Recommended SR Starter Kit - Titan ACRM-2 for about US$22 including shipping worldwide

[rbscebu]

The Titan ACRM-2 T.H.60 SR StarternKit consists of a good Titan ACRM-2 SR in PU leather zippered case, 60mm wide denim strop and a 4g block of CeOx stropping paste. It sells on AliExpress for about US$22 including shipping worldwide. After testing, I have found that the supplied gear is enough to produce a very good shave-ready edge and maintain that edge for probably well over 100 shaved before a refresh honing is required.

​

It will take about a half to one hour of your time to get this SR to shave-ready only needing the gear supplied. You will still need to supply your own brush and soap to shave to shave.

This may be the cheapest kit of new gear that actually works and will keep on working for a long time.

If you are looking at going down this path, post in this thread and I will prepare some detailed instructions for you.

 

[gpjoe]

The Titan ACRM-2 T.H.60 SR StarternKit consists of a good Titan ACRM-2 SR in PU leather zippered case, 60mm wide denim strop and a 4g block of CeOx stropping paste. It sells on AliExpress for about US$22 including shipping worldwide. After testing, I have found that the supplied gear is enough to produce a very good shave-ready edge and maintain that edge for probably well over 100 shaved before a refresh honing is required.

View attachment 1618024
​

It will take about a half to one hour of your time to get this SR to shave-ready only needing the gear supplied. You will still need to supply your own brush and soap to shave to shave.

This may be the cheapest kit of new gear that actually works and will keep on working for a long time.

If you are looking at going down this path, post in this thread and I will prepare some detailed instructions for you.

I'll be watching.

 

[rbscebu]

I'll be watching.

Ok. Over the next couple of days I will prepare some detailed instructions on how to prepare the SR in this kit to be shave-ready. These instructions will be posted in this thread.

 

[5whiskey]

I appreciate your work rbscebu. I looked into SR shaving years and years ago, like 2008. I settled for DE because Straights seemed too expensive. Now I wouldn't shave any other way. I couldve had another 12 years of SR shaving under my belt now (along with a much bigger razor collection )It's awesome that this kit is out, and that you have experimented with it enough to give it an honest recommendation. Especially having the knowledge base to actually support that recommendation.

 

[Member357]

I love that you try to make SR shaving accessible to so many people. Some of the best shaves of my life have been with straight razors, but I lack the skills to hone and maintain them myself. The amount of information online is just overwhelming for me, despite owning some (inexpensive) stones and strops. Maybe this thread will bring me back to something I would dearly love to be able to do for myself.

Thanks @rbscebu

 

[Legion]

I love that you try to make SR shaving accessible to so many people. Some of the best shaves of my life have been with straight razors, but I lack the skills to hone and maintain them myself. The amount of information online is just overwhelming for me, despite owning some (inexpensive) stones and strops. Maybe this thread will bring me back to something I would dearly love to be able to do for myself.

Thanks @rbscebu

Keeping a shave ready SR that way is not so hard. And there are dozens of different stones (and pastes, films, etc) that will all work very well. Sure, it gets a bit perplexing with all the various options, but most of them will work for maintaining an edge indefinitely.

Where things can get a bit more tricky is taking a NON shave ready razor, and making it work. That is where all the troubles and pitfalls happen, and where you start to need several different hones, and, and....


So to any new person thinking of starting out I say, buy a SR that has been honed already by someone who uses one every day, and has been doing so for a while. Pick a finishing method that fits your budget and availability. Stick with those two things for maybe a year, until you are shaving and touching up your razor with your eyes closed, and only then start experimenting with whatever else piques your interest.

 

[Member357]

Keeping a shave ready SR that way is not so hard. And there are dozens of different stones (and pastes, films, etc) that will all work very well. Sure, it gets a bit perplexing with all the various options, but most of them will work for maintaining an edge indefinitely.

Where things can get a bit more tricky is taking a NON shave ready razor, and making it work. That is where all the troubles and pitfalls happen, and where you start to need several different hones, and, and....


