Razor FAQ for March 1999

[Joe Talmadge]

THE STRAIGHT RAZOR FAQ
Author: Arthur Boon
E-mail: arthu...@operamail.com
Published as a monthly updated FAQ on the Usenet group rec.knives.
Status: non-commercial.
Follow-up To: please follow-up on rec.knives.

INTRODUCTION

Starting its evolution as a scraping stone a thousand years ago, the
straight razor gradually developed into what proved to be one of the
most perfect and simple instrument designs of all times. The weight is
very well balanced, the blade is easy to clean and thus extremely
hygienic, and the blade geometry is designed to conserve an ideal edge
with relative little equipment and effort for many decades, even
generations, as a well treated straight razor has an almost unlimited
life. Also, when the skin has adapted to the change, the superficial
peeling effect of the straight razor makes it suitable even for the
irregular skin that suffers from the irritations caused by electric or
safety razors.

Little practise is needed to switch to the straight razor for the rest
of your life, and to discard the alternative messy compromises as just
non-functioning make-believe products of fast consumerism. Then what
caused the decline of straight razor use? One of the factors
contributing to that has been the inappropriate knowledge about
maintanance among users but also among manufacturers and designers,
which coincided with the upcoming market consisting of
pseudo-user-friendly gadgets such as autostrops, rotating razors, and
safety razors. This unnnecessarily caused the straight razor to
function far from optimal, and therefore comparable with the new
inventions, which of course was the beginning of the end. Also, ghost
stories about supposed dangers to damage the vital vessels in the neck
made the picture complete, although a highly polished push cutter has
far from relatively little slicing capabilities, and a home full of
stabbing and dull cutting tools presents a much higher risk to playing
children and pets than a clasp razor stored in a box on the upper
shelf in a cupboard.

At present a few manufacturers each produce a few thousand straight
razors a year, with some emphasize on collectors' items, a number that
slightly increased in the ninetees. The dedicated user faces the
impossible task to collect contradictory information from several more
or less reliable sources which all suffer from the fact that almost
nothing of the theory which came down with generations has been
published for future reference. In fact, the art of straight razor use
and care is an example of lost knowledge. The purpose of this
document, is to present a forum for discussion and convergion of
knowledge on this topic, in order to re-introduce this 'non plus ultra
inder Hand des Selbstrasierers'.

I owe much to the enthusiasm of mr. J. Schremml wo gave me a guided
tour at DOVO/Bracht Stahlwaren, Solingen, Germany in February 1999,
showing me the production, hollow grinding, and honing techniques. Mr
Schremml also borrowed me the original and last pre-world war specimen
of a study book on this topic, referenced below. Further, I got
information form video's and books, indicated in the references below,
and from users who shared experiences on rec.knives.

MANUFACTURERS
DOVO Stahlwaren, Postbox 190146, D-42701 Solingen, Germany. Address:
Bocklinstrasse 10, 42719 Solingen, Germany, Telephone: 0049-212-23-0-01, fax:
0049-212-31-36-12. The e-mail address is dovos...@aol.com for product
information, dealers in your neighbourghood, and ordering questions; please
refer to Mr. J. Schremml. DOVO is represented by companies in several
countries, of which I only know the ones in The Netherlands and United
Kingdom, and Austria: NL: Robijns B.V., Hornweg 196-C, 1432 GS AALSMEER, Tel:
0031-297-24-60-53, fax: 0031-297-346-212. UK: Brian H. Northcott, 56 Cuckmere
Road, Seaford, East Sussex BN25 4 DJ; Phone: ++01-323-89-55-37; or: Geo F.
Trumper, 20 Jermyn Street, London SW1 6HP. Morocutti Knifeshop in Vienna,
Austria also sells them among others. A second manufacturer is Hans Wilhem
Boker in Solingen, who produces scissors and some straight razors.

STRAIGHT RAZOR ANATOMY

Blade & tang:=09=09(1.__________2.________________3.}}###=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D4.

