Diving In

[taffy]

Welcome, and fair play to you for jumping straight in with, err a straight I went from cartridge to de razors for years without even thinking about using a straight. Plenty of very experienced straight users on here to help with your journey.

 

[Tanuki]

Welcome!

There is no reason not to go straight to SR. The G+F should have a good bevel, which is about all you can expect from a large manufacturer's 'shave ready'. If the bevel looks even and thin, you should not be tempted to set it. Refine the finish first.

All you should need is a pasted balsa strop progression and maybe a finish hone if the pasted balsa and patience with learning the technique don't get your edge to truly shave ready. IMHO, close to zero pressure with stropping/honing (and on your face) is the key.

My basic maintenance kit:
>Tony Miller 3" linen/horsehide strop
>3 strop balsa/diamond progression .5u/50k .25u/100k .1u/200k on 3x2" Bud Nogen (high quality/price aircraft modeling supplier) flat sanded balsa blocks
>12k Naniwa Super Stone - splash and go when the balsa is not enough. Infinite options on finishing hones, stone and synthetic, are available when money starts burning a hole in your pocket.

BTW, on the burning money topic: Knife Center typically has very attractive pricing on entry level straight razors. If you have a 5/8, try a 6/8 for #2. Or vice versa.

@rbscebu is a great resource. The forums and threads are great sources, but the variety of approaches and the jargon can overwhelm. Stay away from restoring vintage and used SRs until you are sure SR is working for you.

An offer: if you get a set of balsa hones ready for pasting, I will mail you enough of the three pastes for your initial application.

 

[Dozer Boy]

My goodness, what a warm welcome! Thank you all!

I’ve since attempted two more shaves and have come to the conclusion that my razor was definitely not up to snuff. There’s no way my technique was that bad.

I purchased a set of Norton water stones (220/1000 & 4000/8000) and played around on a hand-me-down razor that I inherited from one of my grandfathers. It’s not in the greatest shape and has a bit of a smile to it, so I figured it’d be a good test-bed before I put the Giesen & Forsthoff to the stone. After my progression (1000/4000/8000/strop), I was starting to feel the razor catch hairs while doing the tree-topping test! MUCH better performance than I had gotten before! Confident that I wasn’t going to cause irreparable damage to my fancy new razor, I set out to get the Giesen & Forsthoff sharpened up.

A little while later and… it’s better, I guess. In looking at the bevels of the two razors, I noticed that the hand-me-down razor had a bevel of even width the entire length of the blade. The G&F had a bevel width that varies from end-to-end. I’m presuming that this is indicative of a blade that’s not flat/straight. I’m also presuming that setting the bevel wouldn’t help in this case. Or would it? Let me know.

I’ve got a good week of stubble on my face. I think tomorrow I’ll give the hand-me-down razor a shot and see what kind of performance I see. At the very least, I can do my cheeks.

@rbscebu: It is indeed too late. I think I’m past the point of no return. Hah! Thanks for the how-to guide. Lots of good information in there.

@Tanuki: Thanks for the equipment recommendations. I was definitely a little overwhelmed by the variety of finishing stones that are out there. I’ll take a look at the Naniwa. Not sure I’m ready to get into pasted strops yet, but if I get there, I’ll be sure to take you up on your offer.

 

[rbscebu]

@Dozer Boy, don't be worried about varying bevel width. That has nothing to do with the shaveablity of the SR.

As long as there is at least some bevel showing along both sides for the full length of the edge, all is well. The main thing is that the bevel is first properly set. From there it is just a matter of refining the edge to the keenness that you desire.

BTW, where are you located? That might help those advising you.

 

[Whisky]

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