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forefathers

serious question so please give some honest answers.....

if been contemplating straights.......the holdback has been all the stuff required hone and get an edge.

in the 1700's and 1800's.......all this modern stuff was not available. so my question is this:

How'd they pull it off for an acceptable shave?

thanks

camo
 

rbscebu

Girls call me Makaluod
My grandfather was a SR shaver all his life. He had only one SR, one whetstone, a canvas strip that he used pasted and a leather strop.

His SR was probably initially professionally honed. He would leather strop before each shave and canvas stop after each shave. When needed, he would refresh the edge on his whetsone.

Using the Method to hone your SR is inexpensive with a total cost of well under USD 100 for the complete setup. Once you have developed the edge of your SR using the Method, you should never have to hone it again provided you give it 50 laps on a 0.1u pasted hanging balsa strop after each shave.

I have now put a Method edge on 9 SRs. I will soon have to order some more lapping film (my only real consumable) at about USD 20 so it is costing me in consumables about USD 2 per SR to hone.
 
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The more things change the more they stay the same. If your razor got dull you use a whetstone. Leather strops and even pasted leather strops have existed for thousands of years. The word coticule, for instance, has ancient origins. It comes from the Latin words cos (sharpening stone) and novacula (knife/razor/dagger). These words were already ancient in Latin times and derive from the Proto-Indo-European mother tongue for words for sharpening, scratching, scraping, and cutting stones. Newer technologies make things easier and more consistent sometimes. But the basic technology hasn't changed since the Bronze Age.
 
serious question so please give some honest answers.....

if been contemplating straights.......the holdback has been all the stuff required hone and get an edge.

in the 1700's and 1800's.......all this modern stuff was not available. so my question is this:

How'd they pull it off for an acceptable shave?

thanks

camo


All this modern stuff?
You mean rocks? Guess how long they have been around?
Excellent rocks for razors have been around longer than steel.
You do not need the arsenal some have to do it.
Its certainly doable given the initiative.
 
serious question so please give some honest answers.....

in the 1700's and 1800's.......all this modern stuff was not available. so my question is this:

How'd they pull it off for an acceptable shave?

thanks

camo

Most had servents who preformed this function. Survents were common in most households up until the 1930's. After WWII it was uncommon to have more than a cook who did not live with the household.
 

rbscebu

Girls call me Makaluod
.... After WWII it was uncommon to have more than a cook who did not live with the household.
That's because of the exorbitant salaries they are now demanding. Here in the Philippines a live-in housemaid now wants USD 60 to 80 per month plus room and board for a 12-hour 6-day working week!
 
My grandfather was a SR shaver all his life. He had only one SR, one whetstone, a canvas strip that he used pasted and a leather strop.

His SR was probably initially professionally honed. He would leather strop before each shave and canvas stop after each shave. When needed, he would refresh the edge on his whetsone.

Using the Method to hone your SR is inexpensive with a total cost of well under USD 100 for the complete setup. Once you have developed the edge of your SR using the Method, you should never have to hone it again provided you give it 50 laps on a 0.1u pasted hanging balsa strop after each shave.

I have now put a Method edge on 9 SRs. I will soon have to order some more lapping film (my only real consumable) at about USD 20 so it is costing me in consumables about USD 2 per SR to hone.

thanks to all within this thread for the replies.......

cebu....should I just search......"the method" ???

camo
 

David

B&B’s Champion Corn Shucker
George Washington had a razor, a Coticule, and a pasted strop. I’m guessing he made it just fine.
B8707438-AB20-4D9A-B3DA-C53CE126BA27.jpeg
 
Actually that may be a PDSQ hone. Can’t say for sure from that pic.
I'd lean coticule because of the fractures.


But as David points out. GOOD natural hones have been exploited for 300+ years for razor sharpening. Supposedly Coticule exploitation dates back to Roman times. I would be surprised if Jnat exploitation didn't predate razors in Japan.


If you start with a sharp razor, you need a leather strop and a good finishing hone. Everything else is moving past necessity.


What can confuse people is the abundance of really bad barbers hones. And while breakdown accounts for some of that, the truth is simply that most barber hones have always been bad. They were the as-seen-on-tv products aka miracle never dull kitchen knives of their era. You'd sell this junk and hope enough buyers couldn't tell you were full of it before it was too late to get their money back that you would profit. And honestly, I think a LOT of it was more marketing than literal. I think MOST "Razor hones" were just very fine tool hones that were marketed as being for razors as a gimmick to indicate that they were so much finer than your typical fine hone. My suspicion is the majority of buyers weren't using them for razors.
 
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Steve56

Ask me about shaving naked!
You can get going pretty reasonably. A modern version of George’s kit might be:

The thin version of a 10k Nanwa, about $50;
A small coticule, very versatile, could be had for around $50-75;
A small Japanese natural, $65-75 but very versatile; or
A good barber hone, $10-25 unless you get one collectors are interested in

I’ve omitted the Thuringian because they are exorbitant for anything above a very small size, and they don’t usually have a lot of abrasive power, they’re true finishers.