Handle:=09=09(_O____INLAY_____O5._________O__)

Indicated in the picture:
Schale/Handle/Manche/Cacha often with Einlage/Inlay/Marque/Marca (text, mark
on the handle);
1.Kopf/Point/Bout/Punta;
2.Schneide/Cutting edge/Tranchant/Corte;
3.Doppelansatz/Double stabilizing piece/Double piece stabilisatrice/Doble
pieza estabilizadora. Where the tang continues to the cutting part on the
knife (3), there is sometimes an extra rim so that you see two adjacent
vertical lines/rims ( }} ). This indicates that it is a hollow ground knife;
4.Erl/Tang/talon/Espiga (the complete non-cutting metal part of the knife);
5.Steg/Center plug/Rivet central/Remanche estabilizador: the middle plug on
the handle; Kranzangel/Decorated tang/Talon decore/Espiga decorada,some sort
of art where the blade stops and the tang begins (###).

Not indicated:
Hohlung/Hollow ground/Evidage/Filo Concavo, you can only see this at a
transection view; Goldaetzung/Gold etching/Gravure doree/Grabado dorado, which
is the mark or text on the cutting blade; Ruecken/Back/Dos/Lomo, the part of
the blade opposite the cutting edge; Zeichen/Trade mark/Marque/Marca, the
mark/text graved on the tang.
The Ridge/Der Wall: parallel to the back and the edge, running from point to
the stabilizing piece, is a thickening of the blade, the purpose of which is
to stabilize against torsion in the horizontal plane, and to give the edge
elasticity. The stabilizing piece gives the blade torsion resistance in the
vertical plane. If the ridge is close to the edge, it is called =BC hollow
ground, the lowest grade of hollow ground; if it is close to the back, it is
called 1/1 or full hollow ground; =BD and =BE are inbetween. More on grind types
below.

TYPES
Flat and hollow-ground:
Derbes Messer/Flat ground/Le rasoir plein: the cross section of the blade is a
triangular shape; Hohl/Full hollow ground/Creux/Concavo: biconcave
cross-section; Something in between (1/2 or =BE hollow).

BLADES
Round point/Rundkopf: (_________)=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D
Square point/Gradkopf: [_________)=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D
Something inbetween: Franzkopf
Blade sizes (width) are: 3/8", 4/8", 5/8", 6/8", 7/8".

PRINCIPLES OF STRAIGHT RAZOR GEOMETRY
In the beginning straight razor blades were wedge shaped, the sides of
the blade were straight lines, not concave (hollow). These blades
shaved as perfect as the later hollow ground blades, if sharp, but had
some disadvantages. First, they were heavy, compromising
balance. Second, due to the wedge shape, the sides of the blade above
the cutting edge instead of the edge itself, primarily touched the
hone surface while honing. Third, after years of daily use, the
regular honing caused rapid thickening of the edge width, thus making
sharpening increasingly difficult and time consuming. Therefore, the
next step was to clear the blade sides from the hone surface, in order
to reduce weight, and to use the back as a guide for keeping the
correct angle of the cutting edge, with which it forms one plane. This
was done by grinding away metal between the cutting edge and the back
with a wheel, resuting in a biconcave, hollow ground blade (at first
without a ridge), combining an extremely thin blade with a very small
cutting angle under 15 degrees. The disadvantage of this second step
without a ridge was, that the ultra thin biconcave blades were
instable in the direction perpendicular to the plane of the
blade. Therefore the third step was to create a ridge parallel to the
cutting edge, dividing the blade in two parts: an upper part between
back and ridge, and a lower part between ridge and cutting edge. The
ridge is created by grinding the raw triangular basic form with
successive different wheel diameters: the greater wheel for the part
between ridge and back; the smaller wheel for the part between ridge
and cutting edge.

