I guess that is what you call "razor burn".
The Minimalists Requirements For Traditional SR Shaving
- Thread starter rbscebu
- Start date
I guess that is what you call "razor burn".
Starting out with the cheapest possible setup is risky particularly with a beginner. If your razor is not shave ready, 0.1u balsa will do nothing to get it there. Using a single natural stone and a newspaper strop takes a lot of skill that a beginner is not likely to have. With a dull razor and an uneven stone a beginner has little chance of success.
Instead of talking about the cheapest or most minimal setup we should really be recommending the best basic setup which maximizes the chance of success and flattens the learning curve.
Here is my suggestion.
1. A good quality shave ready shave. Either a new model from Ralf Aust / Maggards or a second hand one from a trusted and experienced straight razor shaver.
2. A good quality canvas and leather strop. Tony Miller has lots of options from basic to high end. I started with a linen and horse hide Old No. 2 and never had a problem.
3. A means to sharpen the blade. Shave Ready can mean a lot of things. A manufacturers idea of shave ready will be different than an experienced straight razor shaver. A lapping film set and acrylic block are ideal and cost effective. If you have access to a set of stones and a stone leveler that is good too. This allows you to take any blade up the full progression if required.
4. A means to refresh the blade and get it extra sharp. Balsa strops and diamond paste are ideal. A pasted strop would probably work too but requires more skill.
Cheapest is not always the best way to start. Most of the time cheapest is not even the most cost effective in the long term. It’s better to stick with what works.
Instead of talking about the cheapest or most minimal setup we should really be recommending the best basic setup which maximizes the chance of success and flattens the learning curve.
Here is my suggestion.
1. A good quality shave ready shave. Either a new model from Ralf Aust / Maggards or a second hand one from a trusted and experienced straight razor shaver.
2. A good quality canvas and leather strop. Tony Miller has lots of options from basic to high end. I started with a linen and horse hide Old No. 2 and never had a problem.
3. A means to sharpen the blade. Shave Ready can mean a lot of things. A manufacturers idea of shave ready will be different than an experienced straight razor shaver. A lapping film set and acrylic block are ideal and cost effective. If you have access to a set of stones and a stone leveler that is good too. This allows you to take any blade up the full progression if required.
4. A means to refresh the blade and get it extra sharp. Balsa strops and diamond paste are ideal. A pasted strop would probably work too but requires more skill.
Cheapest is not always the best way to start. Most of the time cheapest is not even the most cost effective in the long term. It’s better to stick with what works.
1. Decent, basic straight. Last one I sold was a shave ready Wapienica in pristine condition. Went for $85. Other similar blades are always available.
2. Tony Miller Plain Vanilla (or Chocolate) strop. Fabric back is really unnecessary.$50....maybe around $30 if Tony is still selling them without the cloth)
3. Norton 4k/8k stone. Prices vary-can be had for around $100-$110.
So...a quality setup that may probably last a decade or more...<$250.00
I'd say that's pretty minimalist.
2. Tony Miller Plain Vanilla (or Chocolate) strop. Fabric back is really unnecessary.$50....maybe around $30 if Tony is still selling them without the cloth)
3. Norton 4k/8k stone. Prices vary-can be had for around $100-$110.
So...a quality setup that may probably last a decade or more...<$250.00
I'd say that's pretty minimalist.
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I don't understand why would anyone who wants to try a SR shave be spending money on hones, films, pastes?
Buy a vintage, send it to a pro, get it honed. Buy a strop and start shaving. Getting your razor honed isn't expensive.
So yeah, 1 razor and 1 strop. You were already shaving so I presume you have a soap and an aftershave.
Buy a vintage, send it to a pro, get it honed. Buy a strop and start shaving. Getting your razor honed isn't expensive.
So yeah, 1 razor and 1 strop. You were already shaving so I presume you have a soap and an aftershave.
Go for acrylic. Tap Plastic web site. Cut to size and not expensive. Can’t beat it
Very close to my start up. It worked.
When I started SR shaving I purchased one Dovo 6/8" Classic and one board strop. And that is all you really need to get started. Now, if you want to hone your razor then a simple 1k, 3k, 8k 12k Naniwa set of stones is all you need. And that worked well for me...then I fell into a deep, deep rabbit hole. 
- Thread starter
- #48
rbscebu
Girls call me Makaluod
Tomo, your premiss is that a truly shave-ready razor is not obtained. My recommendations rely upon one being obtained.
For my original recommendation, a truly shave-ready razor would need to be finished off on pasted balsa strops to 0.1u. These are reasonably readily available with say a Gold Dollar 66 for about $25.
Of course, if a truly shave-ready razor is not obtained or obtainable, you are entirely on the mark with you recommendation.
2 or 3 times over the last few years I think I would like to try SR shaving. I then start reading about it get overwhelmed and stop thinking about until I see something on BST or a video and the process starts again.
Like most I’m sure, it’s the whole razor maintenance I just can’t get past.
Like most I’m sure, it’s the whole razor maintenance I just can’t get past.
