Free Honing for 'real' Straight newb?

[vickywally]

I've seen some old posts where members have offered to hone a straight for the price of postage - so thought I'd ask again.

I'm just starting down the straight path (having dabbled in 'shavettes') and was wondering if there was anyone who would be willing to hone a GD or vintage for me? I've read here that you can't really buy a GD or vintage shave ready and don't want to color my experiment with a not-ready razor.

The ideal option would be someone in the Boston area who I can visit and see them hone a razor. This would be an awesome intro to the world of straights!

On a related note: what is the cheapest honing setup I can start with? Lapping film? If so - which ones and from where?
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Edit: I wanted to say: If the razor does not work for me - I'l PIF it here. If it does work - I'll plan to invest in honing equipment and offer at least 1 new shave-ready GD at cost on BST to push others on fence into straight razor shaving!

 

[buca3152]

You can certainly buy a vintage or gd shave ready. As far as setups go, theres a lot to look at. Dmt 1200 3 and 1 micron film would be the least expensive way, i dont think film would be good for setting bevels on razors that need a bitof correction( i never tried it ) . so there you are. why give something away for cost?'If someone wants a shave ready they will have to pay for one, you will have lots of takers, you know,if its free its for me. IMO people willimg to pay are more committed to going through it as it wont happen the first shave.

 

[vickywally]

You can certainly buy a vintage or gd shave ready. As far as setups go, theres a lot to look at. Dmt 1200 3 and 1 micron film would be the least expensive way, i dont think film would be good for setting bevels on razors that need a bitof correction( i never tried it ) . so there you are. why give something away for cost?'If someone wants a shave ready they will have to pay for one, you will have lots of takers, you know,if its free its for me. IMO people willimg to pay are more committed to going through it as it wont happen the first shave.

Thanks buca for the guidance! It sounds like I have some research & reading ahead of me.

As for giving GDs away - I'm no position to do this yet; however I am passionate about getting the price of wetshaving down in general. Based on my research - the markups on a lot of the equipment we use (soap, brush, razors etc) are huge i.e. between 4-10x. If they were lower - would more people get in to wet-shaving? I don't know but I'd love to get more of my friends in!

 

[cb91710]

While many members here are more than generous with their skills, and even sometimes their blades (I have both received and given free straights), it is really, really bad form to ask for free honing and will not likely result in any offers.

 

[Patman27]

Do you have razor already? If not, I'd suggest looking at a razor from whippeddog.com. You can get a very inexpensive shave ready razor and also an inexpensive strop and bit of touch up stuff. Then if you like it, you could check out how much it would be to get the vintage blade you want once you have a better idea of size/grind etc.

 

[vickywally]

Do you have razor already? If not, I'd suggest looking at a razor from whippeddog.com. You can get a very inexpensive shave ready razor and also an inexpensive strop and bit of touch up stuff. Then if you like it, you could check out how much it would be to get the vintage blade you want once you have a better idea of size/grind etc.

Thanks for the suggestion - I will take a look!

While many members here are more than generous with their skills, and even sometimes their blades (I have both received and given free straights), it is really, really bad form to ask for free honing and will not likely result in any offers.

Point taken Rich. I did get an offer for a free honing - so that just goes to prove your point about the generosity here.

 

[Slash McCoy]

Buca is being modest. He sells shave-ready GDs that by all accounts are quite good, for a very low price. Or maybe he is trying to place them all in good homes LOL! Larry at www.whippeddog.com is good for vintage razors ready to shave with.

Film isn't much good for heavy steel removal and large scale repair and modification, but its poor cousin, sandpaper, can do the grunt work just fine. Then film does the rest.

Here is a video of a razor being honed on lapping film. http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showth...emo-on-youtube?highlight=youtube+lapping+film

And a good film thread: http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showthread.php/283576-Lapping-film-try-it?highlight=lapping+film+try+it

 

[vickywally]

Buca is being modest. He sells shave-ready GDs that by all accounts are quite good, for a very low price. Or maybe he is trying to place them all in good homes LOL! Larry at www.whippeddog.com is good for vintage razors ready to shave with.

Ah Buca - this is exactly what I need! What is the link? Indeed I'd prefer to go this shave-ready GD route vs vintage razor.

Film isn't much good for heavy steel removal and large scale repair and modification, but its poor cousin, sandpaper, can do the grunt work just fine. Then film does the rest.

Here is a video of a razor being honed on lapping film. http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showth...emo-on-youtube?highlight=youtube+lapping+film

And a good film thread: http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showthread.php/283576-Lapping-film-try-it?highlight=lapping+film+try+it

[/QUOTE]

Thank you! Checking out the videos now!

 

[vickywally]

Buca is being modest. He sells shave-ready GDs that by all accounts are quite good, for a very low price. Or maybe he is trying to place them all in good homes LOL! Larry at www.whippeddog.com is good for vintage razors ready to shave with.

Film isn't much good for heavy steel removal and large scale repair and modification, but its poor cousin, sandpaper, can do the grunt work just fine. Then film does the rest.

Here is a video of a razor being honed on lapping film. http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showth...emo-on-youtube?highlight=youtube+lapping+film

And a good film thread: http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showthread.php/283576-Lapping-film-try-it?highlight=lapping+film+try+it

Once again Slash - your post was extremely informative!

I checked out buca's razors (terrific for newbies!) and also did a while bunch of other reading on burr and edge making. Your videos were the most inspirational of all. Even if I don't get a GD - I might have to get some lapping film and got at it with the kitchen knives!

 

[blackhhawk]

As far as honing goes, see the first sticky in this sub forum and it will answer your questions. There are also links for where to buy honing film.

I have also purchased a GD from Buca and it shaves like a dream. I would highly recommend.