Slow starter sayin Hello from sunny NY

[jimho]

Greetings- i joined a few years back but never posted till this past weekend.

I live in the NY area and have been shaving with a straight razor since some time around mid 2010. Going to "The office" has been my basement since around 2012 so I typically shave only a few times a week depending on how i feel... not daily.

My collection includes 7 straights in my rotation and 2 more on the way. They range from 5/8 to 7/8 and are all full hollow- TI/Ralf Aust/Koraat and a Fili.
I also have several fleabay specials that i purchased to learn how to hone and hopefully restore but have been unsuccesful in that area - i broke a few of em and gave up. I purchased a full set of naniwa superstones a few years back (1K, 3K, 5K, 8K, 12K) to get started doing that but struggled getting any consistency or feel. About the only abrasives i use are chro-ox on bals or i'll spray some 0.5 diamond liquid on one of my cloth strops to do a mid cycle tune up.

I have a few different strops but mostly rely on my ILR in Bridle or my Tony Miller in Latigo - there are things i like about both ....

I'm starting to mess around with different shave brushes - rather than spending a fortune on out of the box high-end brushes i've decided to diy buying handles on etsy and setting my own knots (its not rocket science)- looking forward to doing more of that. My maing goto has been a 22mm that i purchased from Art-of-Shaving I settled on/prefer bowl lathering (or palm in a pinch) and have a collection of soaps and creams & splashes that i rotate through - mostly A&E.


My profession is IT, Im a chronic DIYer and dabble in everything from carpentry to cars..
Looking forward to spending a bit more time here in these forums learning and sharing what i can a few times a week.

 

[cryhavoc]

Welcome back!

 

[nickm]

I recognize the Grateful Dead Dick’s picks and don’t know the cover artwork though would guess ‘72 Europe tour.

For straights I’m looking at new stones, and the Naniwa I heard is a great place to set a new bevel at the 1K. I’ve done some shave arm hair tests at 4K though not enough to shave with. What do you use for lapping?

Razorock 506 chubby is an excellent brush should you look for stock and impressed me out of the 13 brushes.

 

[dmshaver]

Glad you’ve joined, welcome!

 

[jimho]

Good catch- stole that off Europe '72....

I have a DMT 1K that i use for lapping...

The geometry was way out on my razors after my last attempt - probably was my fault as i was experimenting with different strokes- I was also told that there were alot of scratches on the edges of my blades, so one of the things i have been worried about is if my DMT is shedding some of its grit onto my finer stones... anyway the guy i send them out to had to do alot of correction before he could hone my blades properly and now all he has to do is tune ups.

As much as i'd like to master it, I've gotten to the point where i think its better to have someone who hones every day and has the muscle memory & touch along with the right stones and the experience for each of my razors ... I know there's really nothing magic about honing and perhaps one day i'll have the time to invest to figure out what i was doing wrong but, finishing the edge properly is yet another level beyond just getting an edge.

Net: There's alot of room between a decent edge and a great edge....similarly, there's alot of distance between a good shave and a great shave. AND One thing i know for sure- you can get a good shave with a decent edge but you won't get a great shave without a great edge , proper prep, AND a great lather......

 

[nickm]

Contact Jarod of thesuperiorshave and let him know you would like the 6.5 grind and milder for the rest. He generated FAST results for me. Price is reasonable. He sets the bevel and all you need to do is maintain.

 

[nickm]

Btree had a lot of soundboards. I switched over to Apple and now it’s all dicks picks albums. Worth making a list of what you need and start with a trading friend to build up a collection. It’s a lot of work to maintain 3,000 recordings and some of the CD’s are no longer in great condition. I had a lot of shows from reconstruction warlocks and acid tape reels then all of the 70’s. For me 72-75’ were the best years and 77-78’. There’s a very desirable closing of winterland worth finding. Better to get a few TB external drives and try getting your soundboards that way. DM me if you need some shows.

 

[jimho]

Contact Jarod of thesuperiorshave and let him know you would like the 6.5 grind and milder for the rest. He generated FAST results for me. Price is reasonable. He sets the bevel and all you need to do is maintain.

thx Nick... sorry if there's some confusion, i have someone i work with (you probably know who he is) and i like to have him refresh my edges once a year - he was recommended by Ulrik @ Korraat a few years back when my Koraat developed a chip shortly after comming back from another well known guy (i'm deliberately not going to put names out there today) ...
I'll just say the guy i'm working with now does an amazing job, and gets my razors back to me within a week and i'm supper happy with the arrangement. If i'm going to do anything more than stropping over balsa, beleive me i will spend the time on the honing forum, find myself a reasonable blade that i'm not too worried about wrecking, and invest the time to learn how do all of this myself.

On another note, I am looking at that Razorock- thank you for the recommendation- will keep it in mind if i decide i want to go that route. I still have a few handles i'm holding off on filling till i break in two that i added in over the holidays.

 

[Eric_75]

Hello and welcome!

 

[Hms123]

Welcome aboard.

 

[Lightcs1776]

Well, last Saturday was sunny here in NY, but pretty cloudy since then. Grin.

Welcome! Glad you are here.

 

[BigJ]

Welcome aboard!