Thread: Newbie Kit

Just for grins, here's what it cost me to get started shaving with a straight:

Razor and Hone: $21.69 (incl. shipping)
Wapeinica Razor and slate hone from Woj on Ebay

Strop $16.98 (incl. shipping)
From Zeepk on ebay -- bought before I found this forum. It works ok but I'll be buying a nicer one as soon as I can afford it. This one is too short, has crappy hardware, and the leather is really thin. I find the best way to use it is lay it on a flat surface and use it like a paddle strop.

Soap: Williams Mug Soap $0.97 at Wal Mart

Brush: Burma Shave boar bristle $5.50 at Wal Mart

Mug: Free
(I used a coffee mug with the logo of the TV station where I used to work, and a picture of Michigan J. Frog. I love that mug! It's too small for some of the fancier soaps but the Williams fits perfectly.)

Total: $45.14.

Of all these purchases, the only one I regret is the Zeepk strop. The "starter strop" from the Well Shaved Gentleman is only a few dollars more and is a much better value.

Planned upgrades: As finances allow I'm going to purchase a nice badger brush and one of Tony's latigo leather heirloom strops. I have a vintage razor I picked up at the flea market that I plan to restore -- I'm sure that's just the beginning of my RAD. And I want a Norton 4k/8k waterstone.

Well done, Sam! This would be a very good setup (especially with the Tony Miller strop) for a guy on a budget wishing to get going. I'm not sure about that hone though. Can anybody verify that it is a good stone?

Thanks for sharing it.

X

I have the two stones and several razors from Woj - and a strop.

The strop is narrow, and quite long, plus the leather is of relatively poor quality; I say that speaking compared to say, the Dovo Russian leather strops - but it still strops reasonably well.

The razors all seem to be f the same metal and general design, but one has jimps, and the other two don't. Fantastic to hone, and give a good shave, as everyone has borne out.

The two stones are a slate, which came with a small slurry stone, and a translucent Arkansas. I bought them as a kit for my son, who is going to use them also for his leatherworking tools (he's a student saddler). I've taken maybe a dozen passes on each stone. The slate is a typical slurry type stone, but I don't have a feel for how coarse it cuts yet. The Arkansas is a very fine, slow stone, as you might expect. Woj quotes it as being 4000-6000 grit, and I think the slate is rated as coarser than that, possibly 2000, although I rather doubt that? I'll give a try to fully sharpen a blade using them and report back.