I've entered "The Church of Straights"

[Time Bandit]

Alright gentlemen, I've entered The Church of Straights and have drank the cool-aid

Now I need your help with what to do next. Please check out the acquisition thread to see the six vintage straights I now own. All need to be restored. I've looked into this already on the site but a lot is still unclear. I've also looked a somewhat into the supplementals I'll need but again could really use the advice of my more experienced brethren.

I'm really looking to put all six back into usable form but am not going to rush anything. I love learning, new experiences and a good challenge so I'll take my time but... First question is, which one do I start with?

 

[Ravenonrock]

Congrats, nice score! I’ll let more experienced gents steer you towards your next moves, but the Wade and Butcher, Burrell and Hellberg all look like might be very functional with some work. The W&B looks in great shape, nice hollow grind perhaps.

 

[Tomo]

For the best chance of success, I would advise you to put those razors in a drawer and forget about them for now.

You will be better off buying a strop, a shave ready razor from a reputable member on BST and building a diamond pasted balsa strop for maintenance. You will be up and running much faster and for much less money than messing around with those rescue razors.

Save the rescue razors for when you know what you’re doing and have built up a full honing progression. It will be a lot of work to remove the chips and get them shaving again. Dealing with the uneven wear on those heavily used blades is a challenge that a new shaver can do without.

 

[Legion]

Yes, I would send at least one of those razors to an expert to clean and hone, or buy a guaranteed shave ready razor before you do anything else. That way when you work on the others you will have a benchmark to compare against.

Then you just need a strop and something to keep it sharp, be it a pasted strop or a finishing hone of some type.

 

[rbscebu]

@Time Bandit, @Tomo has given you the best advice in post #3. There are also the instructions for you.

 

[Tanuki]

Tomo is right about SR shaving.

I will arbitrarily divide the SR shaving universe into four topics:

1 The attributes of different SR designs

2 Shaving with a well-prepared, truly 'shave ready' razor

3 Maintaining the edge of well-prepared razor

4 Repairing/restoring a damaged razor edge

It would be great to understand #1 thoroughly before starting on #2. I think that understanding #1 is a long journey, and #2 is the first step, with #3 as an essential adjunct.

#4 is a more difficult skill to master. Fortunately some edge restorations are much easier than others.

So my first advice is to follow Tomo's advice. Good razor, good (or at least decent) strop, pasted balsa/diamond strop progression. Make sure you want to SR shave before taking the more complicated and expensive steps.

My second advice is to check your PM from me.

My third advice is to get a Naniwa 12k 'splash and go' super stone as your first step into the complicated and controversial world of finish honing (tuning up an edge that pasted strops won't fix).

My fourth advice is to start any restoration/repair learning process using the Method. Lapping films are reasonably inexpensive. The Method is well described. Good results can be obtained while you are still developing the feel and judgement of honing. Synthetic and natural stones can wait a bit.

BTW, you have at least a few razors in that group that will probably restore nicely and then be fun to use. But the proof of restorability is only found in the process. Significant problems can be invisible.

 

[Slash McCoy]

Send one out to be honed. If it comes back with a proper shave ready edge, send him another one to hone. Don't trust anyone who does not shave his face with a straight razor to hone yours. It must be someone from within the community or it will end badly. That's a promise.

Once you have two shave ready razors, shave with one of them. Use it until it is dull. Then if you want to try refreshing the edge, you can devote days to that one razor, while you shave with the other. Or send it out, and shave with the sharp one while you wait for the dull one to come back sharp. The most basic form of honing, and your gateway into it, is refreshing an edge that was formerly nice and sharp. One stone. One stage. A 12k Naniwa Superstone is a popular stone for this. Or use lapping film. Finally, you can run a three stage progression of lapped and pasted balsa. Once you have run the full balsa progression once or twice, you can maintain a very very good edge with 50 laps on the .1µ diamond balsa after every shave.

How do you know your razor is shave ready when you get it back? Well, if it shaves good, with no irritation or discomfort, it is shave ready. The problem is recognizing a good and comfortable shave when you don't yet know how to shave in the manly fashion. Shaving your forearm is a good sharpness test for a pocketknife, but not a razor. You want an edge that treetops. If you sweep the razor over your forearm, about 1/4" above the skin, and it whacks the tip off of one or two hairs every pass, that is a good sign, and the razor should shave okay. The real test is the shave test, but only if you have enough experience to evaluate the shave and know that your technique is not at fault. Anyway that is called the treetopping test. A super sharp razor will sever nearly every hair it encounters when you try to treetop. A razor that only treetops when you go down to about 1/8" above the skin is "sort of" shave ready. If you have to touch the skin with the razor to make it cut a hair, you don't have a shave ready razor. It is important to have some indication that your razor is shave ready, so you know it's all on you.

