001 times, but not enough!

Congratulations Jim.

Is that the number of posts or the number of dollars I've, uh, saved wet shaving?

In any case, I hadn't noticed, Cal, and appreciate you pointing it out. Amazing to me. That is a lot of posts. I hope some of them have been useful to other people. I'm sure not as helpful though as your posts or those of Mike @Esox and Slash @Slash McCoy and numerous others.

Happy shaves,

Jim

 

[Cal]

Is that the number of posts or the number of dollars I've, uh, saved wet shaving?

Taking into account your current shave-spending rate, I reckon that's easily the number of dollars you've saved while shaving. Let's face it, if you hadn't been shaving you'd have been busy pressing the "buy it now" button.

 

[Chan Eil Whiskers]

Taking into account your current shave-spending rate, I reckon that's easily the number of dollars you've saved while shaving. Let's face it, if you hadn't been shaving you'd have been busy pressing the "buy it now" button.

Are you unable to multi-task?

 

[Twelvefret]

The lapping film was $25 for a wide assortment. Two good strops and some chromium oxide. That should allow me to maintain by two SR .

 

[Esox]

Just imagine Jim, the money you've saved by being a B&B member and a part of the most valuable shaving resource on the net.

To another 5000!

 

[Raven Koenes]

View attachment 916429

Just imagine Jim, the money you've saved by being a B&B member and a part of the most valuable shaving resource on the net.

To another 5000!

 

[Chan Eil Whiskers]

The lapping film was $25 for a wide assortment. Two good strops and some chromium oxide. That should allow me to maintain by two SR .

What's your flat plate and where'd you get it? Also where'd you get the film?

It will be interesting seeing how you like using the film.

Also, if you're planning to establish a bevel what will you use? I'd guess wet/dry sandpaper glued to a flat surface (a la Slash McCoy), but maybe not. If you're just maintaining the two SR razors and they are very well sharpened to begin with, and you don't damage the edge, you might not need to reset the bevel, right?

Some people go a long, long way with just being careful + chromium oxide + good stropping.

Other people maintain with the pasted balsa Slash @Slash McCoy talks about + stropping.

What are your two razors?

You got two strops? Which ones? Seems to me you said earlier one of your strops is a paddle or board strop, right? What's the other? How is the cotton or linen or whatever cloth set up?

My linen strop is a separate (hanging) strop, sold as a separate item by Tony Miller, so it has two sides. I'll probably keep one side as it is, and put chromium oxide on the other side.

I have no idea how you feel about this, but I feel like an idiot. I have this honing stuff coming, but I don't really know anything at all about how to use it.

The great thing is how much help there is, and how we're not trailblazers, and all that. Think about trying to learn this stuff without any help or advice or videos or great guys on B&B.

My primary task for now is going to be to learn to use my razors. Reading about honing is secondary. I'm not ready to hone (not that I have the kit) and can't say when I will be. Since I have two practice razors for honing + two shave-ready razors I can both shave and practice honing, but I do not want to ruin either of my practice razors nor do I want to ruin the learning of shaving by putting too much energy into honing. If that makes sense...

Here I am, still seeking that Damn Comfortable Shave.

Happy shaves,

Jim

 

[Twelvefret]

Horse hide and linen. @steveclarkus recomended a lapping sample pack to start. Just planning to use the
3 and 1 micron sheets . These are the one without adhesive. I got a 12x12 marble time at Home Depot for $4.

Stones come later. 1000 grit gets recommended a lot it seems for bevel sitting . Synthetics seem to be less of a hassle.

I don’t think your crazy, just curious. In my profession i see a lot of dementia. Best to be using my brain and learning new skills. Best to not put off learning when possible.

 

[Somerled]

Flat plate can be anything really as long as it is flat. Glass, marble, slate, etc. I went with an acrylic slab I got cheap.
I started with film and it worked really well with the Chinese Gold Dollars, but had a real problem setting the bevel on the harder steel razors. German Solingen, Sheffield and such.

So, started looking at Naniwa stones and SWMBO asked "would you be able to sharpen knives if you got stones?".
"Sure, if I get a lower grit as well as what I need for razors". Upshot is she paid for half of my honing kit

Jim, use your 1k for setting the bevel using the burr method, and then work your way up through the progression of grits. Understanding how to get the bevel set and what it does goes a long way to understanding the whole process.
Finish it off with pasted balsa if you can, should give the razor a wicked edge.

If your going to practice on your GD's (and you should, cheap as chips) check that the blades sit flat. Most GD's need a bit ground off the stabaliser or shoulder to allow them to sit flat on the stones. I have 3 waiting to be modified that way, easy with a dremel.

 

[Chan Eil Whiskers]

In my profession i see a lot of dementia. Best to be using my brain and learning new skills. Best to not put off learning when possible.

