cut throat

[EdS]

not bushcraft related but I thought I'd pick the colective brain.

I've been weighing up the pros and cons of a straight razor - I figure that it is cheap in the long run and more eco friendly that disposables / replaceable heads.

So what should I look for in a blade, strop etc - fortunately the is a decent shop in Leeds (Peter maturi)

 

[mark a.]

The "official" line":

Decent Dovo or Thiers Issard - probably 5/8 full hollow
Strop with Reindeer leather on one side, canvas on the other
Decent waterstone (e.g. 4000/8000 grit)
Silvertip Badger brush
Proper shaving soap / cream e.g. Trumpers

All that will probably cost in the region of £100 or more. Of course if you're clever, you can go second hand or get alternatives that do a good enough job, for much cheaper.

Since I haven't needed to buy as many Gillette cartridges since getting the straight razor I've probably saved a fair bit of money, but not enough yet to cover the cost of the straight. Rough calculation: Pack of 4 razors = £4 approx. Replace every month or so - so let's say that's £50 a year as a ballpark figure. So if you did get the £100 kit, you'll be quids in after 2 years.

 

[OldJimbo]

It's quite something to jump into and you'll want to read the other threads. I'd figure that really good kit will go considerably more than a hundred pounds, and unfortunately you have to be experienced and knowledgeable to do well on ebay.
The best way into things is to start with a good badger hair brush and shaving soap. Those will save you money on cartridges as you'll get more shaves/cartridge. If you find yourself able to spend the extra few minutes wetting face and lathering then you are on the way to straight razor shaving. If prep proves to be too much trouble, then at least it won't involve bloodletting as lack of prep would with a straight razor.
Step two would be to get a Gillette adjustable on ebay - I got one for $15 Can. You better be able to shave with one of those without cutting yourself before proceeding - but with a couple of minutes hand stropping blade on newspaper so that it will slice tissue - that's the level of shave to expect from a straight razor. Double edge blades tend to be not so cheap in stores - but they can be on ebay.
Before the big jump, I'd suggest waiting for a good Durham Duplex with at least two blades and the stropping device included - about five to ten pounds. If you can strop and use that, then you are ready for a straight razor if you want.

 

[Eric_Methven]

Check out hairdressing and barber supplies. You can get plastic disposable straight razors that can be honed and stropped again and again. My local barber uses them and he gave me one that had lost its edge a couple of years ago. I honed it on 1200 grit wet and dry then stropped it on leather with a bit of jewler's rouge and it's still good two years down the line.

Eric

 

[OldJimbo]

Now there's a great suggestion!

You have to know whether you can work with guardless blades, and whether you will take time to properly prep before laying out the real loot.
Best to know that before seeing incredible razors and accessories and getting the sales talk....

 

[shadow57]

Hello....I bought a new straight edge from ebay for £12...but I think I wasted my money (I cannot get it sharp enough to cut tissue cleanly).

The idea of buying a disposable and re-sharpening it sounds great. and that's what I will do (probably find out its my sharpening techniue that is rubbish)

 

[OldJimbo]

Will any part of the blade slice tissue?

 

[shadow57]

No...the blade just sort of tears the tissue ....it cut newspaper clean.

I even purchased a waterstone to try sharpening it up...then stropping it

One point I should mention is that the strop has lots of little cuts. I don't know if that will be affecting the sharpening process.

I am going to have another go tomorrow at sharpening the razor.

Thanks John

 

[OldJimbo]

I'd figure the edge is uneven or most likely has microscopic sections of a wire edge left. Strop with almost no pressure on newspaper, and then it just might slice tissue. Use diagonal stropping strokes.
That's about the situation I had when I read the sharpening and edges article I referenced in the other thread. I used some green buffing compound on cardboard first, then did the stropping on newspaper. Now I feel silly for not doing that a couple of decades ago!

 

[underground]

I'm considering a straight razor too- it was a while ago I decided to give up on evil supermarket shopping, and went to the local chemists for a pack of mach 3 blades and nearly fell through the floor at the cost!