Most "shave ready" razors on the online auction sites are just internet shave ready, not actual shave ready. Most sellers don't know what it means, except that if they list the razor as shave ready, it means it will sell quicker or for more money. Remember, only trust someone from the community. If the seller is a well known member of a shave forum or is vouched for by a long standing member of a forum, his shave ready razor probably actually is shave ready. Likewise the BST sub forum here on B&B, on on other forums though this one has a lot more traffic. The good deals go quick, though, so check often.

The Method

Read all of that, including the threads linked in that one. If you learn to shave first, then follow the directions of The Method exactly in every detail, you will get a very very good edge early in your shave journey, maybe even your first try.

 

[taffy]

Buy a shave ready razor first off, use it while you start cleaning up those razors. The rest you can do in stages while you are perfecting your shaving skills.

 

[Time Bandit]

@Tomo @Tanuki @Slash McCoy @rbscebu @Ravenonrock @Legion @taffy

Thank you all for replying and for your advice. I really appreciate it.

As far as buying a shave ready straight goes, can you steer me towards a decent midgrade razor? I'm not sure I want to go entry level. I'm definitely not looking to go top of the line, or even high line. Something that's actually decent is preferred.

Am I correct in that there are sort of three routes I can take to maintain a shave ready razors edge? 12k stone, lapping film or a pasted balsa strop? Does this choice come down to preference or is it more a matter of cost?

 

[rbscebu]

What you consider a mid-range SR may be another's top-of-the-line. It depends on your budget. I would consider mid-range as around US$100 to US$150. Others would consider that entry-level. Discuss your requirements with your vendor of choice. Read section 2.1 of the instructions I linked to above.

Here is a list of some vendors who can sell you a truly shave-ready razor. There are probably others, however no one has yet listed them in the Wiki.

Honemeister

IntroductionThis page is part of Joel's Interactive Guide to Straight Razor Shaving. This list is intended to list all the active Honemeisters by country and region. The list was

www.badgerandblade.com

Here is a list of some people in the USA who can hone your SR to truly shave-ready. There are probably others, however no one has yet listed them in the Wiki.

Honemeister

IntroductionThis page is part of Joel's Interactive Guide to Straight Razor Shaving. This list is intended to list all the active Honemeisters by country and region. The list was

www.badgerandblade.com

 

[Slash McCoy]

@Tomo @Tanuki @Slash McCoy @rbscebu @Ravenonrock @Legion @taffy

Thank you all for replying and for your advice. I really appreciate it.

As far as buying a shave ready straight goes, can you steer me towards a decent midgrade razor? I'm not sure I want to go entry level. I'm definitely not looking to go top of the line, or even high line. Something that's actually decent is preferred.

Am I correct in that there are sort of three routes I can take to maintain a shave ready razors edge? 12k stone, lapping film or a pasted balsa strop? Does this choice come down to preference or is it more a matter of cost?

The pasted balsa won't make a dull edge sharp. It will make a very sharp edge sharper, and it will keep it that way if used after every shave. Read the thread, and learn.

The 12k stone and the 1µ lapping film are roughly equivalent in grit. The film, if you get the right stuff and make a proper base for it as per The Method, will give more consistent results, and has a cheaper entry fee. About $15 or $20 for a piece of acrylic, and a few sheets of film. One sheet gives you 3 to 4 pieces. Each piece is good for a dozen or more razors if you don't slash it up. And you don't have to lap the acrylic plate, just change the film. Stones must be lapped, an art and science in itself. Some guys just like stones.

Just about any hollowground razor in good shape will do. I don't know of any reliable vendors selling properly shave ready Gold Dollars at present. A good vintage would be better. Best bang for the buck will usually be a mass produced American razor, such as a Union Spike, or any Genco or Ontario or any of many other brands.

If you want a new premium branded razor, just avoid entry level Dovos. The $100 and below Dovos are pretty horrible, especially the infamous Dovo "Best Quality" razor. My favorite Dovo is the Bismarck. Runs usually between about $145 and $180, depending on scales, etc. Boker is a good brand, and a King Cutter would do nicely. Ralf Aust is popular. Revisor has a fantastic selection, and their site is a great place for window shopping.

You will need a usable strop right away, one that is sort of expendable since you are likely to destroy it while learning. Any Illinois model will do. @Tony Miller is our strop guy here, see if he has a beginner strop for you. Upgrade later.

