u/Starzingers

Hello ol’ chaps. I recently acquired a grandpa razor from Solingen for around €80. I’m looking for advice on everything I need to get to sharpen it, or learn sharpening with cheaper razors. Seems one requires a whetstone, leather strop and a flattening stone. Can I skip the strop and just use my jeans? 😄

If you were me and had to buy everything from scratch as a beginner, what items would you get? (brand, model). Would help if it’s sold in EU.

Thanks

Fine gentlemen of the Sharpening community, I’ve acquired an old grandpa razor from Solingen. It’s only sharp enough to stick to my thumbnail at a 45 degree angle. And I’m a complete beginner to sharpening.

What would be a great brand for a sharpening stone, without - as we say in Sweden - paying the shirt off my body?

Should I go straight to 8000 grit?

My box of Hojo Green is nearing its end as I received this box of its big brother. The scent profile of these two are unique and similar in a beautiful way. What you get with the green is undeniably quality wood, surrounded by a complex splash of ashy salt, burnt leaves, cooling borneol, marine and forestial notes - weaving in and out in a mercurial manner, leaving a beautiful lasting scent in the room. Hojo red instead hones straight into the kyara that peaks out in glimpses in the former, hitting a constant resinous tone with full clarity, like a really good dark chocolate. But leaning toward cool gentle spicyness, supported by very restrained musk, at times notes reminiscent of salty liquorice. Hojo Green might be considered the rambunctious younger brother, a pungent personality that will not be ignored. Hojo Red is the more measured and disciplined older brother, leaves the room tidier than when he came. Both require patience and are acquired tastes. To put it another way... a prodigious jazz trio, and a ruminative shakuhachi played by an old master.