Inherited an old straight razor... it's still moderately sharp but I'd like to clean the blade properly and sharpen it before I begin learning how to shave with it. The blade currently has spots on it (from age?). Please advise, thanks !
how to prepare an old straight razor for safe shaving?
- Thread starter luzdibbert
- Start date
To start with, if you dont hone razors you are not going to sharpen it to shaving standards. It takes many months of practise to learn to hone. Sone times years.
Post a picture and we can help you to clean it up. Best thing to do is send it out and have it restored and honed. Then learn to shave with it. Plus have another. Its best to have two razors when learning to shave with a straight.
Orhers will pip in and give you some more info.
BTW, welcome to the forum. We have a lot of great people willing to help new guys.
Post a picture and we can help you to clean it up. Best thing to do is send it out and have it restored and honed. Then learn to shave with it. Plus have another. Its best to have two razors when learning to shave with a straight.
Orhers will pip in and give you some more info.
BTW, welcome to the forum. We have a lot of great people willing to help new guys.
As said above, folks here really are friendly and interested in helping others!
Post pictures of it so we can talk about what might need to be done and if it's restorable or not etc.
Helpful would be a picture with ruler measuring the blade from cutting edge up to the top of the spine, also a picture of the end of the razor looking towards the handles so we can see the shape of the grind (example attached below). Otherwise picture of both sides of blade and both sides of handles. Oh and the handle with the blade out at a 90 degree angle so it shows the space between the handle parts to see if there's a warp (example of warped handle in picture below).
Post those pictures (forum let's you upload pictures easily) and we could find any of the usual issues with old razors you may need to get repaired or if it may need very little work. Either way I would suggest the work be done by someone you mail to on here, the pictures will make it easy to identify what work needs to be done and give you instructions and guidance if you wish to do it.
Post pictures of it so we can talk about what might need to be done and if it's restorable or not etc.
Helpful would be a picture with ruler measuring the blade from cutting edge up to the top of the spine, also a picture of the end of the razor looking towards the handles so we can see the shape of the grind (example attached below). Otherwise picture of both sides of blade and both sides of handles. Oh and the handle with the blade out at a 90 degree angle so it shows the space between the handle parts to see if there's a warp (example of warped handle in picture below).
Post those pictures (forum let's you upload pictures easily) and we could find any of the usual issues with old razors you may need to get repaired or if it may need very little work. Either way I would suggest the work be done by someone you mail to on here, the pictures will make it easy to identify what work needs to be done and give you instructions and guidance if you wish to do it.
Spots, if they are tarnish, are only a cosmetic issue, and if you can live with looking at them then the razor might need nothing more than a polish with some metal polish like MAAS or Autosol, and then a hone.
If they are red, active rust, that has to go, and you will need to get some wet dry sandpaper involved.
If they are red, active rust, that has to go, and you will need to get some wet dry sandpaper involved.
rbscebu
Girls call me Makaluod
@luzdibbert, post #2 above by @HazMat Shaver is spot on with his advice. I would also include that you let us know your location. That will assist in making recommendations.
Being a wiz at honing knives does not help you in honing a straight razor. Indeed the more you know about knife honing, generally the worse you will be at straight razor honing. They are two different games.
When I ventured into the gentlemanly art of straight razor shaving, I was in the Philippines with very little available. I had to learn how to hone a SR, strop and SR shave all together. It was not easy and at times rather bloody and painful. It can be done but do not if it can possibly be avoided.
Being a wiz at honing knives does not help you in honing a straight razor. Indeed the more you know about knife honing, generally the worse you will be at straight razor honing. They are two different games.
When I ventured into the gentlemanly art of straight razor shaving, I was in the Philippines with very little available. I had to learn how to hone a SR, strop and SR shave all together. It was not easy and at times rather bloody and painful. It can be done but do not if it can possibly be avoided.
All active rust (red oxide) must go. Please post some pics. We love pics!
Slash McCoy
I freehand dog rockets
Pics, please. Good closeup pics especially of the edge on both sides, and any stampings, etchings, or other markings.
To clean, rinse under running water. Pinch between thumb and forefinger with a towel. Repeat.
To polish is a whole nother operation. Unless there is rust, not needed.
Honing a razor is not something to try learning on your own before you even know how to shave with a straight razor and before you even know when an edge is sharp enough for a good shave. There is sharp, and there is sharp. Shaving hair off your forearm is a sharpness test for your pocketknife, not a razor, which must be honed to a far higher standard of sharpness if you expect to get a close and comfortable shave from it. IT IS A MISTAKE to try to learn to hone a razor that you are also trying to learn to shave with. It has been done, but it is extremely difficult and has a high degree of FAILURE. By far your best option is to send it out for honing. Also, in addition to getting poor results from your own honing, you can cause a great deal of damage to your razor if you don't know what you are doing.
