Straight Razor Shaving/Sharpening.

Hi All,

Are there any straight razor shavers on this forum?

I've been shaving with a DE for five years and am thinking about upgrading.

In particular, I'm interesting in learning to hone a razor using lapping film (before spending money on high grit finishers).

Anyone have thoughts on film and on how well it works?

Cheers!

While I have never honed a razor I did find some links you may not have seen.

http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showthread.php/283576-Lapping-film-try-it

http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showthread.php/283576-Lapping-film-try-it

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dsp2u7L_WuY

Sorry I don't know how to embed. Good luck on your journey. I' sure someone will be around here soon enough with more helpful advice.

I have honed mostly Kamisori razors as well as a few westerns. Some people swear by lapping film however I don't find it that useful. Its slow and very difficult to achieve the edge you can get off of even a synthetic hone but it is definitely cheaper. I suggest buying those really thin Naniwa Super stones, a 5k and a 10k would hopefully be all you need and they are quite cheap. Then you can get a fine natural razor stone later if you find you like it and want to get even smoother edges, but this is all just my opinion

That thread (plus Slash's youtube series) are what got me interested in straight razor shaving/honing.

I wasn't ready to spend on high grit finishing stones and film seemed to make it affordable...

PushCut said:

While I have never honed a razor I did find some links you may not have seen.

http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showthread.php/283576-Lapping-film-try-it

http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showthread.php/283576-Lapping-film-try-it

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dsp2u7L_WuY

Sorry I don't know how to embed. Good luck on your journey. I' sure someone will be around here soon enough with more helpful advice.

Click to expand...

I hope you don't mind me asking, but what was the difficult aspect of achieving a good edge with the lapping film? Was it the speed? The poor finish?

My current waterstone line-up is a bester 1.2k, arashiyama 6k, and atoma 400 grit (for waterstone flattening/blade thinning).

What do I need to add to my line-up to get a razor shave-ready?

I've heard that the bester stones are not recommended for bevel-setting due to grit inclusions that may damage the razor's edge.

jklip13 said:

I have honed mostly Kamisori razors as well as a few westerns. Some people swear by lapping film however I don't find it that useful. Its slow and very difficult to achieve the edge you can get off of even a synthetic hone but it is definitely cheaper. I suggest buying those really thin Naniwa Super stones, a 5k and a 10k would hopefully be all you need and they are quite cheap. Then you can get a fine natural razor stone later if you find you like it and want to get even smoother edges, but this is all just my opinion

Click to expand...

Get a 12k Naniwa Superstone to follow the Arashimaya. Pick up a piece of balsa from a craft shop to make a bench strop. Load the balsa with chromium oxide and use it after the Naniwa. Finish with a plain leather strop.

Where did you hear that misinformation about "grit inclusions"? It's about as accurate as the recommendation to let the razor edge "rest" for a day before using it.

I've considered a straight razor if only so I wouldn't have to keep ordering DE blades...then I remember polishing stones, strops, and razors in good enough shape for me to be able to maintain them are...a bit more to say the least

Hi Scrap,

I took the plunge into straight shaving!

Just today, I picked a vintage NOS Solingen straight razor, a Whipped Dog poor man's strop kit, and $13 worth of lapping film.

You can get the same setup for about $75.

If you wish to learn more about honing with lapping film see here:

http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showthread.php/283576-Lapping-film-try-it

--and here--

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dsp2u7L_WuY (this is a 3 part series)

Good luck!

I'll update this post when I get the razor, hone it, strop it, and shave with it.

:knife:

Film works fine. I thought my edges on alumina and diamond film were bad for a while, but it turned out that's just straight razors for me after trying some professional edges from Coticule, 12k Naniwa, Japanese naturals (Shobu, Wakasa, Nakayama, Ozuku), Zulu Grey, Shapton 30k, and others. I do not find any such edges "pleasant" compared to disposable blades from Kai and Feather. Everyone who tried to convince me otherwise failed, and subsequently blamed me for it.

The wet-paper trick seems to work pretty well, though I only liked results with 1-2 sheets of 70gsm. If you like the kind of edges regular straights produce, then film should be fine, as long as you're careful.

I know this thread is nearly 4 months old, but I thought I'd update it in case someone finds this useful.

I ended up getting a vintage Solingen straight off of eBay, a whipped dog strop kit, and a set of lapping film (30u, 12u, 5u, 3u, 1u, and 0.3u).

Learning to hone, even with something as "foolproof" as film, takes time. The key, at least for me, was to use soap on each film and a circular honing motion.

I had a hard time developing the mechanical skills necessary to keep the entire spine on the hone without applying excess pressure...

I use plain film up to 1u. For the finish, I use 0.3u film with a single layer of fully whetted copy paper underneath. For touch ups, I got back to the 0.3u film with paper underneath.

The shave is simply phenomenal with the razor lopping whiskers from one's face with no resistance.

If someone is contemplating straight razor shaving, give film a try; it's a good way to start this hobby without having to spend significant amounts of money up front.

:my2cents:

I always enjoyed using a belgium coticule for straight razor honing. only stone i needed, altough i usually finished on a cnat loaded with crox. to me razors a much easier than knives, i know most disagree, but the razor has a built in jig to get consistent angles every time.