New w/ a couple questions

Guys,

I started wet shaving about a year and a half ago. Wet shaving with a disposable razor left me wanting more. Progessed to a Harry's razor which I will say are really nice. Much cheaper than all the other trash out there that you spend a fortune on becasue of the marketing budgets they have to cover. Althought it was a great razor it still left me wanting more. I should have been paid commision by Harry's with the amount of people I had swithc to them. I really do like them for a cartridge razor. I constantly look for ways to do things like men did back when men were still men. This was my reason for making the move to shaving with a straight. I am totally hooked. I bought a Fromm shavette to make sure I would enjoy the straight. Along with the handle and the blade that came with it I bought 10 additional blades. I only got a week and a half in and through 3 blades before I had to up my game. I bought a 5/8's Ralf Aust along with a 3" bridal leather and wool strop set from Straight Razor Designs. Love it. I wanted to say thanks to everyone for all of the great info I have read on this site. I am getting better everyday and have only stuck myself one real good time. My only real questions at this time are, 1) how often should I be applying oil to the blade and 2) I knicked my stop twice the first time I used it becasue I was moving to fast. The knicks are extremly minimal and on the edges of the stop down towards either end. Should I be at all concerned about this?

Thanks guys

Rubber cement works to tack any flaps back down. You can also sand little nicks out. If you do you need to be vey careful to get it cleaned well afterwards so there are no granules stuck in the leather from the sandpaper. One of the bigger issues with nicking your strop is that it is a little hard on the edge. It is quite common for new stroppers to mess up the edge on their razor fairly soon at the start. It most often is an easy fix for an experienced honer. As far as oiling the blade it is preference and climate dependent. I suspect you live in a humid area. I would think that you may want to be very careful with your razor. Dry it well, don't leave it in the bathroom, perhaps get a box and some silica gel/ desiccant and store it in that. Oiling it is an option for sure. I use a needle style oiler and oil my pivots often, and if I am storing or shipping a razor I wrap it in VCI anti corrosion paper. I too live in a humid environment.

If that is all the damage that you have done to your first strop, then you are doing better than when I started. As RezDog said, you can sand out small cuts, glue down flaps, or trim them out and sand them.
Check the toe and heel of your blade and make sure you didn't roll the blade where you hit the strop edge. A rolled edge can cause a lot of pain.

For oiling, any razor that I'm not using within the next 3 days gets oiled and the razors I use most often get their pivot oiled once a week.

I do store my razors in the bathroom, but I don't steam up the bathroom.

And welcome to SRP!

Hi and welcome. All good advice so far. I wouldn't go to overboard with the nicks just a bit of wet and dry and lightly sand out. You will probably nick it more but that's just part of learning. Good thing is that you brought a SRD strop so you can get replacement pieces. Good luck with your shaves

nchoppin,

Welcome to Straight Razor Place.

If the nicks on the edges of your strop are minor, that is not a problem. If you can, sand them down a wee bit and move on. Slow down your stropping, pull the strop taught without overdoing it, and let the weight of the razor be all the pressure you need.

I oil my razors after each shave just to be safe.

Welcome to SRP.

I nicked my strop several times during it's life. I just sand it a bit and it's good to go.

If I don't use a razor for over a week, then I'll oil it up for storage. Otherwise, for a razor that I frequently use (at least 2x weekly), I'll oil the pivot every 2-3 weeks. I use baby oil (mineral oil) and a dropper.

Enjoy the shaves!