Shouldn't STR8 shaving (including stopping and honing) be as simple as it could get?

[dobka]

Hi, I was just wondering - the idea of str8 shaving and the genius of it is the simplicity - no cartriges, no shaving gels, no shaving foams - just a razor, a strop and a hone.
I mean ARE you sure, people, that your grandparents and their grand parents and so on used to hone their razors with : firstly 1000 grit hone, then 4000 grit, then 8000 , then 10000 grit stone, natural Japaneese stones, natural Belgian stones and blah blah. To me it's just a big hoax. It is not that simple and it is very expensive when you put it that way.

Here is a brief description why I came to this conclusion:

I have been shaving with a Merkur futur DE for about 8 months now. Even though I do get baby but shaves with it, I am not completely satisfied with them (I have to do 2 XTG and 2 ATG for a BBS. I use Personna blades. I get quite big rashes after those BBS's). Therefore I decided to try out STR8.
I got myself a vintage great quality and hardly used razor forged in Solingen. I took it to a professional sharpener and had it sharpened and made shave ready for aprroximately 4 USD in the local currency. He told me he used a 240 grit honing stone (silicium carbide, which costs abouyt 2USD in a hardware store) and then stropped it on a strope with some kind of a russian made polishing paste (called "Goja") No diamond paste, nothing more. AND WHAT DO YOU KNOW - even though I had to spend about 40 minutes to get my first str8 shave (I did 1 WTG, 1 XTG and 1 ATG) my skin after the shave felt extremely smoth. Yes, I did get a rash, but that is surely due to the lack of shaving experience - maybe I pressed too hard, maybe I shaved too long, etc.

I made all the shave ready tests with the thumbnail and the hair, etc, all passed. I swear, my beard was even better cut than with the Merkur futur DE.
So, people, can anyone explain this phenomenon? I mean - it is simple tools that have been used and the razor shaves like hot knife through butter. Maybe we all are victims of this "natural waterstone" hoax? I have bought some more vintage Solingen forged razors (Gotta and Kropp) and I will be practsing this grandpa style honing on them

 

[jtrops]

If the razor you have was really sharpened on a 240 grit stone I find it hard to believe it's ready to shave with. I wonder what is in the stropping paste. I could imagine the edge would look a bit like a saw with micro serations ready to tug and pull at my beard. That being said I think you make a good point about how complicated some of us make honing.

From what I've read it seems like fine waterstones were used, and that the barber hones were for touch ups. It's fair to say that the stones were in the 8-10k range like a coticule. The progressions commonly used now go from a dull blade with a bad bevel, to a keen edge. That being said there are a lot of people who have success with a single coti from start to finish.

Here is a link to a pamphlet on honing from 1884. It's very brief but it describes using a single hone to get a blade to shaving sharp.

 

[dobka]

well, I did buy a a 60x magnifying mircoscope on ebay, when it reaches me I will surely look at the blade. I am also going to hone up one of those razors with that cheap 240 grid stone and a strop with that very same polishing paste and have a look then.

 

[Slartibartfast]

Our grandparents were not buying ebay specials either. They could go to a drug store and buy a replacment if they dinged up the blade.

Use a barber hone for maintenance and go to the barber for anything more. Your grandparents probably used one of the "natural waterstones" if they did hone.

btw, I can get a razor to easily cut hair like a knife thorugh butter off my dmt 600, but would not want to shave with it

 

[dobka]

Could you give me an advice what equipment should I then buy to maintain the razor and that would be cheap? I now only got a sharp razor and a leather strop? What else do I need? A barber hone and that's enough? (btw, what is the difference between a barber hone and a simple honing stone like 1000 grit?) I'm new to all this but I'm not ready to spend hundreds of dollars and get carried away by all this fancy honing thing

 

[dobka]

What would be your opinion about getting some diamond pastes and using them? If you are in favor, what microns should I get?

 

[Slartibartfast]

If you want to keep it simple and cheap.

1) send the razor to a "honemeister" to be honed
2) Buy barber hone and/or a pasted strop
3) Strop every day with clean linen and leather
4) when blade starts to pull do 5-10 strokes on your barber hone/pasted strop


Most barber hones are between 8k-10k if I remember correctly.

Could you give me an advice what equipment should I then buy to maintain the razor and that would be cheap? I now only got a sharp razor and a leather strop? What else do I need? A barber hone and that's enough? (btw, what is the difference between a barber hone and a simple honing stone like 1000 grit?) I'm new to all this but I'm not ready to spend hundreds of dollars and get carried away by all this fancy honing thing

 

[dobka]

Thanks a lot, mate I am going to buy another strop with one linen side and put some diamond paste on my old leather strop.

 

[dancraig]

If the razor you have was really sharpened on a 240 grit stone I find it hard to believe it's ready to shave with. I wonder what is in the stropping paste. I could imagine the edge would look a bit like a saw with micro serations ready to tug and pull at my beard. That being said I think you make a good point about how complicated some of us make honing.

From what I've read it seems like fine waterstones were used, and that the barber hones were for touch ups. It's fair to say that the stones were in the 8-10k range like a coticule. The progressions commonly used now go from a dull blade with a bad bevel, to a keen edge. That being said there are a lot of people who have success with a single coti from start to finish.

Here is a link to a pamphlet on honing from 1884. It's very brief but it describes using a single hone to get a blade to shaving sharp.

Thanks for the great link.

 

[Robert Williams]

At one time people shaved with seashells and copper blades. Today, we have lots of great choices for razors and hones. What it comes down to is this question, "how much do you want to enjoy your shave and how smooth and close do you want it to be".

If you can hone it on a paving brick and get a shave that you find acceptable, then who can tell you that you need more than that? Not everyone is that hardcore, though.

 

[Fairlight]

The history behind straight and DE shaving is nice, and I do like to harken back to the "good old days", but primarily I am out for the best shave I can get.

When I finally get around to trying a straight, that's going to mean a very highly polished edge with as few imperfections as possible. Imperfections irritate your face. Is there such a thing as "good enough"? Yes. Just not for myself personally. I want the sharpest, smoothest edge I can possibly get. If I wanted *SIMPLE* I would have stuck with Edge canned gunk and multi-blade razors you can't cut yourself with (easily).

Of course, as always, YMMV.

 

[huntmol]

I don't have the energy to reply to this thread. I will say one thing, though, that you should always keep in mind when browsing or posting on B&B:

YMMV

 

[professorchaos]

In theory, yes it should be. Yet humans had not evolved (devolved?) sufficiently to be vulnerable to the various ADs which afflict us.

 

[mparker762]

It's as simple as you want to make it. If you want to get by with a barber hone and no strop, you can. If you want to get by with a pasted strop and no barber hone, you can. If you want to get by with a dozen $$$$ japanese naturals and a $$$ japanese cordovan strop you can.

For most of us this is more of a hobby, so we tend to opt for the last option.

 

[Leon]

I mean ARE you sure, people, that your grandparents and their grand parents and so on used to hone their razors with : firstly 1000 grit hone, then 4000 grit, then 8000 , then 10000 grit stone, natural Japaneese stones, natural Belgian stones and blah blah. To me it's just a big hoax. It is not that simple and it is very expensive when you put it that way.

Hi.

Short answer - No.
In the old days, razors would could shave-ready from factory, so everything a gentleman would need was a finishing hone and/or a pasted strop to maintain the edge for many years. I believe once in a while, a razor would be sent to a cuttler in order to refresh or reset the bevel if the edge was more damaged than usual.
My great grandfather was in a tight budget, so he hadn't any expensive hones. He only had some pastes once in a while and his own strop was a regular belt. How's that for "expensive"?