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Straight razor newbie

guillermo

guillermo

Shave Newbie
Hello to All,
I am Guillermo,
I received two straight razor's from the son of a good friend who passed away, for Christmas, I and his father belonged to a British car club.
I had never owned, or shaved with a straight razor. My friend was much older than me. I had one of the razor's sharpened and was only able to shave with it once,(face & head).
So, I started watching Youtube videos which brought me here.
I've attached photos of the razors. Geo Wostenholm & Son's, and a A. D. Arbenz frameback w/replaceable blade,( it did not come with a extra blade,"Hunt for Red October ).
1000090710(1).jpg
 
Two days ago I successfully honed the A. D. Arbenz and shaved with it. It was a very bloody shave, but I was successful.
Here is my honing bench, ( Please remember that I was educated on YouTube). I used a Belgian blue to set the bevel and prep for the Rozsutec which I used for a finisher.
I like my friend have a passion "Vintage Items", I have also include a picture of my old girlfriend, had to sell her because I can no longer drive,( I have glaucoma ), and I've relocated to Panama.
My honing bench:
First-honing-session20260123_060026.jpg
My old girlfriend, ( 73 TR6 ):
IMG_20120518_070826.jpg
 
Welcome to The Cadre, @guillermo. I've never used a straight razor and at this point I'm not planning on learning it, but you never know. That's a very good looking car. Is it a Triumph? It must have been difficult to part with it. There are a lot of straight razor shavers here in the forum that I'm sure are happy to answer your questions and help you along your journey.
 
Straight Razor huh? I know Luecke and Barber Dave might be able to help.

Welcome to the cadre! Hope to see more of you. You seem to have a pretty interesting story, I'd love to hear more. Maybe a shave journal would work.

@Luecke3262 any tips as a resident Straight Razor restorer?
 
guillermo said:
Hello to All,
I am Guillermo,
I received two straight razor's from the son of a good friend who passed away, for Christmas, I and his father belonged to a British car club.
I had never owned, or shaved with a straight razor. My friend was much older than me. I had one of the razor's sharpened and was only able to shave with it once,(face & head).
So, I started watching Youtube videos which brought me here.
I've attached photos of the razors. Geo Wostenholm & Son's, and a A. D. Arbenz frameback w/replaceable blade,( it did not come with an extra blade,"Hunt for Red October ).
View attachment 154640
Click to expand...
Very fine razors you have there, they were most definitely a thoughtful gift.
 
8th Night said:
Welcome to The Cadre, @guillermo. I've never used a straight razor and at this point I'm not planning on learning it, but you never know. That's a very good looking car. Is it a Triumph? It must have been difficult to part with it. There are a lot of straight razor shavers here in the forum that I'm sure are happy to answer your questions and help you along your journey.
Click to expand...
Someday I’ll have to send you a shave ready straight razor to try out! I hope you do try it.
 
@guillermo welcome of course to the Shaving Cadre! A Belgian blue will definitely set a bevel and can get you up to about 2-4K depending on the stone. How did you test your bevel to ensure it was across the entire edge? What is the grit rating of your finisher? Or is it a natural?

You have some nice looking tools!
 
8th Night said:
Welcome to The Cadre, @guillermo. I've never used a straight razor and at this point I'm not planning on learning it, but you never know. That's a very good looking car. Is it a Triumph? It must have been difficult to part with it. There are a lot of straight razor shavers here in the forum that I'm sure are happy to answer your questions and help you along your journey.
Click to expand...
Yes, she's a early model 1973 Triumph TR6
 
Luecke3262 said:
@guillermo welcome of course to the Shaving Cadre! A Belgian blue will definitely set a bevel and can get you up to about 2-4K depending on the stone. How did you test your bevel to ensure it was across the entire edge? What is the grit rating of your finisher? Or is it a natural?

