Hi Kosher,
When I got into straight shaving I thought I would learn how to hone my blades. What I've found works best for me it to send them out to a guy I know in Texas who can put a wicked edge on a blade. Once I have the correct edge I focus on maintaining the edge as long as I can.
To that end I find a Chinese 30k stone works well for me followed by Chromium Oxide on a balsa paddle - then on to a horse hide strop or vintage linen then the Strop.
With a two or three blade rotation I can run out 6 to 8 months on each razor before sending it back for honing.
That is, If I don't roll the edge or mess up stropping. I don't do that much anylonger as in time I have gotten much better at maintaining an edge.
Have you started shaving with a straight yet? If not let me know I can give you a few tips to make the transition. I have found it a deeply satifying skill to learn.
This is from a forum called Badger& Blade you may already be a member of.
I believe the author has capured the essence of straight shaving when he wrote:
"Shaving with a modern safety razor like a Gilette Fusion is fine. Utilitarian. Gets the job done. In and out. No fuss. No muss. But what about the “out” part of “in and out”? Once you’re done, you’re in your clothes and back to… back to what? The stack of bills? The inbox? Work, chores, all of life’s demands, queued up and ready for you the moment you step from that sanctuary.
In straight razor shaving, I found a sanctuary. It takes far longer than a minute. I get to stay “in” far longer; and, far more profoundly, I'm able to remain "in" far longer before I return to the “out.”
The ritual can be both involved and intoxicating. But more than anything else, the word I can best use to describe it is immersive. Driving an automatic transmission sedan is not immersive. There’s a reason why so many people text and drive or talk and drive (or drink and drive). People feel they can get away with it, because driving a car like that is just so damn easy and effortless. There’s room for a bit of error. Make a slip with a Mach 3 and know what? You’ll be fine. Just push the button on your Edge gel – and out will come perfect lather, same every time, can after can. Modern cars, like modern razors, have cruise control. Easy, breezy, in and out.
But straight shaving is dangerous. You are literally walking the razor’s edge every single time. Not even the most seasoned pro can deny that the sting of the razor is always one faint nerve twitch away. It is indeed a deeply immersive practice. First, you must be fully conscious when stropping. Why? Because if your mind wanders, you nick your blade and you nick your strop. Strops are expensive. Razors are, too. You can bang the hell out of a Fusion on the porcelain sink. But let your mind travel to the grocery list, or to the speech you have to give later that day, and you just smoked your strop and/or razor. Needless to say, once the razor makes its way to your throat, letting your mind wander can have far dearer consequences. There’s no automatic pilot here. No cruise control. No safety net.
No, you are trapped – and for the duration of this ritual you must be fully present, fully alive. When else can you say this? Even in the most intense conversation – perhaps with a critically important client or boss, or with the object of your affection – your mind is permitted to wander for a moment. Even watching the most engrossing films, I find myself occasionally scratching my wrist or pausing to notice the gumwad some jerk has left on the seatback in front of me.
But with a razor to your throat – or an inch from your eye – or at the corner of your lip – or sailing just within reach of your dangling earlobe – you needs must fully be there. Completely alive. Focused. Present and accounted for.
It is my time of day to be most focused and alert, with the most crystalline awareness of myself and my immediate surroundings. I’ve flown a plane before, but even then, you only really have that sensation of presence when you’re taking off or landing, or when some nasty turbulence really kicks in and requires you to put your life into your hands.
For me, It is the immersive, ritualistic aspect that draws me most to straight razor shaving. The time that I spend shaving truly feels like time I have gained, rather than time I have lost. It is my time. Mine alone. And this time truly does have a transubstantiated quality – one in which I feel pointedly, and most gloriously, present and alive. Regards: john
PS: It's not required one be a romantic, but it does fit well.