The result consists of two hollow grind blade divisions separated by a
thicker ridge, with hardly visible smooth transitions. The closer the
ridge is to the back, the more the type goes from =BC to 1/1 hollow
grind. The ridge presents stability and vibrations which add to
cutting performance, which can be identified by transversely rubbing
the thumb carefully over the edge, causing a ringing sound. The ridge
is not that thick that it touches the hone, of course, and you can
hardly see or feel it. The three parts (two concave parts separated by
the ridge) are identified under a sharp light: the ridge diverges the
light and is therefore identified as a linear shadow, parallel to the
edge. The full hollow grind blades have the ridge at about a little
below halfway between back and edge; lower grades of hollow ground
just behind the edge, or somewhat further to the middle of the
blade. A full (1/1) hollow ground blade keeps a very thin edge even
after a lifetime of honing and stropping; a =BC ground blade edge
rapidly thickens after years of honing, because of the proximity of
the ridge to the edge.

RECOGNIZING
A double stabilizing piece (two vertical rims between tang and blade) implies
1/1 (full-) hollow ground, but some full hollow ground blades have no
stabilizing pieces at all, but instead a smooth transition etween blade and
tang. Theoretically, you might confuse a single stabilisation piece (which
indicates less than 1/1 hollow ground) with these types of full hollow ground
blades but there is a difference which can be seen with the full hollow ground
Bismarck or Renaissance (DOVO) types of blades. The Bismarck shows a smooth
transition between blade and tang, lacking any rim, and therfore is easily
identified as full hollow ground. The Renaissance has one rim, which might
indicate either less than 1/1 hollow ground (cheaper) or full hollow; the fact
that the rim is ot confined to the blade, but runs through into the tang,
identifies this type as full hollow ground. If the transition from tang to
blade shows one vertical rim that is confined to the blade and exactly
vertical, it must be a flat ground or =BD-3/4 hollow.

PURPOSE OF TYPES
In general: the higher the grade of hollow grinding, the easier it is for the
customer to keep the blade in perfect condition with relative ease (stropping
and sometimes honing).
Flat ground: in general for heavy and less perfect shave,, for countour
shaving, hospitals, etc. Full hollow ground for thorough and precise shaving.
3/8", 4/8": hospitals, eyebrows, and a very soft beard. 3/8" and 4/8" are
mostly flat or half-hollow- ground. 4/8", 5/8": preferred for daily shaving,
specially 5/8" which has more torsion resistance. For persons with very large
hands and/or handicap the 6/8" and 7/8" were originally designed, but they
also have very good torsion resistance and shaving characteristics.

BLADES MATERIALS
Blades are made of normal steel with a carbon-content of 0.6% or more, and of
rust-resistant chromium-steel. Carbon steel is easier to sharpen but more
brittle, liable to chipping off and staining. Stain-resistant steel takes
longer honing, but the results hold longer, and the edge is less vulnerable.

HANDLES MATERIALS
Ambonia, Celluloid, Bone, Pakkawood, Mother of pearl, Ebony, Buffalo horn,
Plastic.
Celluloid is flammable and spontaneous inflammation has been described at
higher natural temperatures. Even now, celluloid production is associated with
extreme saftey measures. Buffalo Horn can deformate after some time,
increasing the risk of edge damage when closing the knife: it has form memory,
but for the wrong form. Mother of pearl is brittle, which might result in
cracks soon. Plastic is very thin and easy to deform, causing increased risk
that the edge touches the handle while closing it. The hardwood handles do not
rot because they are highly impregnated with resins; the weight gives ideal
balance. Bone is stable as well. Both packawood, snakewood, and bone are have
the best material properties for intensive use.

COLLECTORS' ITEMS
Bismarck, Renaissance, and Bergischer Loewe are DOVO designer razors, primary
for export as collectors items. They are available in 6/8" and 7/8". Besides
their size (see above), there is no practical or qualitative argument for
buying such a razor.

DISPOSABLES
Straight razors with long exchangeable blades are called Shavette at DOVO,
mentioned here but qualitatively unimportant gadgets.

HONING AND GRINDING
You can learn to sharpen any knife on a stone, and if you have experience, or
use the right sharpening system you will get very good results.

