Totally non footie related ...

... but does anyone know anywhere in or around town where I can get a straight razor sharpened?

Got one for Christmas and am really keen to use it but I cannot for the life of me get sharp enough to use.

I have followed several YouTube tutorials on sharpening, both stropping and honing.

I've literally stropped the ******** off it for three days straight and tried honing on a stone (though it was one intended for chisels) - can get it sharp enough to cut a finger but not hair.

I suspect I need a better quality stone but they seem to be about £80 for a decent one, so I don't want to pay that sort of cash until I know that I can get on with the razor first.

 

There is a barber's on Racecommon Rd doing cut throat shaves - they might do it?

 

It depends on the quality of the steel e.g. german, swedish, sheffield, japanese steel is used for the better blades whereas chinese or indian blades are okay for spreading butter. If you volunteer the brand name of your new razor I should be able to let you know if it's worth the effort trying to hone it. Did it start off sharp (shave ready) or are you doing that bit? Stropping is one of the quickest ways to take the edge off a blade if you don't know how

If you've got a decent blade then you'll need to spend good money on a couple of fine grain stones, german or Japanese. If you haven't got a decent blade, just leave it in the bathroom by the sink so it looks as though you're using it

Good luck

 

Btw barbers tend to use 'shavettes' with disposable blades so that they dont have to keep them sharp (and sterile)

 

Back next week with the new username "SweenyTodd"

Just don't buy any pies off him

 

Thanks for this.

Don't think it's a particularly pricey one, Imperial is the brand and said to be German carbon steel.

It arrived non-shave ready (purportedly) for health and safety purposes.

Before stropping for the first time I watched a couple of video's anf made sure I ran it spine forwards flat across the strop.

There was no edge to speak of at the time in terms of sharpness at all, hence the honing on a stone (as I said, meant for chisels and probably not high grit).

Got it so far, though as I said I don't really want to shell out on a high grit japenese stone to then find I prefer disposables.

I think I have it as far as I'm able to with the stone I have and the stropping.

I celebrated nicking my finger but it still doesn't take downy hair off the back of my wrists so isn't even close to being shave ready.

 

Ok a couple of suggestions

Use oil on your stone rather than water

Lay your strop on a firm surface until you get the hang of it otherwise you just finish up rounding off the edge

if you want to get going, think about getting a cheap shavette to practice with

There are some good quality stones around if you look on fleabay - a chap selling bits of Welsh Mountain is ok

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Try one of the Turkish kebab houses in tarn , they'll advise you pal . Am not joking .

 

Re: Totally non footie related ... you should have an e-mail from me

nothing to see here

 

This has got to be my fave most interesting random thread of 2014! The random schizzle some folk know never fails to suprise me.

 

theres a barbers opposite the general post office that do cut throat shaves with proper razors have a nip in there see if they'll do it for you