If you don't have a good brush, I recommend a silvertip badger from Larry at www.whippeddog.com , at least a 26mm brush. Mine are 30mm and I love them. For soap, Proraso or C.O. Bigelow as it is branded in the US, is good. It comes in several different formulations, both soap and cream. Cella is excellent, as is Godrej Rich Lather. Avoid anything that says "brushless".

 

[taffy]

Stones are a rabbit hole. As others have mentioned the films are a good option as they are cheap. I have stones but still use the film options and as with everything, some folks just don't like the sharpening side of straights, they just sent out their razors when required, if you do find that you do enjoy the honing that is something you can pursue at a later date and save your money for a decent shave ready razor to start you off.

 

[CpnStumpy]

@Tomo @Tanuki @Slash McCoy @rbscebu @Ravenonrock @Legion @taffy

Thank you all for replying and for your advice. I really appreciate it.

As far as buying a shave ready straight goes, can you steer me towards a decent midgrade razor? I'm not sure I want to go entry level. I'm definitely not looking to go top of the line, or even high line. Something that's actually decent is preferred.

Am I correct in that there are sort of three routes I can take to maintain a shave ready razors edge? 12k stone, lapping film or a pasted balsa strop? Does this choice come down to preference or is it more a matter of cost?

Yes about maintenance, one more is natural stones (black hard Arkansas, coticule, etc) though though these have a bit more learning curve given they don't necessarily have measurable grit and aren't all the same because they're natural, unlike the other options.

Maintenance choices you mentioned are also called "finish"ers because when sharpening a blade they're what you finish on. I have a black hard ark, and a 12k naniwa, both are great finishing stones that are very easy but the 12k naniwa is synthetic fabrication so it's larger and consistent so I'd recommend it for learning over a natural stone personally. Lapping films are cheap and large and I lack experience with them but may be even easier. Pastes and balsas are a whole big thing I haven't touched but can be some initial effort for apparently good payoff I hear.

So, yes, preference, different time and money investments for each choice- up front and over time. If you get a naniwa you need a flattening stone also to flatten it, DMTs are popular and effective for that.

One important note: you don't need a maintenance stone now or soon - mail for sharpening and you only need a strop and away you go. Maintenance stones help you not have to mail again in the future, but you can just wait and mail again if you want. Depends on which elements of this Hobby you want to dive into.

 

[PintoPlain]

As far as buying a shave ready straight goes, can you steer me towards a decent midgrade razor? I'm not sure I want to go entry level. I'm definitely not looking to go top of the line, or even high line. Something that's actually decent is preferred.

With the strength of the US dollar, you could do a lot worse than a Ralf Aust direct from Germany. Although as has been stated previously your budget determines what a midrange razor is.

I cannot personally vouch for vintage US razors as I have never seen one (being Europe based), but they seem to get good reviews from those who use them.

 

[Steve56]

A Ralf Aust bought direct should be a super good choice as noted above.

A Revisor might be good too, but I’m uncertain about the status of their shop/US shipping right now.

A Thiers-Issard Basic Black from The Invisible Edge (UK) would be good too and would also take advantage of the strong dollar and weak Pound.

 

[Legion]

A Ralf Aust bought direct should be a super good choice as noted above.

A Revisor might be good too, but I’m uncertain about the status of their shop/US shipping right now.

A Thiers-Issard Basic Black from The Invisible Edge (UK) would be good too and would also take advantage of the strong dollar and weak Pound.

How are the factory edges on those razors? If he is going to need to get the new edge tuned up anyway he might as well just send one of the better razors he already has out for a honing.

 

[Time Bandit]

How are the factory edges on those razors? If he is going to need to get the new edge tuned up anyway he might as well just send one of the better razors he already has out for a honing.

Good question.

I spent some time today looking at those three brands and liked them all but their prices are very different with some having more affordable options than less.

I'm leaning towards Revisor as my first choice at this point but will post the model numbers for what caught my attention with each.

If any of these don't come "shave ready" then you may be right. Maybe I should just send one off to be restored. In this regard I'm leaning towards the Friedmann & Lauterjung.

 

[rbscebu]

@Time Bandit, both my Ralf Aust and Revisor SRs came shaveable. To get them to my required standard of shave-ready, I only had to put both through a diamond pasted balsa strop progression.

 

[Legion]

@Time Bandit, both my Ralf Aust and Revisor SRs came shaveable. To get them to my required standard of shave-ready, I only had to put both through a diamond pasted balsa strop progression.

He doesn't yet have a standard of shave ready, since this is his first straight razor. Nearly good enough is not a great way to start off.

 

[Steve56]

Aust hand hones his and most B&Bers are satisfied with his edges. The TI and Revisor, I do not think are shave ready.