Good plan I think.

Thanks for the answers. I see what you're planning for now. Good plan I think.

Actual natural stones seem very interesting, but perhaps a lot more difficult and certainly much less "scientific." The most reproducible method looks to be lapping film. I am somehow not drawn to it, but that could change.

I don't understand this: "I got a 12x12 marble time at Home Depot for $4." What's a marble time? Maybe a marble tile? If so, are all marble tiles really flat? I'm ignorant about this, and not trying to be critical, just inquisitive. How do the manufacturers make all tiles flat, if they are, and why do they care about flatness, if you know? Or, maybe a marble time is something else entirely? Ignorant me.

I look forward to hearing about about your adventures with film.

Happy shaves,

Jim

 

[Twelvefret]

Good plan I think.

Thanks for the answers. I see what you're planning for now. Good plan I think.

Actual natural stones seem very interesting, but perhaps a lot more difficult and certainly much less "scientific." The most reproducible method looks to be lapping film. I am somehow not drawn to it, but that could change.

I don't understand this: "I got a 12x12 marble time at Home Depot for $4." What's a marble time? Maybe a marble tile? If so, are all marble tiles really flat? I'm ignorant about this, and not trying to be critical, just inquisitive. How do the manufacturers make all tiles flat, if they are, and why do they care about flatness, if you know? Or, maybe a marble time is something else entirely? Ignorant me.

I look forward to hearing about about your adventures with film.

Happy shaves,

Jim

I meant marble tile.

 

[Chan Eil Whiskers]

Flat plate can be anything really as long as it is flat. Glass, marble, slate, etc. I went with an acrylic slab I got cheap.

Thanks. The problem is how to know it's really flat.

Actually I've read a lot about that and discovered that one uses a straight edge.

Link to a vendor selling these.

The straight edge must be very straight as in professional level straight. Some products for this are hundreds of dollars so the vendor above has an excellent product at a good price. A ruler won't do it.

Anyway, if a piece of paper slides under the edge (between the straight edge and the stone) the stone (or whatever) is not flat. So, one can test a piece of glass or tile or sharpening stone.

There's another method using a flashlight.

Where does one get the flat acrylic in the right sizes?

I started with film and it worked really well with the Chinese Gold Dollars, but had a real problem setting the bevel on the harder steel razors. German Solingen, Sheffield and such.

Ah, very interesting.

The part of the process that bothered me as I considered using film was the bevel setting. I figured film or sandpaper would be worn out quickly if there was a lot of steel to remove. That's just a conjecture as I know nothing. Plus, I don't like the idea of really grinding off metal on film or sandpaper (vs polishing on film). I have no idea why.

So, started looking at Naniwa stones and SWMBO asked "would you be able to sharpen knives if you got stones?".
"Sure, if I get a lower grit as well as what I need for razors". Upshot is she paid for half of my honing kit

Let me know your secret!

You could write a book. My wife did buy me two very nice razors last Christmas which blew my mind!

Jim, use your 1k for setting the bevel using the burr method, and then work your way up through the progression of grits. Understanding how to get the bevel set and what it does goes a long way to understanding the whole process.

That sounds exactly right to me. Once the bevel is set the rest is polishing I think. I'm reading a lot about the burr method which sounds like the way to go.

Finish it off with pasted balsa if you can, should give the razor a wicked edge.

The whole of the pasted balsa world is a mystery to me. I've read the thread, but don't understand all sorts of things including how you keep the balsa remotely flat. I assume you have to flatten the balsa but don't know anything about that. I also don't quite understand how to get the balsa and what to back the balsa with and how to get everything just right.

In my experience a lot of things are much easier once you dive in, and everything seems harder before you know it. People who know it well always make it sound easy because it is easy for them.

Not being critical. Just that I'm such a babe in the woods.

Your advice is actually very useful.

If your going to practice on your GD's (and you should, cheap as chips) check that the blades sit flat. Most GD's need a bit ground off the stabilizer or shoulder to allow them to sit flat on the stones. I have 3 waiting to be modified that way, easy with a Dremel.

My not shave-ready Gold Dollar is this one.

I know there are a lot more models of Gold Dollars including the one (#66) most guys like to grind and modify and turn into works of art. Link. I'm far from that, and just getting into the SR. I have no SR with a shave-ready edge yet (but two SR razors in transit, both shave-ready from professional vendors, Classic Edge's #66 and WSP's #800).

The 1996 pictured above and a ZY given to me by a member will be my practice razors for honing.

Slash @Slash McCoy has told me a bit about belt sanders and I have a Dremel (although not much in the way of Dremel skills). I'm fairly sure I might like to modify Gold Dollar #66 razors, but not now. That's a down the road project for me requiring a lot of knowledge and equipment.

