Thread: n00b De-Lurks

Greetings,
New here, and never used a straight. I now own one, with a second on the way, courtesy of wojtec by way of ebay. I also picked up one of his black slate stones, an arkansas, and the smooth strop. I've been practicing my wetshaving techniques with cheap single blade disposables (bic something-or-other), a coffee mug, a pure badger brush (not sure of maker, it was a gift) and a puck o' Williams. I've been using straight glycerin as a preshave, and witchhazel as an aftershave. Oh, and a few drops of olive oil on the Williams seems to compensate some for my hard water. Now that introductions are out of the way, I had the first of what I'm sure will be many questions. Are there any honemeisters in Minneapolis/St. Paul area that'd be willing to let me watch them sharpen my razor? I'm certainly willing to send my razor out to be honed, but I'd rather meet someone and get a chance to watch the work being done so that I can ask questions and stuff. I'd be willing to pay a little extra for the priveledge. Thanks in advance!

Paul

p.s. My ebay experience was great. I can't speak for the quality of my items, since I know nothing about razors yet, but everything was exactly as shown. Shipping took slightly less than two weeks, and the one question that I had was dealt with quickly and professionally. I highly recommend open_razor's wares.

That's a great tip for hard water! I'll be sure to keep it in mind, thanks.

I don't know if you will have any luck finding an SRP member there in Nordic land, but if you send your blade to Randy, you can watch him hone it via Skype.

Sorry to hear about the Bic. *spit*

X

Welcome aboard Paul. Good to have ya here

Interesting tip, Paul -- did you use regular or EVOO? Due to my history with acne, i've been wary of putting oils on my face!

- Scott

welcome, and give up williams before you smell like insect repellant .

Seriously though, If you ever want a variety try the van der hagen deluxe you can find at most pharmacy stores such as Walgreens or CVS. The deluxe is the best as it has aloe, lanolin, and other moisturizers. The supreme isn't bad either. After I got a neighbor off williams he swore he'd never go back. He buys the van der hagens locally and some other things online, though I can't get him to try a str8 blade yet.

I guess that I'm on my own for honing in the Twin Cities, bummer. I'll send my second razor out to get a pro-hone as soon as it comes in. I've been experimenting with honing, just going very slowly and lightly. Keeps getting sharper, but still not passing the hanging hair test. I'm not in a huge hurry, but I may get some time to get it there this weekend.

X,
I thought that I'd picked up the olive oil tip here, but I may have found it on another wetshaving forum. "Seems" to work, in that I believe that I get a better lather with it than without it, YMMV.

Ilija,
Thanks, good to be here!

Scott,
I use "Pure" olive oil, I don't mind rubbing it on my face or making little lamps from it, but I wouldn't want to eat it. I'm somewhat prone to acne myself, and I haven't had a problem with it, but I haven't been at this all that long, and I don't shave everyday.

FUD,
I kinda like that smell of the Williams, but I kinda like the smell of insect repellent, too.

I recently did recently find some of the red Palmolive, so I've been using that instead of, or in addition to, the Williams. Seems to make a much better lather, but I don't really like the palmolive on it's own. I'd really like to try Mitchell's Wool Fat, but no local source. I've got no issue with ordering online, I just like supporting local businesses when possible. Oh, and I HATE waiting. ;-)

Paul

Dang, I just got back from a couple of days in Minneapolis.

Have fun.

Lynn