Still trying to get a serviceable razor

[willye]

I’ve gotten two good razors, each honed by the vendors. The vendors came recommended on this forum and I don’t doubt their abilities.

However, neither razor will pass the treetops test and my shaves are not spectacular.

so does this sound familiar? Am I likely mishandling or does my stropping leave something to be desired? I’m a newbie who’s floundering a little bit.

any words of wisdom?

 

[LJS]

Did they “treetop” before stropping? Could be stropping but hard to say. Treetopping, while works for me, may not work for all due to different hair etc.

 

[Chan Eil Whiskers]

Most of the shave ready razors I've purchase from recommended vendors weren't as sharp as my self-honed fairly early and not great edges. That's mostly, I think, because of the time it takes to get a great edge and the skill and experience required.

That said, I know Slash @Slash McCoy has recommended a couple of vendors. I've not tried them.

There are some very fast and very good honers out there, but they're skilled amateurs. Either that, or they are well known pros (doc226). Most guys selling razors on eBay are neither. Yes, you can sometimes shave with their edges, but not so very well in my experience.

I'll send you a PM, too.

Happy shaves,

Jim

 

[hydro-magic]

Your shaves are pretty unlikely to be spectacular in the beginning. If the razors are shaving, I'd say continue with them for a while. They're probably ok. The treetop test doesn't work for everyone. If it removes the whiskers on your cheek during the first downstroke, it's sharp enough to learn with. You might prefer sharper than that, but you'll probably have to learn to hone yourself to get the edge that's just right for you.

 

[Steve56]

I’m happy to lay an edge on you when you need it.

 

[Chan Eil Whiskers]

One of my better stropping posts (not saying it's good).

More of my stropping posts (some being better than others).

In my view of it stropping is super important and not hard once you get the basics. Take it slow. Too many stropping videos are guys showing off or setting land speed records. Stropping does not have to be perfect, but it does have to be right.

Hope that helps a bit,

Jim

 

[Chan Eil Whiskers]

My very sharpest razors will give me an ATG (more or less) one pass shave (more or less) that's better than my next tier razors deliver after two or three passes.

That said, technique is very important. I'm still a newbie at straight razor shaving. I've shaved with a straight only about 400 times and I'm still learning. It's a slow process and I'm a slow learner of it and I have very wiry whiskers.

I’m happy to lay an edge on you when you need it.

I should have taken one of the gentlemen who offered up on their offer of a sharp razor way back. Sharp is everything in straights.

Well, that's wrong...sharp & smooth.

Happy shaves,

Jim

 

[cugel]

Depends on the vendor I guess. From fleabay I have received some stellar stellar edges. Better than pros. Same with buying here off BST. Even a blade taken to 8k on a naniwa should give a solid shave. My opinion is that there are probably two issues. One is just lack of experience with a straight. Even these tests take practice. Same with stropping. My first razor was purchased from Lynn Abrams who knows how to hone. Razor wouldnt pass any tests: clearly the problem was me!

The other could problem may well be that you have less than ideal edges. Send them out to be honed to eliminate the second issue. There are plenty of good honers out there. Always remember that guys have been shaving this way for centuries. There is nothing that practice wont fix.

 

[Slash McCoy]

I can send you this, in a couple of days. Really busy right now at the moment. This is one of my modified Gold Dollars that found a place in my permanent collection but it got a bit of rust started due to neglect and I don't feel like messing with it. If you want to make it purty, easily done. This is one of several I did with a secret phosphate coating that was SUPPOSED to prevent rust but didn't do so good as you can see. You can still shave perfectly well with it as is, or you can pretty it up with some 000 steel wool and a good polish, whatever blows your skirt up. All I ask is that if you get tired of it, send it back so I can pass it along to someone else. And a little bit of a glowing, ego-brushing review would not be too out of place if you are pleased with it.

This razor WILL treetop, or else you have some sort of kevlar forearm hair. And it will definitely shave, if you are doing your part. It has given me I am sure dozens and dozens of fine shaves. Let me know, and I will give the edge a quick retouch and dip it in the Barbicide, and get it ready for you. PM me your address, name, number, etc so I can ship.