You have some nice looking tools!
Click to expand...
The finisher is a Rozsutec, I purchased the two stones from Griffith Shaving Goods, I just purchased this combo stone to speed up the bevel setting, I should receive it on Tuesday.
www.griffithshavinggoods.com

Ardennes Coticule - Belgian Blue & Pyrenees Dual Sided Sharpening Stones

The Coticule Combo Pyrenees is a double-sided whetstone designed to deliver exceptional sharpening results for a variety of tools (and razors!). This versatile stone features two distinct sides: the Pyrenees side #1200, perfect for creating the bevel, and the Coticule Blue side #4000, ideal for...
www.griffithshavinggoods.com www.griffithshavinggoods.com
 
guillermo said:
The finisher is a Rozsutec, I purchased the two stones from Griffith Shaving Goods, I just purchased this combo stone to speed up the bevel setting, I should receive it on Tuesday.
www.griffithshavinggoods.com

Ardennes Coticule - Belgian Blue & Pyrenees Dual Sided Sharpening Stones

The Coticule Combo Pyrenees is a double-sided whetstone designed to deliver exceptional sharpening results for a variety of tools (and razors!). This versatile stone features two distinct sides: the Pyrenees side #1200, perfect for creating the bevel, and the Coticule Blue side #4000, ideal for...
www.griffithshavinggoods.com www.griffithshavinggoods.com
Click to expand...
Neat! Yeah that could speed you up. A slurried Belgian blue can get you there, but it would take you a bit longer than a slurried 1000-1500 grit stone. Yes a nice yellow coticule is a go to for a lot of guys. I have several vintage Coticules that provide an exceptional edge, but they are on the smaller side. Well done on going natural all the way, serious respect. 🫡

My go to is setting the bevel on a 1K Naniwa Chosera -> Naniwa Chosera 3K -> JAPANESE NATURAL STONE Base and a nagura progression using a Botan -> Tenjou -> Mejiro -> Koma -> Tomo Nagura. Or I finish on a Jasper or Escher Thuringian.

There are so many different ways to get there and it’s a blast playing around with different finishes. Have fun!
 
Glad to have you here!

Lots to see, read, and get involved with here. We're so much more than just a wet shaving forum. Hope you enjoy it as much as we do! Be sure to join our Zoom calls which are every other Sunday. We also do bingo here and have threads for just about any hobby you can imagine.

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@CBLindsay
 
I have a pretty nice hybrid Coitcule that works well as an all around start to finish (its a little slow to set a new bevel but works wonderfully if there isn't a lot of the hard work to get done). I also have a few other vintage Coticules. Funny thing is although they are all similar on general appearance they perform differently and they aren't all wonderful finishers. I have also found a simple set of Welsh Slate stones to provide a great result at a relatively low cost (in dollars and space). Given the tools you already have I would say look for a decent vintage Coticule (they tend to be more proven or known and the seller might mention whether it is a good finisher or not) and maybe add a very hard black ark as a finisher. In general I find slurry stones (or slurry on the blck ark) to be more versitile and capable. Of course this is personal preference and technique driven. For me, a Dilucot type of process works so I don't mess with it too much. Some stones are self slurrying while others really need a slurry stone. I will note that for ME using a series of Arkinsas stones (softer to harder progression) simply did not work for me BUT the hard or surgical black Ark has proven to be a solid final stone.

AND don't underestimate the importance of stropping. I use a flax linen cloth component and a generic leather strop I made myself.

Side note, I LOVE the frameback razor. I have several like it and really enjoy using them. That shape of blade is very comfortable and easy to use too. To avoid unwanted blood loss try focusing on keeping that spine very close to your face and kind of angle the heel of the blade downward a LITTLE bit so the blade isn't purely perpendicular to the direction you are shaving. This slight "slicing" angle can make a questionable edge work better/more effeciently so you don't feel the need to force the blade through your beard.

