Anyone use a straight razor? Thinking about starting.

[suaveflooder]

Originally Posted by gramicci101

A real blade will take some caring for, but that's part of the fun. In addition to the razor you'll need a nice leather strop and some leather conditioner to take care of the strop. You can find vintage strops, too. Dubl Duck is a pretty sought-after brand.

For the razor itself, there are certain things you need to consider before buying one.

First, what size do you want? Razor sizes are expressed in 1/8" increments, measured from the blade to the spine. I consider a 5/8 blade to be a pretty decent all-around blade. Some people like 6/8, some go up to 11/8, which is like shaving with an axe.

Second, what kind of grind to you want on the blade? This is expressed in fractions of a full hollow grind and describes the amount of taper to the blade when looked at from the end. It goes from a full hollow, through 1/2 hollow and 1/4 hollow, to wedge, which is straight-sided. There are also singing or frameback razors, which is basically a spine and a blade, with no taper at all. The grind of the blade will tell you how sensitive it is. A higher grind blade, like a full hollow or a singing razor, will be much more sensitive. But they're also much easier to bend the blade out of whack. I prefer a 1/2 or 1/4 hollow grind.

Thirdly, the point, or the end of the blade. A round point will be the most user-friendly as far as not cutting yourself up with it. Some people prefer a square point, even though now there's a sharp corner at the tip of the blade. Others prefer a barber's notch, which is supposed to help you maneuver around your nose and other small areas.

This link has a lot of good information about the various parts of a razor.
http://straightrazorplace.com/srpwik...straight_razor

Mine is middle of the road. 5/8, 1/2 hollow, round point, with a slight smile to the edge. I figured it was best to start with something that wasn't too extreme, and I've never needed more.

Stropping your razor is fine, you'll do that a lot. If it needs to be honed, send it out to a professional; it's not very expensive. With as fine as these blades are, it's real easy to mess up the edge accidentally.

Great information! I new I was going half hollow and round point, but never knew about the 1/8+ measurements!

And thanks for the advice on honing. I planned on doing it about once a year, and stropping before and after shaves to keep everything sharp. Sound about right, or should I hone it more often? I think it's around $20-$40 local to me to hone.

[gramicci101]

I'd only hone it if it's really necessary. As long as you strop it and avoid doing things to mess the edge up like dropping it in your sink, you should be able to go for quite a while without actually honing it. Once a year is fine for preventive maintenance.

Look up proper stropping technique. I would recommend getting a cheap strop to start, because you're going to nick it and cut it up a bit. You don't want to do that to a nice strop.

Go for a 5/8 or 6/8 blade to start with. You may find that you want something larger and more solid, so you could step up to a 7/8 or 8/8 blade then. Stepping down to a 4/8 or 3/8 is more for fine areas, say if you wanted a specific mustache trimming razor or you planned to shave your junk with it.