First SE razor that was even less ready to shave than me

[alexo]

Got this razor from an importer who had this last razor. It says Muhle on the box, Solingen on the blade and small stamp of Muhle symbol on the blade as well. I wouldn't be surprised to learn it's made by another company, possibly Dovo?. It's stainless with nice scales that look like sea shell.

I stropped it a few times and after a lather, hot towel and another lather, tried to shave. The blade just didn't care to do anything, even WTG. I managed a little but it obviously needed much more care so I finished the shave with my DE and stropped it on the canvas side until I was tired. Every hour or so, I took it from its box and stropped it on the leather side, inspected by flashlight and it did improve. Finally it passed my chest hair cut. Tomorrow I'll give it another try and see how it goes and by that time I'll probably strop some more.

If it will act up tomorrow, I guess I'll have to get into honing .

 

[mbwhoosh]

hey alexo

it's a nice looking razor

was it brand new out of the box (sticker and seal unbroken)? If so it definetly needs to be honed and razors don't come shave ready out of the box.

 

[leighton]

Looks like it could be made by Dovo. Haven't heard of Muhle before.

Unless it was sold as shave ready, I highly recommend you send it to someone who hones razors. I'm still doing the free honing thing for now.

 

[JD.E.]

Merkur/Dovo (same parent company I believe?) at one point in time made Razor Pieces (Heads at least, maybe more?) for Muhle to use with their line of Razors.

As I hear it now, when it comes to safety razors at least, they aren't made by merkur any longer.

Just my understanding of the situation,

I could be way off base, but I would imagine that there was a similare relationship when it comes to straits as well as Safety Razors.

~JD

 

[alexo]

hey alexo

it's a nice looking razor

was it brand new out of the box (sticker and seal unbroken)? If so it definetly needs to be honed and razors don't come shave ready out of the box.

There was no sticker or seal, just a box with no wrapping and the owner of the business took it out of the box and showed me the razor as new.

I didn't know new razors are supplied unready to shave so that explains it.
I'll keep stropping both to get used to the movement and to try sharpen the blade. I hope there's no too much stropping...

Thanks all for your comments.

 

[alexo]

Just finished shaving, most areas except the chin and under the nose. The blade was quite more sharp but still not enough. It seems I can get good results just from stropping so I'll strop more on the canvas, around 50-80 and than add another 50 or so on the leather. I call it Straight Razor Boot Camp.

 

[Hanzo]

Alexo

Stropping the razor won't sharpen it. You have to follow Leighton's advice and get the razor honed. Both on BB and Straight Razor Place ,you can find members who will hone your razor for free or for a charge of $15 to $20. I used one of the honing services and got a super result , I have also purchased new razors prehoned and been satisfied. You will continue to find frustration nicks, cuts and razor burn with your razor until you get it honed by a experienced hand. No two ways about it , put the razor in the mail to honemeister save yourself some aggravation.

 

[alexo]

Hanzo,
Unfortunately, the nearest store selling stones is on vacation untill next week so I'll have to settle for stropping until they open. I prefer, when possible, to support the stores around me.

Regarding stropping - for sure, It's not an efficient way of removing material but it does work after enough repetitions.
I prefer to hone myself since I've been honing my kitchen knifes for the last 20 years and it's a pleasure to know I can apply my own skill to maintain my tools.

 

[bearbear]

op.
looks alot like a dovo ss. They are supposed to be excellent shavers. whats the text in the gold leaf?

 

[alexo]

Only one word on the gold leaf - Solingen.

 

[mdunn]

Hanzo,
Unfortunately, the nearest store selling stones is on vacation untill next week so I'll have to settle for stropping until they open. I prefer, when possible, to support the stores around me.

Regarding stropping - for sure, It's not an efficient way of removing material but it does work after enough repetitions.
I prefer to hone myself since I've been honing my kitchen knifes for the last 20 years and it's a pleasure to know I can apply my own skill to maintain my tools.

stropping doesnt remove metal. It either removes any tiny ammounts of corrosion that have pitched tent on the edge, or straightens the fin (depending on who you talk to)

If a razor isnt shave ready, no ammount of stropping will get it there. Even if youre a pro at honing kitchen knives, razors are a whole different ball game. Trust us when we say get it honed by a pro (that way when you try to hone yourself you know what youre aiming for)

 

[mbwhoosh]

I would strongly suggest getting it proffesional honed heres why:

1. They will know the tricks to save that gold leaf which can be damaged/lossed during honing if done improper

2.Honing a razor is different from knives as different angles and smoother grits are required

3. You have nothing to compare it to! You may know how to sharpen knives but without ever feeling what a properly sharpened razor feels like you won't really know what sharp is.