I don't have anything in terms of a shop. No shop. No garage. No workbench. No vise. Just a kitchen and a bathroom and a porch. My wife is such that any work I do with razors, sometimes including shaving, needs to be done when she's gone. Fortunately she's way into quilt making and thus gone a lot making quilts at her girlfriend's house. Beautiful stuff she makes.

SWMBO is only barely tolerant of the whole shaving thing. Sometimes barely. Sometimes less. But, that's why you should write a book.

I'm at the stage where I really don't know how to tell if the razor is sharp. Al the test methods I've used have given me data sometimes inconsistent with what I know to be probably true because my one razor is very likely to be actually shave-ready (the razor from JR) and yet it won't do the arm hair cutting at an eighth of an inch telling me I'm likely doing the test wrong.

Yes, I understand all of this is best approached in bite sized bits. Nibbles.

Thanks for your help, and everyone's.

Happy shaves,

Jim

 

[Chan Eil Whiskers]

For anyone looking to get the best price on a new professionally sharpened beginner straight razor, the best deal I've come across is at WSP.

It's a GD #208, carbon steel.

Here's the link.

I do not have this razor, but I've ordered their #800 which is about $10 more expensive + I've ordered their cheap hanging strop/travel strop.

I am not vouching for these products of course.

Just saying,

Jim

 

[Twelvefret]

thanks for link to WSP.

 

[Esox]

If you want to work on maintaining the proper angle, just sharpen a few knives first. You'll get the hang of it in no time, and you'll feel and see the differences between stones as you work through them. You can also feel the difference between starting on one stone and finishing on the same stone. The edge behaves differently on the same stone from start to finish and with enough practice, you can feel it when its finished.

Keeping the right and equal angle on both sides can be tricky and its easy to fall into a bad habit of letting the angle change slightly side to side or from the back of the blade to the front. I have a habit of putting a much finer edge on the points of most blades because I let the angle change during the length of the stroke.

One of the best ways to learn is to take a butter knife, that wont be missed, and put a shave ready edge on it. If you can set and hone a proper and even edge on both sides a butter knife, you're good to go on something a lot more expensive. When sharpening a store bought knife, the edge is already established and you can feel that on the stone. Making or regrinding your own edge, by hand, is different.

The more precisely you hone the edge, the finer that edge will be.

 

[Cal]

Are you unable to multi-task?

Yes (I'm male).
Of course I "could" multitask, but I've never really considered doing things poorly.

To another 5000!

+1

 

[Chan Eil Whiskers]

It's a very Cella Sunday.

I like this monster razor. It's fairly smooth feeling, but there's a bit of blade feel. It's not as efficient as the S2 and the PBOCS and the X3, but it's not inefficient either.

After the slant shave I did a bit of Feather barber razor practicing. Easy stuff only.

I used Cremo Moisturizer.

These Italian soaps are all quite good.

• SV
• ABC
• ABM
• Cella
• Vitos
• Valobra

They are not all SV good but probably close enough.

Happy shaves,

Jim

 

[Chan Eil Whiskers]

Yes (I'm male).
Of course I "could" multitask, but I've never really considered doing things poorly.

+1

Particularly pushing the "Buy It Now" button. That requires a very well done move.

Happy shaves,

Jim

 

[Chan Eil Whiskers]

If you want to work on maintaining the proper angle, just sharpen a few knives first. You'll get the hang of it in no time, and you'll feel and see the differences between stones as you work through them. You can also feel the difference between starting on one stone and finishing on the same stone. The edge behaves differently on the same stone from start to finish and with enough practice, you can feel it when its finished.

Keeping the right and equal angle on both sides can be tricky and its easy to fall into a bad habit of letting the angle change slightly side to side or from the back of the blade to the front. I have a habit of putting a much finer edge on the points of most blades because I let the angle change during the length of the stroke.

One of the best ways to learn is to take a butter knife, that wont be missed, and put a shave ready edge on it. If you can set and hone a proper and even edge on both sides a butter knife, you're good to go on something a lot more expensive. When sharpening a store bought knife, the edge is already established and you can feel that on the stone. Making or regrinding your own edge, by hand, is different.

The more precisely you hone the edge, the finer that edge will be.

Yes, I hear you, Mike.

The razors are easier as they have a built in angle guide, the spine.

Some of the Gold Dollar razors available are so inexpensive I'd hate to practice on my knives. None of them cost $11.90. At least none I've kept around. Still, a butter knife might be a great idea.

I'll likely begin with the ZY razor. But, not yet...

I'm also sure I will want to learn to sharpen some of our kitchen knives. Some I like are serrated and I don't want to touch them, but most of those are Cutco and they have a local free and good knife sharpening service.

Your comments are useful and appreciated, as always, Mike.

Happy shaves,

Jim