The principle of grinding any knife is restoring the gross shape of a blade
according to it's grind-type (hollow, flat, or transitions); this is mostly
done with machines such as grinding wheels. Grinding does not sharpen a knife.

The principle of honing is to create a good cutting edge angle and the blade
part directly adjacent to it, the relief. The relief is created by honing with
a secondary angle on a stone untill a burr appears, and subsequently create
the primary angle (this is the cutting angle, which is somewhat greater than
the secondary angle, but both under 25 degrees) to remove the burr. The
relief/secondary/primary angle principle makes the blade more resistant for
less than delicate use.

The primary/secondary angle/relief principle does not hold for straight
razors. The cutting edge of about 15 degrees (primary angle) is followed by a
biconcave (hollow) part, and a ridge, respectively. This unity keeps the edge
ultra thin during its life despite honing and stropping, and on the other hand
supplies the blade with enough rigidity because of the ridge. Also, the
absence of a relief with a secondary angle, clears the cutting edge while
honing with the back resting on the hone surface. The back serves as a guide
which conserves the primary cutting angle under all circumstances and the same
applies to the strop. This implies that the primary/secondary angle story is
not valid for =BC, 1/2, =BE and 1/1 hollow ground straight razors. In fact, the
ridge and the hollow grind part between ridge and edge, are some kind of
relief-substitute, which is not a compromise at all, because it's function is
delicate without requiring any force.

It has been unclear why and when a blade should be re-hollow ground. The
German book referenced below, however, states that only extreme abuse is a
reason to restore the architecture with a grinder. As this results in blade
reduction, the back must be reduced accordingly to preserve the correct
cutting angle. If you care for the blade as a 'good house-father' self-honing
and stropping is enough. If the damage is nothing more than just touching the
edge with your nail, causing a little local flattening of the edge, then
honing will be sufficient. On the other hand, when dropping causes a defect in
the edge you won't get rid of it with honing, and this needs repare with a
hollow grinder.

At DOVO, the grinding is done by moving the blade between two wheels. After
the grinding, they machine-hone on the side of a moving wheel, in the
direction (!) of the edge and not towards it, untill a burr appears. This is
done with the cutting angle, so with the back just not (to prevent damage to
the back) touching the wheel. On a second, finer, honing wheel the burr is
removed, again with the same cutting angle determined by the back. Water is
used on both wheels. Then the honing starts, on a very fine Belgian Old Rock
and succesively on a even finer one, called Escher waterstone, type
Rasierstube. The Old Rock is also called Belgian oil stone, but Dovo uses
water. Razor Edge Systems suggests that any liquid, whether oil or water,
creates a sludge with the metal and stone particles, rounding off the edge,
thus causing blunting. This contradicts with the observation of German smiths,
that a hone performs best when you create that sludge before starting, by
rubbing the hone with a small stone and water. They state that ' especially
when the sludge is present, the edge will be extremely polished and sharp'.
The last hone in the process, the Escher waterstone, even comes with a
separate rubbing stone, and a manual how to create the sludge. At DOVO, honing
is done with circular movements, manually, with impressive speed. First on one
side, and then the other, so not alternating. The result is obvious: the hones
wear off irregularly, causing a concave surface. Then they need a new hone.
The reason for doing so is time-efficiency. For the consumer who wants the
hone to serve for an unlimited period of time, the following alternating
linear method is better. Lay the blade completely flat on the stone and push
it forward into the direction of the cutting edge, and slightly diagonally in
the horizontal plane over the stone (the reason for that is to hone the
complete cutting edge). Then turn the knife over the back without lifting it
from the stone. Never turn over the edge, this will blunt the blade. Then
repeat into the other direction; repeat this process about 10 or 20 times.

