Thread: horrible first straight razor shave experience

I decided i would try straight razor shaving.

However I do not make a lot of money. Buying a 100 straight razor to me seems insane. I bought a Gold Dollar off amazon for 20 dollars. I bought a strop. I already had 250/1000/6000 grit King stones i use for sharpening my knives.

The blade when it came felt a little sharp but i knew i could make it more sharp with the stones. So i went through the stones. It did feel sharper than factory. It shaves the hair on my arm off with no problem. Then i stropped it. I dont feel like i can sharpen it any more. The blade i bought is
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

A few days later here i am. I have cut the hell out of my face every time i try to shave. In addition to that it doesnt sppear to cut well. I always have to finish off with a mach 3 to get a baby smooth face.

I have watched a LOT of videos on how to sharpen and shave with a straight razor. I have a feeling that a lot of people are going to say buy a dovo for 100+ or get it professionally sharpened and that will fix it. For some reason i dont think that will.

I just dont know what else to do. 20 dollars for me is a lot to blow on a straight razor. Even if coughing up the money to have it professionally sharpened or get an expensive razor does fix it, I dont think i would be willing or able to front that money. To me its a gamble and not worth the risk.

What are the other options do i have?
How long did it take you to learn the proper technique to shave?

EDIT:
I feel like i can shave OK (OK being loosely) around everywhere except the chin. I have a hell of a time cutting anything around the chin. The sides of my face or throat i can watch the hair come off with the first stroke. However the chin with little pressure or even a lot of pressure, i just cannot get it to cut at all.

For twenty dollars you have to think about the steel and craftsmanship that you will be working with even buying a knife at twenty dollars and getting something of true quality is tough when it comes to steel. A production knife in s30v with a factory edge and a blade length of 3 inches is fifty dollars. Anyway Goodluck with your shave I have a dovo and love it.

Unfortunately I would say this is a case of "you get what you pay for". Also, consider how much you spend/year on those mach 3 cartridges. If you're like me, I was spending around $20-30/month, so dropping $100 on a decent straight was only a few months worth of what I'd be spending anyway. I'd also be willing to bet that you could spend around $50 on a decent shavette and get better results than that $20 straight.

Welcome to SRP.
Honing and shaving with a straight razor are two separate skills that both take time to develop. It took me several tries before I was able to produce a somewhat shave ready blade. $100 may sound like a lot, but you can use that $100 razor for the rest of your life and never pay for another cartridge. If my budget were that tight, I'd order a $17 Parker Shavette and a couple $1.99 packs of DE blades. That will get you the razor and over a month of blades. How much do you pay for a months worth of Mach3 cartridges? Where do you live? There may an SRP member near by that can help you out with your Gold Dollar razor.

How much do you pay for a months worth of Mach3 cartridges? Where do you live? There may an SRP member near by that can help you out with your Gold Dollar razor.

I dont really buy mach3 razors. I just use that as a term towards disposable razors, or like someone was going to "google" something even though google is just one search engine.

I normally dont even buy razors, but only acquire new ones through coupons in which i get them for free. At worst case scenario i will buy new razors once every year. I normally cringe my face when shaving as i often have dull disposable blades. That was what looked interesting about a straight razor is that i can re-sharpen it.

The only time i could fork over 100+ to a razor, is tax return time. That and if i knew i was going to switch to straight razor instead of disposables. From researching it looked like the main difference of an expensive straight razor to a cheap one was the amount of shaves between honing it. To whether you hone it ever other shave or every other 100th shave, sort of thing.


I live in Elmira NY. That would be awesome if someone could help me.

Given your budget, I'd be looking more at something like this:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...86DJSGQGA0R2DF

Shavettes (in my opinion) are tougher to use than actual straights, but if you don't have the money for a decent razor, plus a strop, they're a good option. I have the Parker and that plus a decent cream can get good shaves.

Actually, now that I'm thinking of it, I don't use my Parker since buying my Feather shavette. If you want to hit me up on a PM with your address, I'll mail you my Parker plus blades. I have a few different blade types (Windsor, Shark, and Feather). I won't be using it anymore so you're welcome to it if you want it. I probably have 100+ blades so if you can get the hang of using it, it should last you a very long time.

From your post i really dont know what to say to help you, except to keep trying to hone the gold dollar, if you dont want to put anything into it financially you are not going to get a lot out.
Majors offer is a kind one, i suggest taking it up, if however you decide it isnt for you then pass it on in the same manner as it was given.
The other option is to look at a double edge razor, they can be had fairly cheaply and blades are $15 for 100, or close to a years worth of shaving potentially, with a decent sharp blade.

I took Major up on his offer. Again...Thank you Major.

I think what i am going to do is learn to shave with this razor/blades Major is giving me and learn to hone this gold dollar. While at the same time researching good $100 dollar straight razors that i can buy in the future. What are some of the qualities that i would be looking for? Do you need anything higher than an 8K grit stone for straight razors? Would would be the decent grit for finishing a straight razor?

Again thanks.

wow 110....

Yes i do have a strop.