So to any new person thinking of starting out I say, buy a SR that has been honed already by someone who uses one every day, and has been doing so for a while. Pick a finishing method that fits your budget and availability. Stick with those two things for maybe a year, until you are shaving and touching up your razor with your eyes closed, and only then start experimenting with whatever else piques your interest.

I was able to pick up some wonderfully honed razors via B&B when I visited the US several years ago, but no chance to return now and the currency here in Japan makes international shopping too expensive these days. I keep an eye out on BST but no luck for a long time. I'll keep looking, though.

Appreciate the advice.

 

[rbscebu]

Here is the guide to get a Titan ACRM-2 T.H.60 shaving kit to a good shave-ready standard.

(Check following posts in this thread for any revisions of this guide.)

 

[Mitzie]

Here is the guide to get a Titan ACRM-2 T.H.60 shaving kit to a good shave-ready standard.

(Check following posts in this thread for any revisions of this guide.)

A great piece of work. Thanks for sharing

 

[gpjoe]

Here is the guide to get a Titan ACRM-2 T.H.60 shaving kit to a good shave-ready standard.

(Check following posts in this thread for any revisions of this guide.)

Very nice. Thank you for your work, it is well done and easy to follow, and certainly inspires confidence in a n00b like me. I think I'm ready to jump in and plan to buy this kit. For 25 bucks I see no down side to the "experiment".

 

[rbscebu]

Keeping a shave ready SR that way is not so hard. And there are dozens of different stones (and pastes, films, etc) that will all work very well. Sure, it gets a bit perplexing with all the various options, but most of them will work for maintaining an edge indefinitely.

Where things can get a bit more tricky is taking a NON shave ready razor, and making it work. That is where all the troubles and pitfalls happen, and where you start to need several different hones, and, and....


So to any new person thinking of starting out I say, buy a SR that has been honed already by someone who uses one every day, and has been doing so for a while. Pick a finishing method that fits your budget and availability. Stick with those two things for maybe a year, until you are shaving and touching up your razor with your eyes closed, and only then start experimenting with whatever else piques your interest.

I concur with your advice. Unfortunately there are some SR beginners who are restricted by budget and/or ready access to a honemeister. That is where this Titan kit my be suitable.

I started out with this kit a few years ago but didn't have the instructions or knowledge to get the blade shave-ready. It wasn't until I spent another $50 to $100 on lapping film gear and followed the Method that I was able to successfully shave with a SR.

Now we have the instructions!

 

[gpjoe]

I concur with your advice. Unfortunately there are some SR beginners who are restricted by budget and/or ready access to a honemeister. That is where this Titan kit my be suitable.

I started out with this kit a few years ago but didn't have the instructions or knowledge to get the blade shave-ready. It wasn't until I spent another $50 to $100 on lapping film gear and followed the Method that I was able to successfully shave with a SR.

Now we have the instructions!

Budget is a not really a consideration for me. The issue is more about not wanting to commit a large sum to a shaving platform that I may not like, or may not work for me.

There is also the commitment of time. I'm retired and have time but, don't know if I want to dedicate that time to SR shaving without testing the waters first.

This kit and your (great) tutorial will allow me, and other novices, to explore SR shaving without sacrificing much of either. If it does work, it seems like a low-risk starting point.

 

[rbscebu]

....
This kit and your (great) tutorial will allow me, and other novices, to explore SR shaving without sacrificing much of either. If it does work, it seems like a low-risk starting point.

If you find that SR shaving is not for you, you can always sell your Titan for $10 or more plus shipping. The most you will be down is about $15.

 

[Alum Ladd]

Here is the guide to get a Titan ACRM-2 T.H.60 shaving kit to a good shave-ready standard.

(Check following posts in this thread for any revisions of this guide.)

Bravo @rbscebu! an outstanding piece of instructional guidance!