Some things are critical in order to get a sharp edge: the first is to ensure
that the razor lays completely flat, so that the edge and the back touch the
stone surface. This is to keep the exact required angle of the edge. The
second is, that the razor remains flat on the stone during the movement. If
you don't have experience, you will only succeed doing so if you hone
extremely slow, and study the process carefully. Only then you will be able to
observe that during the stroke, the edge or the back will tend to lift from
the stone a millimeter on one side which you must correct, which is only
possible when honing extremely slowly. Here, speed does not add up to better
results, not even in experienced hands.This will give excellent results even
for beginners (I tried it that way, with already immediate perfect results).
The third is, that you don't press on the blade while honing: the weight of
the blade is enough. Pressing will deform the angle. Hones should be large,
because the surface is then completely in contact with the cutting edge; any
damage or irregularities to the sides of the stone are then less critical
because you will not reach them.

You notice that when you carefully make a cutting movement over your
thumbnail; any knick feels like a sudden obstacle. It also gets damaged when
you strop the wrong way, with the wrong paste, or when the razor gets into
contact with aggressive agents (see below). The honing should be done only
about once in one or two months in the following way: you probably preferrably
should have a large Belgian oil stone, completely smooth. Put some drops of
oil (Buck's, or sewing machine oil, but no alimentary oil - no reason
specified) on it. Cleaning the stone: Advises vary from cleaning with a cloth
to cleaning with steel wool, or not cleaning at all. The ratio of cleaning is
in removing metal particles out of the stone's pores, according to razor Edge
Systems. Uncleaned stones kept their quality in their experiments, however.
This still has to be cleared.

STROPPING, GENERAL
When you shave, the cutting edge gets somewhat misaligned microscopically. It
looks like microserrations, bending aside irregularly. If you put the knife
away, the cutting edge stretches ('grows') spontaneously within 24 hours.
After 3 or 4 shaves it should be aligned a little bit again and therefore you
must strop. If you do that correctly, and treat the blade well, you only need
to hone once every month or even year, and never send it in fro grinding. You
need the right strop and the right paste. The game is, to postpone honing as
long as possible, and to use the strop almost exclusively. Any other reports
are due to wrong care.
Stropping occurs at the exact same angle as with honing. Stropping serves to
polish the edge and to align any remaining mislalignment of the
microserrations. This implies that a hanging strop should be kept under
tension to keep the angle correct. The former reports that the hanging-through
would be beneficial for the edge, is incorrect, but may be this belief comes
from experiences with plain blades (not hollow), as this will create a
situation comparable with the primary/secondary angle/ relief story that
applies to most knives. The hollow ground razor blade has only one single
angle that should be conserved during all succesive procedures, ranging from
grinding to stropping. Hanging thorugh will just round off the edge you
carefully created before.

STROP TYPES
Leather only
Leather on one side and canvas on the other side: this is preferred above
leather only because you first pre-sharpen on the canvas.
Leather glued on wood and adjustable strops: for the un-experienced and for
flat-ground blades. If you let a hanging strop hang through while stropping,
you will blunt the knife. This may be a reason for the unexperienced to buy
this latter type of strop.
Juchten-leather: is more durable, and of better quality than Rind-leather.
Pre-pasted strops, either with red, or with green paste. The strop should be
reserved exclusively for the paste it has been treated with.
Hanging strops with leather handles are more expensive but more comfortable
than those with metal clamps.

PASTE TYPES
White: chalk-containing paste for on the canvas-side of the strop
('Hanfseite') It is difficult to find it, it is in no catalog but it is
available for ordering.
Yellow: paste for on the leather side to make it sticky and souple, it is just
fat.
Red and Green: coarse and very coarse abrasives. They have never been designed
for use with straight razors originally and should and need NOT be used. They
will spoil the edge and are illogical, because any razor hone will be finer.
When stropping is not enough effective, just hone.
Black: a polishing paste almost without cutting effect, just as the white and
yellow ones. You don't need this for sharpening results, but might want it to
get a shine. However, the silicate in the leather strop will have an even
better polishing effect, when used with the yellow inert paste, so black paste
has no place here as well.