4. You don't want to learn on a nice new razor. Most get thier nice razor honed proffesionally then buy a cheap blade to practice getting it up to par w/ thier nice blade.

5. Hones are expensive and not needed for most.
You just started and don't even know whether or not you will keep up straight shaving. Hones are very expensive (some polishing stones can run $100-200) and not required for person who owns 1 razor and just uses it to shave. A pyramid honing system is ment for people who want to restore (antique or ebay) and bring junk blades back to life.Send it to a honemeister who already has the hones and knows how to get it sharp and it can be maintained indefinetly w/ just pastes(chromium oxide) or a simple cheap barber hone ($20-50).

This is not meant to be offensive or criticising at all, we are trying to save you money,time, and bad shaves.

Please, send that blade to a pro if you are dead set on learning to hone buy a cheap blade and practice on that and use your professionally honed razor to compare it to.That way if you do a good job you'll have 2 shave ready razors in case something happens to one of them(drop it, clang it on the sink).

here's some reading:
http://straightrazorplace.com/srpwiki/index.php/Category:Honing

Good luck let us know what happens.

 

[alexo]

Thank you all for your comments. I'm truely touched by your concerns and convinced you're right...

A few minutes ago, I finished my first full WTG with a SR. It gave me about the same quality of shave I get from DE minus a few patches that were difficult to get. No blood or nicks, just a little wierd to twist my hand so I can both see what I'm doing in the mirror and touch only lightly in the right angle. I've spent quite some time since my last post on stropping and the shine from the edge as well as the actual shaving result tells me the stropping managed to improve the razor to a usefull edge.

However, comparing the sharpness of my SR to the feel of DE tells me there's more to achieve so I'll stop at this point and wait for a store not far from me to open. They've been in the knifes and honing business for more than 40 years so I trust they'll do a good job. I'll post once I return and see how it shaves.

 

[alexo]

I checked the store I wrote about earlier and their prices are +50% than stores found online. So, I contacted two stores and ordered 3M lapping paper, 0.5, 1, 3 and 9 microns, all with sticky backs I'll attach to a straight surface (granite, glass or perspex) and have a cheap honing/maintaining solution for future several razors. The 4 papers with surface area larger than regular honing stones cost about $50 with shipment so it looks like a good deal.

Meanwhile, I continue my stropping therapy so I'll give it another test tomorrow.

 

[gugi]

looks like you have enough determination, so you'll be good eventually.

 

[Jatte]

i know this sounds redundant, BUT,

why not just send it to leighton, i hear he puts a wicked edge on a razor... and he's honing for free,

all you would have to pay is shipping, totally worth it,

even if you get stones, there is a learning curve, so it wouldnt be perfec tfor a little while,

i say send it to leighton, and feel what a razor should feel like,
then when it gets dull and needs a honing in a couple months or so then try honing it yourself,

just my 2 cents to throw in

 

[alexo]

What can I say, I'm an army veteran with an attitude - I find it hard letting someone else solve my problems

Other than that, I live in Israel so the shipment both ways would take a week at least, handling the customs is a hassle so I'll have to pass on a what looks like a fine offer.

I took a shave yesterday with the SE and managed both WTG and XTG with reasonable result so I wonder if maybe the blade was sprayed by a protective wax of some sort at the factory - maybe that's why the stropping worked?

 

[AFDavis11]

Have fun. Yea, I was waiting for the "I live in Israel" bomb to drop!

Stropping is a lot more effective than people actually realize, but then again, most people just aren't doing it right. A few strokes on your lapping papers and you might be in business.

 

[alexo]

Have fun. Yea, I was waiting for the "I live in Israel" bomb to drop!

Stropping is a lot more effective than people actually realize, but then again, most people just aren't doing it right. A few strokes on your lapping papers and you might be in business.

You know, I always wondered why the words "Israel" and "bomb" some how used so often in the same sentence

I'm eagerly waiting my papers and I just won a bid on Ebay for 4 razors lot so I'm having some honing to do for months...

 

[mbwhoosh]

What can I say, I'm an army veteran with an attitude - I find it hard letting someone else solve my problems

Other than that, I live in Israel so the shipment both ways would take a week at least, handling the customs is a hassle so I'll have to pass on a what looks like a fine offer.

I took a shave yesterday with the SE and managed both WTG and XTG with reasonable result so I wonder if maybe the blade was sprayed by a protective wax of some sort at the factory - maybe that's why the stropping worked?

Oh...well in that case yeah shipping to the US would be a pain.

But we do have wetshavers around the world on these forums
the closest people I know to you that do good work would be
australia and UK

http://straightrazorplace.com/classifieds/showcat.php/cat/4

www.theinvisibleedge.co.uk

sounds like you getting tolerable shaves so let us know how your sharpening goes when it arrives.