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Is there anyone in NYC who can teach me to hone and strop?

Yeah I was all excited when I opened the box thinking I was going to start smoothly clear the hair with no issues.

Even with a superbly honed razor, your first shaves won't feel like that. As you develop your technique it will get smoother, but one of the canards that needs to be challenged is that straight shaving is like wiping whiskers off with a magic stick. It's not. Unless you are 13 and are shaving fluff...
 
Hello Billhanna,

I have a 6/8 Ralf Aust I ordered from Razor Emporium, I tried the hanging hair test when I received the razor and it failed. I decided I would try it on my face even after failing the test. It kind of skipped around and cut here and there. This was the first time in my life I have taken a straight razor to my face. The combo of poor technique and dull blade made for a pretty raw face. I'm not discouraged since I am aware there is a learning curve.
There are some vendors who do supply their customers with straight razors that really are unquestionably shave ready. Obviously you didn’t experience that with your first straight razor purchase from RE.
That kind of ruins the first time experience. Good luck on your straight razor journey
 
Even with a superbly honed razor, your first shaves won't feel like that. As you develop your technique it will get smoother, but one of the canards that needs to be challenged is that straight shaving is like wiping whiskers off with a magic stick. It's not. Unless you are 13 and are shaving fluff...
It took some time for me to get DE razors down and I can remember having lots of irritation when I first started learning how to use a DE. I feel learning to use a straight razor will take a similar patience and learning to listen to the feedback from the blade and understanding when to use pressure. I am happy to report that I feel the experience of learning to get a really smooth shave with a DE was worth the effort.
 
There are some vendors who do supply their customers with straight razors that really are unquestionably shave ready. Obviously you didn’t experience that with your first straight razor purchase from RE.
That kind of ruins the first time experience. Good luck on your straight razor journey
Yes I hate to call out RE, I have purchased many products from them and they are usually top notch. In their defense Ralf Aust is known for producing reliably shave ready blades and I don't think they touch the razors from prior to shipping them. I also trust the many wonderful online reviews that back up the claim that Aust razors ship sharp and ready to go. I think I must of just had a bit of bad luck. I'll admit it was pretty disappointing when I tried the hanging hair test and it just danced on top of the blade mocking me.
 
Yes I hate to call out RE, I have purchased many products from them and they are usually top notch. In their defense Ralf Aust is known for producing reliably shave ready blades and I don't think they touch the razors from prior to shipping them. I also trust the many wonderful online reviews that back up the claim that Aust razors ship sharp and ready to go. I think I must of just had a bit of bad luck. I'll admit it was pretty disappointing when I tried the hanging hair test and it just danced on top of the blade mocking me.
Did they offer you the option of honing it out of the box to amp up the edge to leave no doubt?
Just curious. Even when I’ve purchased new blades the vendor will always put the edge to a stone to assure its shave ready.
 
Did they offer you the option of honing it out of the box to amp up the edge to leave no doubt?
Just curious. Even when I’ve purchased new blades the vendor will always put the edge to a stone to assure its shave ready.
They say it arrives 100% Shave Ready by Ralf. Did not see the option to hone. I believe they do have a honing service. I'm not sure what the cost is?
 

rbscebu

Girls call me Makaluod
@Shave7070, before learning to hone I strongly recommend that you first have your SR professionally honed by @Doc226. He is local for you. Once you have a guaranteed shave-ready edge, learn to SR shave and develop your technique. This needs to be done by SR shaving daily for at least 30 days. Read the instructions here:


Then and only then start to consider learning to hone your own SRs, not using your Ralf Aust. Get yourself a cheap(er) used SR and learn to hone that up to a decent shave-ready standard. You can use your Ralf Aust to guage your honing progress.

It would be difficult to teach someone to hone. Every whetstone is different, even the same make and model. Every SR can be different, even the same make and model. What you learn with one set of whetstones with one blade most probably will not work as well with another blade and/or whetstone(s).

To learn the basics of honing that will give you a very good grounding for whetstones, I recommend that you initially start learning on lapping films (very economical at <USD 50). This is extensively covered here:


It's a long read but well worth it for the knowledge you will gain. Read it all at least twice before you even start. Take notes and amend them as you read further into the thread. Once you are getting consistently good shave-ready edges, then you can move on to whetstones (can easily get expensive at hundreds of USD or more) if that is what you desire.

As for stropping, that is also covered in the SR shaving instructions mentioned above. Do not just blindly follow the stropping demonstrations that you may find on YouTube. If you do, there is a good chance that you will deteriorate (not ruin) your edge. Stropping just takes time and concentration to learn. Most do damage (mainly to the strop) by trying to go fast (take your time), not holding the strop taut enough and/or stropping with too much pressure.

You need at least 10 B&B posts to be able to initiate a PM. Hopefully @Doc226 will PM you so that you can start communicating with him (before your 10-post count).
 
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