WHICH STROP WITH WHICH PASTE
Probably the best combination is a hanging strop with a leather handle,
Juchten-Leder on one side and canvas ('Hanf') on the opposite side, 450 mm
long and 50 mm broad, with yellow paste on the leather side, and white paste
on the canvas side. My personal experience with the leather-on-wood and
adjustable strops is, that they don't give contact with the knife over their
complete surface because it is somewaht convex, and that the hanging strops
permit more control in that respect. Pasting the strop is only necessary two
or three times a year with 3 cm of paste. You need only a few drops, and then
spread with the palm of your hand. It makes the strop somewhat sticky ('Zug'),
which is better for the alignment of the cutting edge. You will need a little
tube for some years. Some manufacturers say that you can use either yellow or
white both on leather and on canvas, but as the manuals differ from that
opinion, I do not yet rely on that information, as chalk is more coarse than
fat alone. I would advise not to use the white paste on the leather, only on
the canvas.

STROPPING TECHNIQUE
Strop only before shaving, after the edge could 'grow' for at least 24 hours,
burt preferably 48 hours. If you strop the edge immediately after shaving, the
misaligned microserrations behave as a burr, which will break off and
penetrate the leather, which will turn into sandpaper. If you honed just
before stropping, clean the blade with water and soap and dry with a cloth
without touching the edge; this too is to prevent small metal parts to get
stuck into the strop, which can damage the edge while stropping. Keep the tang
between index finger and thumb and keep those fingers stretched. Place the
blade flat on the strop. In case of a hanging strop, keep it under tension
continuously, because if you let it hang through, you will create a round and
therefore blunt cutting edge. Pull the blade over the strop away from the
cutting edge and in the direction of the back. If you strop the other way in
the direction of the edge (which is the case during honing), you will cut
through the strop, or you will cause knicks which will damage the razor. In
the course of this stroke, take care that the complete cutting edge has
touched the strop. The pressure of the knife on the strop should not exceed
the weight of the knife, to prevent rounding and thus blunting the cutting
edge. At the end of the stroke, keep the blade in contact with the strop, and
swing the blade 180 degrees, causing it to rotate around the back; the back
should keep in contact with the strop. Then do a stroke in the other
direction. Repeat this about 10-60 times. Do this procedure first on the
canvas (about 10 times) next on the leather.

Polishing (by stropping) is essential for the type of sharpness you need for
shaving: it's not slicing sharpness but push-cutting sharpness. The edge
surface must be extremely smooth to allow push-cutting without any pressure,
and to prevent deeper cuts. The latter occur especially with serrated edges.
This is also why the straight razor is relatively safe although it looks
awesome.
The leather side of the strop should look dark and shining, almost like a
mirror, for best results. This will gradually develop with good pasted strops.

SHARPNESS
A sharp razor should cut a hanging hair and I saw this demonstrated at DOVO.
If you carefully rub your thumb over the edge perpendicular to the edge, you
should hear a high-frequent tingling sound and it should feel a little sticky.
To detect any knicks cut very superficially over your nail. Any irregularity
feels like a sudden obstacle. The nail method is not to test for sharpness,
but for iregularities.You can also keep the edge towards a bright lamp; a
sharp edge surface (not the blade) should not contain reflecting parts,
because a sharp edge has almost no surface that can reflect.

A different technique came from mr. Morocutti: make a cutting movement
parallel to your arm, trying to cut a few hairs not directly above the skin
surface, but 3-5 mm above. A sharp edge will bite into the hair, a blunt knife
will not. If the hair test is positive but shaving not, the blade may be
irregularly sharpened or the hardening process might be done incorrect. Try
stropping again. A new blade must be stropped, and will perform better after a
few weeks of use. 'The blade will be settled'. This is to encourage
perfectionists.

SHAVING
It is best but not necessary done after showering, because hair is saturated
with water after 2 minutes contact. You need soap, definitely, to keep the
water on the face. Even then, during shaving you suddenly might notic a rubber
scraping like sensation, indicating drying out. Effective shaving stops
immediately when that occurs.