I initially bought a plastic and aluminium Wlkinson Sword two sided safety razor (the type that takes a flat two sided blade) and found it fine, for £3 with a pack of blades. Having looked at the internet for advice I got this one into my head Merkur Futur and eventually bought it once I'd saved up (money AND brownie points with the wife)

I definitely get a better shave, the horrid ingrowing hairs are gone. It takes a while, I use a badger brush, bought on eBay for less than a tenner, and sandalwood shaving soap (first one from an ebay shop, very good for a couple of quid)- now from Crabtree&Evelyn, even better as a present! I have to look in the mirror and shave deliberately, and thoroughly. It's nice- I normally sit in the bath after a day on the tools and take a few minutes just to shave, it's like a little pampering session. Blade wise, I paid £2.50 for 10 when I bought the razor, back in June, and i'm half way down it now.

So I reckon it's worth it- I know a lot of folks don't even fancy that style of blade (my brother in law won't go near it) but it may be a nice bridge to a straight razor. I'm looking out for one now.....

 

[EdS]

I've got an old barbers plastic handled straight razor that i used a few times - forgot about getting it rehoned.

It would be a start anyway

 

[OldJimbo]

The Merkur should be tough to beat - they've been into producing the best longer than any of us have been alive!

I'm waiting on getting some regular double edged blade strops that I got off ebay to see just what can be done with double edged blades. Strange to be so curious since I can shave well with a straight razor, but as I said, I'm curious. Most double edge blades are now made with a tiny steep secondary bevel that a person can just see with a lens. Stropping on paper by holding the blade at 45 degrees will bring back the tissue cutting sharpness. We'll see which of the stroppers beats that - if any. Otherwise I'll own some vintage contraptions....

 

[pierre girard]

This thread got me wondering about my straight razor - an inheritance from one of my grandfathers. While It had been used to good purpose quite often in the past, it has been neglected for several years, laying on the top shelf in the medicine cabinet - probably not the best storage site for such a tool.

The handle says "Solingen," but there are some rust spots on the face of the blade, and the edge is not near what I remember. It won't even cut the hair on my arm very well, making it somewhat duller than most of my hunting knives. Time to get out the stone and strop. Thank you all for the timely reminder.

There was a moment of light dawning, while reading the thread. Some one said the blade should cut tissue. I thought that a rather gruesom test, as the point of shaving is to cut the beard, not into the tissue - and how hard is it to cut yourself anyway? The sun eventually came out from behind the clouds. I guess we most often refer to "tissue" by the brand name "Kleenex."

PG

 

[Seagull]

The sun came out from behind the clouds!
A belter, P.G. a right belter.

Ceeg

 

[shadow57]

What sort of tissue are we referring too???
Toilet roll, kitchen roll or kleenex type stuff.
I am struggling to get it sharp enough for cutting toilet/bog roll....am I wasting my time

 

[OldJimbo]

Well if one of my grand-kids let my razor rust, I know what sort of tissue I'd hope to see cut! Then again being old maybe I'm just not sharp enough at explaining...

 

[OldJimbo]

Shadow - try stropping very lightly on newspaper, and you might see a big difference.

 

[Minotaur]

Rough calculation: Pack of 4 razors = £4 approx. Replace every month or so - so let's say that's £50 a year as a ballpark figure. So if you did get the £100 kit, you'll be quids in after 2 years.

I pay about ten quid for 4 blades for one of the modern razors and they last about 3 to 4 shaves.

FHM once did an article on this and there was a course you could go on to learn how to shave with a cut throat.

I hate shaving and wonder why in this modern day and age, women have stacks of choices for hair removal and men still use a blade. I would pay to never have to shave again, but would the razor companies want me to?

 

[sam_acw]

can someone tell me, in a pretty idiot proof way, how to look after safety razor blades -

These things.
I can't see how to hold the blade in a way to get the edge on something at a fine angle let alone what the best thing to put it on would be.
So far the blades are ok when new but aren't as sharp as new very quickly.
Thanks peeps.

 

[OldJimbo]

If you are talking about keeping razor blades sharp, then you'll have to be patient until I get all vintage stroppers sorted out and see what works.
I have doubts about any working because modern blades have the bevel you can see - AND a tiny microbevel which takes a lens to see and is sharpened at about 45 degrees. We'll see if old stroppers can deal with the mocro-bevel...