If there is anyone, anyone who would tempt me into trying one of these instruments or AN's as I call them, it would be you.

You are a true evangelist of your love and craft, and a credit to B&B

 

[Timeclo]

I bought the same SR kit to test out if I can get a reasonable shave off of it. After following the instructions put out by OP, I was not able to get a good result.

What I did was Apply the CeOx paste to the strop, spread it with the spine of the razor, and strop it for 800 laps, strop it for 100 laps on cotton/leather and shave with it.

The feel of the edge was decent, similar to a 10k synthetic. However, the bevel was not set and after the 1st pass, I still had half the growth remaining. It's cutting arm hair but not cutting well through the coarser facial hair.

Granted, this was my first experience with a pasted strop and I'm towards my 1 year of honing/SR journey. I'm thinking of experimenting with the pasted strop for maintenance purposes but I'm leaning towards setting the bevel with stones first.

 

[rbscebu]

@Timeclo, did you ink the bevel and first strop until there was no ink left at the edge? Like most factory produced edges, the Titan T.H.60 normally comes with multifaceted bevels. These multifacets first need to be "rounded" out before the edge can even touch the pasted strop.

It isn't just a matter of counting laps. You don't stop until the job is done. Between each shave, keep on giving the blade a few hundred laps on the pasted balsa and see if there is any improvement. I am very interested in your results.

I did not strop mine on linen and leather after the pasted stropping. Not sure if that changes the result, although I think it wouldn't. I just stuck with the gear supplied with the SR.

 

[Timeclo]

@Timeclo, did you ink the bevel and first strop until there was no ink left at the edge? Like most factory produced edges, the Titan T.H.60 normally comes with multifaceted bevels. These multifacets first need to be "rounded" out before the edge can even touch the pasted strop.

It isn't just a matter of counting laps. You don't stop until the job is done. Between each shave, keep on giving the blade a few hundred laps on the pasted balsa and see if there is any improvement. I am very interested in your results.

I did not strop mine on linen and leather after the pasted stropping. Not sure if that changes the result, although I think it wouldn't. I just stuck with the gear supplied with the SR.

I did not ink the bevel so I did not follow the instructions all the way. But after 800 laps on pasted strop, I'd think it'd be close to a shaving edge. I'll try inking it later and see how quickly it erases the line. It may need more time on the pasted strop.

 

[rbscebu]

I did not ink the bevel so I did not follow the instructions all the way. But after 800 laps on pasted strop, I'd think it'd be close to a shaving edge. I'll try inking it later and see how quickly it erases the line. It may need more time on the pasted strop.

These SRs are honed by hand so the bevel arrangement on each blade may be different. Lap counts do not work. That is why a beginner needs to ink the bevel so that they know they are reaching the actual edge.

Once the edge has been well and truly reach, then you do another about 200 to 300 laps, gradually reducing the pressure to about twice the blade's weight, help refine that edge. You repeat this 200 to 300 lap refinement before each shave until there is no noticeable improvement in the edge's quality. From then on, it just takes the normal 50 to 60 laps on the pasted strop to keep the edge in good condition.

I expect that eventually the blade will need a whetstone/films refresh. When this is required will need to be judged by the shaver and will depend a lot on their shaving and stropping technique. At present I am guessing that this refreshing would not be needed until about 50 or a lot (100s?) more three-pass shaved.

 

[rbscebu]

By the end of this week, this Titan kit SR would have been used for 15 three-pass shaves. I will then return to my normal rotation for another week before heading overseas on business for about 3 weeks.

For the trip away, I will take this kit SR and pasted denim strop as my sole means of shaving to see how it goes.

 

[Mitzie]

By the end of this week, this Titan kit SR would have been used for 15 three-pass shaves. I will then return to my normal rotation for another week before heading overseas on business for about 3 weeks.

For the trip away, I will take this kit SR and pasted denim strop as my sole means of shaving to see how it goes.

How would you describe the smoothness of these denim pasted edges compared with your usual balsa stropping?