Remove hair/soap from the razor with a finger and put it on a piece of tissue,
or rinse. In the fiftees, rubber rings were used for that, but were discarded
because they chemically broke down after contact with alkali soaps. Keep the
razor blade under about 30 degree angle with the skin (one or two times the
width of the back), at the chin somewhat more steep. Shave always and
everywhere with your working hand (writing/dominant hand). Shave twice: once
with and once against the grain, but the upper lip only downwards to protect
the nose. Never shave against the grain during the first shave, to prevent
bleeding. Contrary to safety razors and the protected scrapers, this won't
cause bleeding. Start with the cheeks, then upper lip, then the neck, then the
chin. Keep the tang (Angel) between thumb and index finger, the middle finger
next to the index finger, and then the ring-finger and little finger at the
other side of the handle, with the handle pointing upwards. Another variant is
to keep only the little finger at the angle, but this reduces stability. With
this grip you can shave most parts of your face.

Some parts and shaving against the grain need contra-intuitive grips which
have only one thing in common, that the tang is kept between index-finger and
thumb. With those latter grips, keep your thumb and indexfinger as straight as
possible for better control. Any 'impossible' grip will be a reflex within a
few months. Where you place your other fingers in this latter case, is
individually different. Always stretch the skin with a dry finger behind the
blade. In the beginning you will strech ahead of the edge, but after some
months you will find a way automatically to stretch behind the blade
everywhere, although you will not believe this in the beginning. Stretching
behind gives much better results and prevents nicks very effectively. Never
shave without stretching, for obvious reasons. For the right cheek, put the
left hand over your head; for the chin stretch between the index finger and
thumb of the non-working hand. Shave in a perpendicular direction to the edge,
don't make event discrete slicing movements. The upper lip should be shaved
downwards, starting under the nose with a frightening steep angle for most
people determined by the nose, then rotating and pushing downwards in one
movement. This also will be an automatism soon. Rinse the razor with warm
water afterwards, dry with a cloth without touching the edge, and store in a
dry, ventilated place, not in the bathroom.

SHOULD A RAZOR REST
Yes, for reasons specified above. Other opinions result from satisfaction with
suboptimal shaving results. Therefore, it is best to have two, better three
razors. The higher the grade of hollow ground, the better this self-curation.

PRECAUTIONS
A sharp razor is less dangerous than a blunt one, like any knife. First,
because you put much less pressure on it to get results, and if you slip, you
slip with less pressure. Second, any cut will be a surgical one instead of a
tear, and bleeding will stop instantaneously with a splash of cold water.

Tears might be the reason why the so called safety razors cause bleedings that
last longer and stain your shirt after you thought it stopped; may be those
tiny blades are less torsion-resistant, thus causing tears instead of cuts,
and how long do they remain sharp? There is more danger putting your hand in a
kitchen drawer without thinking, than shaving with a straight razor, as you
can shave - and stab - with some kitchen knives as well.

The fear for cutting your throat is not justified although many vessels are
just beneath the surface. The high pressure carotid arteries are relatively
deep under the surface; just ask Razor Edge Systems how good (or bad) a push
cutter is for slicing meat. My estimate is that the risk of getting hurt by a
straight razor is not specific for the shaving action, but for a careless
attitude in the handling of tools in general. In case of severe ignorance any
tool in your home will be dangerous, as is a straight razor. Imagine what your
razor might meet on its way to the floor, or when you shave uncautiously close
to your nose. Walk only with a closed razor.

Your skin might get irritated in the beginning, just as when you started with
any shaving method dry or wet, but as soon as you regularly shave correctly,
the irritation is far less or absent compared with any other shaving tool,
partly due to the peeling associated exclusively with straight razor shaving.
Any regulations coming from fear for infections such as hepatitis or HIV of
course only aim at barbers, or in general those who share razors, not who have
their own razors. Even when sharing razors at a barber, the risk that any
virus survives that long on a compeletly smooth straight razor blade for it
being able to cause infection, is less than with safety-scrapers. This story
is of course totally irrelevant for the home-user with his own instruments. It
is important to realize that the square head blades have a potential stabbing
point, and that the round points are equally effective in shaving a single
hair in a corner.