You are right of course in theory. In practice my own experience has made me suspicious about anything that claims to be shave ready out of the package.
I started with a ‘shave ready’ Ralf Aust. The razor arrived at my door pretty sharp. It lopped the odd arm hair and cut most hanging hairs no problem. It wasn’t dull my any stretch. I used it right out of the box and it was sort of ok.
The difference once I took it through the lapping films and balsa progressions was night and day. It became extremely sharp and smooth. No tugging, no hard starts just sharp. It takes a bit of work to get it there and if your pumping out razors all day I doubt you are going to put in the last 80% of the effort it takes to get the last 20% out of the blade. This last bit makes all the difference to the shaving experience.
Even if you have a shave ready razor to start with, things can go wrong. The first few times I honed, I actually made the blade duller by lifting the spine before the edge on the last stroke. Because I had the full set of films on hand, it was no big deal. I just had to do a bit more work on courser grits to correct the mistake. With only balsa and diamond paste I would have hit a dead end early on.
My strong advise to anyone starting would be to get all the tools you are likely to need before you get started. Otherwise you are almost certain to run into issues and loose interest. I wouldn’t spend a lot of money on the courser grit stones. That’s a waste because once you get going you probably won’t ever need them again. That’s where the films are so good. They cost next to nothing and you have a full progression on hand if you need it.
I kinda peeked around the site. didnt see anything that specifically said for lapping or polishing surfaces. already found out that the 3M 14k is a good film.
camo
its okay wolverines, I felt the same until a couple weeks ago. dont worry, it's not quite as bad as it seems.........just all depends how neurotic you wish to become (to all others and myself included....no offense.)
camo
- Thread starter
- #53
rbscebu
Girls call me Makaluod
When starting out in SR shaving, as suggested in B&B, I looked for a shave-ready vintage. Very few were available, didn't ship to the Philippines, and cost $50 to $100 or more. Well beyond my then anticipated budget.
I settled on a Titan ACRM-2 with natural finishing stone of about 8k, dual leather and denim hanging strop and paste. The seller never claimed "shave-ready", just very sharp and it was. That set me up for about $70 including shipping.
Luckily the blade's bevel was reasonably well set. After a LOT of work on the stone and pasted denim, I got that SR shaveable.
I then discovered the "Method" of sharpening a SR. That took me into the whole new world of what SR shaving is all about. I put together my lapping films, acrylic sudstrate and three balsa strops. From there I was in free-fall to where I am now developing M7DSAD.
If only I had never looked at B&B, I would be still just like most (ab)normal people. It's all Slash McCoy's fault.
I settled on a Titan ACRM-2 with natural finishing stone of about 8k, dual leather and denim hanging strop and paste. The seller never claimed "shave-ready", just very sharp and it was. That set me up for about $70 including shipping.
Luckily the blade's bevel was reasonably well set. After a LOT of work on the stone and pasted denim, I got that SR shaveable.
I then discovered the "Method" of sharpening a SR. That took me into the whole new world of what SR shaving is all about. I put together my lapping films, acrylic sudstrate and three balsa strops. From there I was in free-fall to where I am now developing M7DSAD.
If only I had never looked at B&B, I would be still just like most (ab)normal people. It's all Slash McCoy's fault.
Sorry, the acrylic is to lay the film on rather than glass or tile.
roger that.....will evaluate. also thought about getting a small flat piece from a local headstone company. for some reason my small city has a couple of businesses.
camo
You can avoid the maintenance by using a shavette.
Steve56
Ask me about shaving naked!
Post #8 by @David here looks pretyy minimalist to me, and would still work fine.
www.badgerandblade.com
forefathers
serious question so please give some honest answers..... if been contemplating straights.......the holdback has been all the stuff required hone and get an edge. in the 1700's and 1800's.......all this modern stuff was not available. so my question is this: How'd they pull it off for an...
www.badgerandblade.com
the acrylic is lighter, easier to hand hold, and is dead flat. A 3x12” is prefect. They also work very well as a balsa substrate if you go that route.
on your green film, once you’re done, and want to smooth the feel of the edge, throw some wet printer paper under the film for 10 or so laps with light pressure. The paper will cushion the film, and slightly convex the edge. It imparts a softer, smoother face feel.
I used do that and stop there, because anything finer than that always felt too sharp, too harsh for me. I wouldn’t do a balsa progression that didn’t go to .1. the .1 really tames a .5/.3 (white film)/.25 edge.
and I’ve preferred CBN/diamond to CrOx/FeOx as a smoother feeling medium.
Lots of fun replies above. My take- one ready razor, a decent strop, and an useable barber's or other hand-held finishing hone- about as minimalist as it can get. Do a search for "least cost option strop" in the strop forum and you will get the way to make a good very low-cost strop. I'm still using daily a ten-year old homemade latigo strop. Cost me about $20 with hardware, if I recall. With that, if you get your razor and barber's hone from the BST, and make a strop IMHO you are set indefinitely for less than $100, maybe as low as ~$70.
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