 

[Jtb005]

Could someone explain treetop to me? I always used the hht. I am just now getting back to wet shaving. I already have a couple of straights and likely to order another very soon. Sharpening one tonight on my old naniwa setup. Hopefully it turns out well! Also ordering a safety razor for the first time soon still deciding what to grab! Hope it gets figured out.


May your blades stay sharp and your mind sharper!

 

[Steve56]

Treetopping is passing the razor above your skin, usually arm, to see if it will cut hair away from the skin. You’re basically shaving your arm 1/8” or so away from the skin.

 

[Slash McCoy]

It's just another sharpness test. Maybe slightly less subjective than HHT. YMMV. Very convenient. Simply sweep the razor above your forearm, about 1/4" above the skin. If it is insanely sharp, it will sever the tops of just about every hair it encounters, and do so absolutely dead silent, and not disturb the hair base even the tiniest bit. This is a rare edge and many shavers will go their whole lives without ever witnessing this level of cutting power. Or it could treetop easily, severing nearly all hairs it touches, but deliver some tactile feedback, maybe also a faint "tink" sound as it severs a hair. This is extreme, still. Better than nearly all professionally honed edges. Or maybe it just does treetop at 1/4", getting a couple of hairs every pass. Still very good, good shaving ability. Equivelant to a mid to high end pro edge. Maybe it doesn't treetop at 1/4" or barely does, but it treetops nicely at 1/8" above the skin. Not bad. It will shave. Just nothing to write home about. Seen this, done that. Shave ready in anybody's book, just nothing special. Or if it doesn't treetop at all, at 1/8", then maybe it will shave, but not very well. To me, trying to shave with such an edge is just not worth the time. Not shave ready.

Results will vary slightly from one shaver to another, depending on sweep speed, angle, hair texture, wind speed and barometric pressure, zodiac sign, political leanings, or whether you tie your shoes right over left or left over right. The thing is, when you have mentally calibrated your shave results with the test results, you have personal repeatable accuracy that will pretty much tell you where the edge is at, and how much it has degraded from a former benchmark, or how much a stage of honing has improved it. It is convenient, because barring any disfiguring accident or act of war, your forearm is right there. It is a good idea to always test a razor when you get it, when it is returned after honing, or before or after you hone it. It is a good way to compare one razor to another, assuming the same person performed both tests. Some guys prefer HHT. Do it like you feel it.

 

[Sdm84]

It will take some time for you to develop proper stropping technique. While you are learning it might be beneficial to use a paddle strop and very slow, careful strokes. A hanging strop takes some time to master.

Your shaving technique also matters A LOT. An insanely sharp razor in the hands of a novice will still yield unsatisfactory shaves. Please resist the urge to tinker with the edge until you can get consistent great shaves.

Another thought is to use a shavette to dial in your technique. A Sextoblade is as close as you can get to a straight and if you can shave with that you can shave with a straight. IMO a sextoblade is more unforgiving than a properly honed straight.

PM me and I will re-hone your straight if you like for just the cost of shipping. I saw slash offered one of his blades you should take him up on it


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[RayClem]

The type of edge you need on a straight razor depends upon the coarseness/toughness of your beard and the sensitivity of your face. Some folks can readily shave off of a Norton 8K stone followed by stropping on leather. I find that not only do I like my edges a lot sharper than 8K to deal with my coarse beard, but I also like them very smooth to protect my sensitive face.

Slash McCoy promotes the use of ultra-fine diamond pastes or sprays on balsa to achieve very sharp, very smooth edges. I do something similar using ultra-fine cubic boron nitride pastes and sprays on microfiber strops. Thus, if you have difficulty achieving a shave ready edge for your own beard, you might consider one of these alternatives.

BTW- the hair on my arms is nearly 1" long. I find that I need to get an edge that will slice through the hair about 1/2" above skin level in order to be sharp enough for my beard. To do that, I polish the edge with 0.5, 0.25 and 0.1 micron CBN. I had been stopping at 0.25 micron CBN previously and was skeptical that the finer 0.1 micron CBN would make a significant difference, but my beard and skin appreciated the higher level of polish. However, if you beard is not as tough as mine and your skin is not as sensitive as mine, you might not need to go quite that far. A lot of folks are quite happy with CrOX, diamond or CBN at the 0.5 micron level. It just depends on your beard and skin.