Aviation rules: transport in its case, in your hand luggage. (You might be
asked to help rewiring MD11's up in the air, because obviously they leave that
to volunteers) I will find out whether they differ from serrated blades.

FAILURES
Stropping with strops hanging through will round off and blunt the edge, as
will pressing do on a strop or hone. A dull blade will cause cuts. Not
stretching will cause cuts. Using the red and green abrasive pastes will spoil
the polished (=3Dsharp) edge you created just before - those pastes were not
designed for razors. Dry hair will reduce performance. Fear for cuts will make
you clumsy. Wrong angle: too steep (small cuts), too small (tears and
irritation). Swinging over the edge instead over the back when honing and
stropping will blunt tghe edge, because you tend to touch te hone or strop
with the edge first. Contact of the edge with aggressive chemicals;
Impatience: in the beginning it takes double time compared with other
techniques, but this will get better soon. Perfectionism: you want results too
quickly but it is a skill, an easy one, but a skill. Anyhow, that shaving with
a straight razor is considered as a blood-speling torture is no reality and
reflects severe theoretical and practical ignorance, as it spares the skin,
unparalleled by any other technique.

HISTORY
This is one example - perhaps out of many - of lost written knowledge, even in
razor's musea and at the sparse firms that still make straight razors. Most
knowledge is in the form of unpublished communications, letters, and resulting
from telephone calls. Much is also personal experience. For the user I should
advise to write to any of the firms mentioned above, not in the last place for
them to realize the size of the potential market. DOVO has a large catalog.
For collectors there are many places on internet: search with HotBot or
Internet Sleuth with the exact phrase 'straight razor' and you will find them
all. One interesting address may be that of Lorenzi's: 9, via Montenapoleone,
Milano, Italy, a razor's museum dealing with razor's history from prehistory
untill now. I ordered a book of Jean Jacques Perret at Lorenzi's, translated
by Edda Chiodini Lorenzi, which might add additional information for the next
update. Also, all litterature below is not yet completely incorporated in this
version, this also comes with the next one.

CONCLUSION
The straight razor is safe when handeled with normal care, and with learning
some skills it is the only perfect shaving solution for all types of skin,
when compared with other techniques. Opposite opinions or experiences are
caused by mistakes and errors, due to lost knowledge, wrong care, and wrong
techniques.
Straight razors are readily available in many types and forms, and are still
produced in stable numbers. The original hones are getting out of stock, and I
am searching for a lists of manufacturers; this and other topics will be
addressed next month. I'm also working on a parallel homepage because pictures
cannot be placed in a discussion group.
If you send e-mail, please put a copy on rec.knives to stimulate discussion.

REFERENCES
Ritchie R., Stewart R., Standard Guide to Razors. Identification and values.
Collector books, 1999.
The Razor Anthology, A collection of selected articles about razors reprinted
from monthly issues of Knife World. Knife World Publications, 1995.
Reichszinnungsverband des Buchsenmacher- und Messerschmiedehandwerks. Das
Rasiermesser, Sein Werdegang, Seine Pflege. Verlag der Messerschmiede, 1939.

Maarheeze, The Netherlands
March 1999
Arthur Boon

[Peter A H Shires]

Joe,

Thanks for taking the trouble to organise the FAQ's for straight razors. If
I had only found this group - and Arthur Boon, who has been a great help -
earlier, I would have saved myself a large quantity of money and may hours
of frustration!

Australia, where I live, and despite its recent pioneering roots, is devoid
of much in the way of specialist knowledge on this subject. There are a few
older barbers of mainly European extraction who still have some limited
experience, but they are few and far between. My real criticism lies with
the specialty 'razor' shops that sell 'straight razors' or 'cut-throats' and
are invariably staffed by people who have no affinity with, or knowledge of,
their subject whatsoever and sell these fascinating instruments as a
'novelty' rather than with any end practical purpose in mind.

I look forward to reading (and practising!) more on this absorbing and
regular activity.

Peter Shires
Brisbane