The frameback has a kind of rounded blade that can make things more comfortable but also require a little different honing technique than a nice flat/square one. Being a student of youtube you are probably already familiar with using a black sharpy to mark the spine and the edge so you can see where you are actually makign contact with the hone and adjusting your angles accordingly...but in case you aren't I recommend giving that a try. Even after honing almost 200 razors I still do this, it can help identify a warp as well as just show you how the geometry all comes together.
 
CBLindsay said:
I have a pretty nice hybrid Coitcule that works well as an all around start to finish (its a little slow to set a new bevel but works wonderfully if there isn't a lot of the hard work to get done). I also have a few other vintage Coticules. Funny thing is although they are all similar on general appearance they perform differently and they aren't all wonderful finishers. I have also found a simple set of Welsh Slate stones to provide a great result at a relatively low cost (in dollars and space). Given the tools you already have I would say look for a decent vintage Coticule (they tend to be more proven or known and the seller might mention whether it is a good finisher or not) and maybe add a very hard black ark as a finisher. In general I find slurry stones (or slurry on the blck ark) to be more versitile and capable. Of course this is personal preference and technique driven. For me, a Dilucot type of process works so I don't mess with it too much. Some stones are self slurrying while others really need a slurry stone. I will note that for ME using a series of Arkinsas stones (softer to harder progression) simply did not work for me BUT the hard or surgical black Ark has proven to be a solid final stone.

AND don't underestimate the importance of stropping. I use a flax linen cloth component and a generic leather strop I made myself.

Side note, I LOVE the frameback razor. I have several like it and really enjoy using them. That shape of blade is very comfortable and easy to use too. To avoid unwanted blood loss try focusing on keeping that spine very close to your face and kind of angle the heel of the blade downward a LITTLE bit so the blade isn't purely perpendicular to the direction you are shaving. This slight "slicing" angle can make a questionable edge work better/more effeciently so you don't feel the need to force the blade through your beard.

The frameback has a kind of rounded blade that can make things more comfortable but also require a little different honing technique than a nice flat/square one. Being a student of youtube you are probably already familiar with using a black sharpy to mark the spine and the edge so you can see where you are actually makign contact with the hone and adjusting your angles accordingly...but in case you aren't I recommend giving that a try. Even after honing almost 200 razors I still do this, it can help identify a warp as well as just show you how the geometry all comes together.
Click to expand...
Thank You for the sharpy info,
I did know about the sharpy trick, and I did have a real problem trying to get that razor sharpen. It was while before I figured out that the whole blade was not hitting the stone, even with me doing rolling X-strokes.
?, am I correct that you make shaving soap, and are you interested in parting with your hybird.
 
guillermo said:
Thank You for the sharpy info,
I did know about the sharpy trick, and I did have a real problem trying to get that razor sharpen. It was while before I figured out that the whole blade was not hitting the stone, even with me doing rolling X-strokes.
?, am I correct that you make shaving soap, and are you interested in parting with your hybird.
Click to expand...
I do indeed mke shaving soap (CBLSoap.com). And I plan to keep my hybrid. I scored it and another very nice one (both are 3"wide x 9"long) ata VERY good price many years ago. @BarberDave has the other one, although I think that one was not a hybrid. I admit, I got REALLY lucky finding it let alone scoring gettign it at such a great price.
I actually have a few hybrid coticules and at least one is a better finisher than my big one. I really wish I could remember the names/variations of each but I have forgotten and never wrote them down.
 
CBLindsay said:
I do indeed mke shaving soap (CBLSoap.com). And I plan to keep my hybrid. I scored it and another very nice one (both are 3"wide x 9"long) ata VERY good price many years ago. @BarberDave has the other one, although I think that one was not a hybrid. I admit, I got REALLY lucky finding it let alone scoring gettign it at such a great price.
I actually have a few hybrid coticules and at least one is a better finisher than my big one. I really wish I could remember the names/variations of each but I have forgotten and never wrote them down.
Click to expand...
I have a ?, do you know of anyone using African Black Soap to make shaving soap.
 
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