Generally, if you hone your razor yourself, it is going to cost you a couple hundred bucks for the equipment you need, if you do it the conventional way, on a progression of stones from 1k to 12k grit. Save yourself some grief, and bypass all of the no-name or cheap Chinese brand stones on fleabay and amazon. There are basically two names in the business to consider, and that is Naniwa and Shapton. They are not cheap. They are, however, of acceptable quality. You can bypass stones altogether, though, with lapping film. Get the wrong stuff or use it on an unsuitable plate, and use it wrong, and you will call me an idiot for recommending something that DOES NOT WORK. And again, let me say once more that trying to learn to hone a razor when you don't already have experience shaving with a genuinely shave-ready razor is begging for failure. But if you insist, you can read this thread: Newbie Honing Compendium | Badger & Blade , along with all threads linked in it, from beginning to end. If you follow the steps EXACTLY in EVERY DETAIL, making ZERO SUBSTITUTIONS OR OMISSIONS, you have a strong chance at making a usable edge on your first attempt, and better than professional results by the second. If you are not good at followinv very specific and detailed instructions, it will not work. You will have to spend the months and months required to "learn" to hone. The Method, as outlined in the cited thread, is not a learning thing. It is a doing thing. It doesn't teach. It holds your hand and instructs you to do it without a learning process. BTW if you go the film route, it is much cheaper than a set of good stones.
Being that your razor is a family heirloom, I would most strongly recommend that you lightly coat the blade with petroleum jelly to halt further deterioration, set it aside, and make your newbie mistakes with another razor. Before you pull the trigger on some cheap Pakistani junk, post a pic here. You can post "Buy it Now" links but not links to active live auctions, for obvious reasons. I most strongly recommend buying a shave ready razor from a member of this or another straight razor forum, or from a vendor recognized by the community as being reputable. You see all those razors listed on fleabay as "shave ready"? Nearly all of them are definitely NOT shave ready. Most sellers don't even know what that means, and don't care, they just notice that razors sell better when listed as shave ready. Be sure a seller has actual community members who will vouch for him. "Her"? Nope. Don't trust anyone who does not shave his face with a straight razor, to hone one for you.
It can be a daunting task to get started with straight shaving, but once you are over the hump and the initial speed bumps are behind you, it is a very rewarding thing, and you will walk a little prouder, and take pleasure in a previously mundane task.
Even with a shave ready razor, you still need one more item right away, and that is a strop. Our go-to guy for strops is @Tony Miller and you might see if he has any entry level strops ready to ship. Otherwise an Illinois or Fromm or similar will do. You don't want a fancy strop for your first one, trust me on this. It will be a waste of money. You will probably hack it to bits while learning.
Before learning to shave in the manly fashion, I recommend that you get yourself a decent badger brush and a puck of shave soap, and learn to make a proper lather. Good lather does not squirt out of an aerosol can. Try www.whippeddog.com for a cheap but surprisingly good silvertip badger brush. Don't go small, go at least 26mm. I like my 30mm lather monsters that I got from Larry, and for effectiveness I would put them up against a $300 Simpson any day. Consult with him and let him make a suggestion from what he has available. Great guy, always helping the noobs. You might also see if he has any of his "Rich Man" strops available. The "Poor Man" model is verrrrrrrrrry basic and while usable, leaves a lot to be desired IMHO though plenty of other guys will disagree with me, having started with that strop. It is highly expendable, I will say that, and better by far than the cheap Chinese strops all over the internet. If you are a very fumbly, fidgety, non-tool-using sort of person then maybe get a Poor Man and upgrade after your first few stroppings.
But back to the lather. Good prep and shaving technique will improve your shave significantly, no matter what you use to actually shave with, even a cheesy blue handle throwaway. Do your homework and learn to do a good prep. Learn to map your face and go WTG with two passes. If you shave every day, don't worry too much about a "close" shave resulting in BBS (Baby Butt Smooth) condition. Nobody will notice. Closeness is something that should not be forced. Let it happen. When you truly master shaving with cartridge or throwaway, then you are set to take best advantage of more traditional shaving tools like the DE razor, SE, Injector, Shavette, or a proper manly Straight Razor. Work on this first, while you are shopping and waiting for a good shave ready razor to appear in your sights. or while your heirloom is out for honing and maybe even restoration, and while you choose your first strop. You can also practice with a shavette before tackling a straight razor.
The good thing about a shavette is that there is no maintenance, other than changing the blade. A shavette is shaped like a straight razor and used more or less like a straight razor, but uses replaceable blades. I prefer the ones that use a DE blade snapped in half. This is a good one, and cheap:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08J9MVBWL?ref=nb_sb_ss_w_as-reorder-t1_ypp_rep_k2_1_6&&crid=1BS6JYXLP3XOZ&&sprefix=facon+
Even better is the Feather Artist Club that this is a shameless knockoff of, but like I said, this one is cheap, and uses cheap DE blades. I recommend you toss the ones that come with it, and order a pack of Feather Hi-Stainless DE blades. They are my favorite in shavette or in a DE razor. Once you can shave with this bad boy without significant blood loss, shaving with a shave ready straight will be a piece of cake. The shavette solution is good if you are impatient to get started. It also makes a good travel razor. With the shavette there is no honing needed, and no stropping. Two major roadblocks neatly bypassed, at least temporarily.