A small pasted paddle strop takes the burden off finding a true razor grade (by modern standards) natural hone. You can get a paddle for under $10 and chromium and iron oxide (CrOx and FeOx) are very cheap. You would not need the paste with the 10k Naniwa (for me anyway) though it might be fun and historically common to use.

I’d go with a decent leather and linen hanging strop, Tony Miller makes them in all ranges very reasonably, including practice strops. Maybe $35 up to whatever your heart desires, lol.

So maybe $100-150 total to maintain your razor forever, you’d never need anything else.
 
What about these Colonel Conk Razor stones I see advertised. They look like maybe a small Arkansas store glued to a paddle?

Does anybody know what they actually are and what grit they correspond to?
 

rbscebu

Girls call me Makaluod
....
cebu....should I just search......"the method" ???

camo
 
SR arrived today....

Torrey, hollow ground.

it arrived okay but not sharp enough to cut arm hairs.

used my grandfather's stone.......probably for tools on the smooth side. taped the spine.

made this strop board out of leftover goat skin. stropped on that and my Jean's.

20200415_180424.jpg


put some VDH shave butter (the first thing I ever used when beginning DE shaving last year) on my arm. SR removed hair with no problems using short strokes. quite comfortable compared to my cheap *** shavette I bought last year.

I ordered a proper strop today.

I was thinking about sending it out to be sharpened but now have second thoughts.

shaving arm hair close enough?

thanks for input in this.

camo
 

Slash McCoy

I freehand dog rockets
SR arrived today....

Torrey, hollow ground.

it arrived okay but not sharp enough to cut arm hairs.

used my grandfather's stone.......probably for tools on the smooth side. taped the spine.

made this strop board out of leftover goat skin. stropped on that and my Jean's.

View attachment 1087295

put some VDH shave butter (the first thing I ever used when beginning DE shaving last year) on my arm. SR removed hair with no problems using short strokes. quite comfortable compared to my cheap *** shavette I bought last year.

I ordered a proper strop today.

I was thinking about sending it out to be sharpened but now have second thoughts.

shaving arm hair close enough?

thanks for input in this.

camo

Even your pocketknife should shave arm hairs easily and smoothly. A razor needs to be sharper than that. If you pass the razor about 1/4' above the skin. which I think is around 6mm or 7mm if you use metric, it should cut off the tips of at least a couple of hairs. That is shave ready sharpness. That is a good edge. If it won't, but it will treetop arm hairs at only 1/8" then it is barely shave ready. Good enough to give it a try.

For a strop you really should have a proper hanging leather strop. Not a belt. Not a paddle or board strop. I understand you will probably try to shave even if you don't have the things you should have. That's okay. Just don't be disappointed by the results, because it will be much better when you have everything you need.

Your razor should be adequate. Torrey was a good brand. I strongly suspect that you will need to have it honed, though. If the seller does not say it is shave ready, then it isn't. If the seller says that it IS shave ready, then it probably isn't but it might be, depending on the seller. Someone recommended here on this board is probably legit. Mr Fleabay who PROMISES his razor is shave ready, HONEST! very likely isn't lying but is just wrong cause he doesn't even know what he is talking about. There are exceptions, of course. But nearly anyone legit will be known to this forum or to another forum. So, in the final analysis I would say that there is about a 90% chance that your razor will not shave very well as is, and a 99.9% chance that pretty much anyone who is a member or who is vouched for by members here, will return your razor sharper than it is now. But I am kinda just guessing from what I know about the razor that you received.

Be sure you know what you are doing before you touch razor to face or to strop. There are lots of threads on this forum and others on how to do your first straight shave and how to strop. Lots of youtube videos, too. Do your homework. Maybe just go through the motions with your presumably dull razor. Watch your shave angle. A standard shave angle is found by resting the razor flat against the face, then rotating the spine of the razor out away from the face until the gap is equal to the spine's thickness. A very small increase in angle is okay but if you are doing that, probably your edge is actually too dull. A decrease in the angle is okay and in fact is recommended if the edge is extremely sharp. But too high a shave angle is hard on the edge and hard on your face, too. Get in the habit of stretching your skin tight as you shave, and using light pressure. If it won't shave, then it is dull. Don't try. But a practice run is fine. Same with stropping. Once you have a proper strop, that is.

The cheapest strop that I know of that will actually work is sold by seller "thexbay" on ebay. Get the 2-1/2" strop, not the 2" strop. 2" is just plain too skinny. The larger one is still only $8.88 and you will not find a usable strop for less than that. Still, it is only a beginner strop. Your first strop should be a cheap one because you will likely damage it while learning to use it. Upgrade to a nicer one later. A reasonably good strop starts at around $45 or so. No need to pay more than $100 or so unless you just want to spend money on something fancy like horse shell cordovan, which is very nice but won't make your razor shave any better than the typical $50 to $60 cowhide strop.
 
thanks

honestly will send off for a hone. I only plan to use this under special occasions......but will slowly dip my toes in the water along the way as I am in no rush. should have no problems skin stretching as i do this sometimes with SE razors.

my first shave with this one last Sunday definatley required it.

20200412_081240.jpg


thanks for the honesty and being straight forward.....I can feel that this one will take some time and patience.

camo
 
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