Boker Anthrazit 4/8 Round Head Razor Blade Discussions | Drop

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Boker Anthrazit 4/8 Round Head Razor Blade

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Boker Anthrazit 4/8 Round Head Razor Blade

killermarcus

May 15, 2018

Do any of you have any shaving suggestions for a new comer or is everyone else here new to a straight edge

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Kavik

5531

May 15, 2018

killermarcusThat's a very open ended question lol
Been shaving with straights for years now. A specific question I might be able to answer, but for general new use questions, try here: http://shavenook.com/forumdisplay.php?fid=45 Or here: https://straightrazorpalace.com/beginners/ And youtube (but be careful in finding well respected tutorials, read the comments. There's a LOT of terrible information out there by people who don't know half as much as they think they do)

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killermarcus

May 16, 2018

KavikOk so, a)will any old decent quality leather work for a strap. B) will I likely need to sharpen the razor when I get it. C) when I need to eventually actually sharpen it, should I get a certain type of stone

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Kavik

5531

May 16, 2018

killermarcusYou can make your own strop if you like. You need something that won't cup (curl up at the sides) so i'd stick with around 8oz or better. I've used veg tan cowhide, horsehide. Cordovan and latigo are also used. I prefer a clean leather, with just a little neatsfoot oil to keep it conditioned. But some use compound on the leather to add a light cutting power to the stropping to lengthen your between sharpening
I can't say about initial sharpening. I've only bought one new razor, a Fromm, and the edge on that was garbage. Never bought a Boker though. The rest I own are vintage/antiques that needed restoration and honing
Sharpening options are just about endless as well. What makes this hard for one person to answer any of these questions is the sheer number of options and personal preferences. Someone's ideal edge may irritate your skin. Your idea of razor sharp might be someone's dull.
Give me a bit and I'll share what I've used for sharpening

edit: Essentially what you need is something around 1000 grit for setting bevels, then need to move up through grits to around 8k minimum (some will go up to 30k....I go 12-15k myself) And something to keep your sharpening surfaces dead flat.

some examples of what I've used: DMT diamond plate for flattening stones.
I started out with a set of Norton Combo stones. They did alright to start, but eventually I traded up. Had the 220/1000 (1000 was good for bevel setting, 220 only ever got used for removing major chips, not really intended for ever touching a razor) Then the 4000/8000 for polishing the bevels.
I got rid of those when I got the Gesshin 200, 2000, and 5000 grit stones from JapaneseKnifeImports. More expensive, but MUCH nicer stones. Though to be honest they get used for knives more than razors at this point. LOVE them though. The 2k grit stoe cuts as fast as most 1k stones, but leaves a finer finish to start. And I swear the 5k stone feel like a finer finish than 5k too, but also works relatively fast for that rating.
Also have a "Chinese 12k" from Woodcraft, if memory serves.
And the "Welsh tri hone" set.....it's 3 unknown slates estimated to range from 8k-15k grit. Bought from this guy: https://www.ebay.com/sch/aj_1001/m.html?_nkw=&_from=&_ipg=&_armrs=1&rmvSB=true though he doesn't have sets at this point, he does have some individuals that are intended for razors
Also have a Natural combo La Grise Coticule....which is a whole separate animal. Usage is different from regular stones.

You can also go with lapping films on a slate or glass backing plate (the cheapest option short term, but won't last as long as stones will. The advantage being you don't need to worry about flattening your stones all the time, and less mess/no need to soak stones. It's a good place to start until you're sure you want to invest in this long term.

As for methods of use, you'll really have to check the links I posted. It's way too much to get into here, and I'm not enough of an expert to try to really be teaching the methods.

Or.......buy a second razor to cycle out, and find someone who hones razors professionally. Surprisingly, the razor purchase ends up being the cheapest part of this 'hobby'

killermarcus

May 16, 2018

Kavika stone is not a worry for me i need one for some other tools i have. so i would likely be good with the ebay stone and a strop.

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Kavik

5531

May 16, 2018

killermarcusJust "a stone" won't be enough for a razor As I said, you'll need a way to keep the stone dead flat. (if not a diamond plate then a marble slab with wet/dry paper). Even what's flat enough for knife sharpening doesn't cut it for razor honing.
I would never use my razor hones on my tools unless I was ready to flatten them before using for the razor again..... And even at that, only if that tool had a very fine (and flat, like a plane blade) edge that had already been sharpened and just needed polishing
The minimum I've ever heard of people using is 2 different grit stones, and that's not ideal unless your REAL good at it.
A stone you can cut a bevel with is too rough for a final polish. And any stone that's good enough for a final polish would take HOURS if you had to reset a bevel
I'm curious if you had a specific stone in mind when you said that?