My First Straight

[dillon_b12]

Well, I finally broke down a bought a straight today. I don't really have the equipment to hone it, but I just wanted to own one. I'll stick with DE/SE shaving for now. I don't know anything about what brands of straights are more desireable than others, but the fancy scales attracted me to this one.

Here she is. A W.H. Morley and Son's Gentleman's Razor.

 

[rickboone1]

Looks good! If you want, send it to me and I'll hone it. Just pay the shipping. PM me if you are interested.

 

[dillon_b12]

Thanks for the generous offer. I may have to take you up on that! I am pretty decent at sharpening knives so I spent a little time on it tonight with a DMT Extra Fine stone and a strop.

It got very sharp quickly, though I don't think sharp enough for a shave.

 

[BakerAndBadger]

Nice shape to the blade. Take rick up on his offer and enter the world of straight shaving!

 

[Lexbomb]

Looks nice. After a little clean up it will look fantastic

 

[dillon_b12]

The first pictures are after I cleaned it up some. I've worked on it a little more tonight since I took those.

Here are some before pics:

 

[global_dev]

The EF should be able get you to bevel set and shaving, but not nearly as keen/ smooth as it could be.

 

[dillon_b12]

I also have a Stropman.com strop with green and white compound. Would that get me the rest of the way?

 

[global_dev]

i was able to shave off a 1200 comfortably, but i think you'd need to know that you absolutley had a satisfactory bevel, and then give the pastes a try and see how it feels.

 

[dillon_b12]

I've got 3 more straights on the way. A Torrey Razor Co., an A. Witte "Cardinal", and a Union Cutlery spike. They all need some work and restoring razors seems like it could be a fun hobby.

As far as this Morley goes, any tips on cleaning the scales? Soapy water and a toothbrush helped quite a bit, but you can see there is still quite a lot of brown gunk on one scale.