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Have to share this - but be warned it is toe curling

I am a member of a couple of other shave forums, and today when I logged in to one of them, a new member had asked a question; What am I doing wrong?

A fair question in every aspect of life, if something doesn't work like you expect it to.


Here is his story behind the question (and be warned it is not for the faint hearted):

He thought straight shaving could be fun so he acquired a straight, but he didn't feel it was sharp enough so he had stropped it good without result.
As he wrote, it didn't get any sharper on the leather strop.

To sharpen the razor he then used the knife-sharpener they have in the kitchen and the razor got sharp but when he used it for shaving it tugged and pulled.
He thought it still wasn't sharp enough so he gave it another run on the knife-sharpener but it still tugged and pulled, hence his question.


A part of me can't help laughing at it, another larger part is terrified, and yet another part is quite baffled.
After digesting the story and thinking it over; the poor guy did the best to solve the problem to his knowledge.
You can't really blame him for not knowing that there is a difference between the edge of a kitchen knife and a razor and that you can't use a knife-sharpener to sharpen a straight.

Still it is toe curling and sends chills down my spine thinking of it :scared:
 
I try to help those guys but really in this day and age if you can't log onto YouTube or do a google search... Well one can only be helped so much right?
 
I answered as politely as I could and explained what the strop is for and the difference on edges and stone grits.
With a little luck he hasn't ruined the razor totally.

My initial thoughts were "Didn't you do any research beforehand?".
But I will have to admit that I'm one of those types that researches my trousers of, before I do anything new, so I don't think it would be fair to say that to him.
We are all different, and have different approaches to things - and that is OK.
 
It is a scary thought, and almost ridiculous if you've spent more than 2 mins. doing some research. But they do market those gadgets as making stuff "razor sharp." They may even have a setting or a routine to accomplish this, but ymmv . . . .

And so they get away with the marketing puffery, which always seems to attract at least a few.
 
You don't Know what you don't know. I hope you were able to save his razor for him before it was to late. I probably take to much for granted. Grew up on a farm; Dad showed me the difference between the edge you put on an axe, vs a chisel, vs a plane blade, vs a heavy knife etc. Most people don't get that kind of education now.
 
I prefer to always be gracious and help when possible. Sure there are resources out there for people to conduct research on but not everyone thinks to do it. If I can help I'll try.
 
Numerous times I've had customers walk in the door and want to buy a straight razor because they saw Daniel Craig shaving with one in Skyfall... and they think it's pretty cool. Although I encourage their enthusiasm, it takes me awhile to get them headed in the right direction, and they come to realize that you just can't buy a straight razor and start shaving with one. That it takes great skill, patience, and preparation. "Me man... me see cool razor... me shave with cool razor...". Please excuse the cave-man humor, but some of these guys think this way.
 
Yes, we all have different approaches.

I didn't give him a hard time at all, but tried to explain how things are different.

My first thought was that he had used an electric sharpener and those machines removes a lot of metal fast, but with a little luck he only used one of those where you just pull the knife through.
With the latter I don't think any damage to the razor will be significant or even noticeable.

I have advised him to send the razor out to be honed.
I haven't heard back yet, but my guess is that the razor will be salvageable with a little to medium work.
Otherwise the damage is not big, he only gave somewhere between $25 and $30 for the razor.
 
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