I agree. The Aust is made with much more experience and quality.
IF you are going new, get that. Pony-up and get a 6/8.
Lots of great shavers have been going through the BST here.... Just saying! :)
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I agree. The Aust is made with much more experience and quality.
IF you are going new, get that. Pony-up and get a 6/8.
Lots of great shavers have been going through the BST here.... Just saying! :)
Any razor from SRD will be shipped shave ready. Dovo or The Boker are good razors. I would suggest just order which one looks good to you. As I stated from SRD it'll be shave ready. Since this is your first straight razor I would suggest a round point 5/8 or 6/8 and to watch the shaving videos on the youtube or just order a CD on shaving from SRD. Welcome to the club.
Thanks guys. Based on the feedback and further web search, I've decided on the Ralph Aust 6/8" round point. There are several models to choose from and every one is unavailable at SRD, so I'll have to see which ones come in before making the final selection. All my accessories are in hand, so this is all that's left for my first SR shave.
Robini, thanks for introducing me to this SR Brand, and sharptonn for suggesting the 6/8" model.
Awesome choice in blade size and brand! I would suggest you avoid getting one with a thumb notch for stropping purposes. They aren't the end of the world to deal with but it would be one less thing to have to learn when learning to strop properly...
Bigleaf, you are welcome! You will love the Aust razor. After using a few different razors, I prefer the 6/8" over the 5/8". I feel it gives a bit more feedback on the angle of the blade while shaving. I have also come to prefer the French and Spanish point which is just personal preference.
Good luck with your journey!!
Personal preference. I own both those types of blade and I do not like the king cutter. the Dovo would be my choice if you absolutely have to go with one of those three. Though personally if you're looking in that price range from those makers i'd probably go with a bismark...
All of that said, my personal recommendation would be to start with a vintage shave ready blade from b/s/t here or other folks with good reputations.
Wow! SRD is completely out of Aust razors... Call and see if they may have one not listed on the site and/or when will they receive a shipment. If you this is holding up your first SR shave, don't wait! Get one!! Dovo/Aust/Vintage/Gold Dollar. Just get a properly honed one to start to build your skills. You can ALWAYS get another and another and.....
https://www.griffithshavinggoods.com/ also has some nice options, new and restored. I have heard good things but never purchased/used a razor from them.
Enjoy!
As.far as grind, id go with full hollow or at least 1/2 hollow. A near wedge is a bit harder to learn. This was just my experiance. Others may disagree. If you can wait to buy then go for it, but id just buy a lower cost razor to start with from B/S/T and learn with it. Or two! Two is better. Then if you know this is whar you want to do, then buy a new fancy razor.
Good luck on wharever you go with and welcome to the club. Just remember that its going to take time and many shaves before it truely works well for you.
I called SRD. I was told that it's not a long wait, so I'll hang on a week or so, else I'll buy from someone else. These razors seem hard to find, but one can find them if one looks hard enough. SRD seems highly referenced on the forum for the quality of their honing, so I'd prefer to buy from them. I discovered that one can buy directly from Aust from their web site. One can mix and match options to get the SR of their dreams. Maybe for my 2nd SR...Quote:
Originally Posted by Robini
Is a spanish point blade a bad idea for a beginner?
You definitely know what your getting from SRD! I do not know what the time from order to delivery would be directly from Aust. Also, I would have to assume that the razor will not come shave ready from them, requiring it to be honed prior to use.
As for a Spanish point for a beginner, I do not believe it would have been an issue had I gone that way. The majority of guidance you will receive is a round which definitely carries some merit.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Bigleaf
Bigleaf, you have made a good choice. I have two Aust razors, a 6/8 Spanish point and a 7/8 French point. They are both great razors.
I have a 6/8" Boker silver steel. It is extra hollow and is a superb shaver. I also have a vintage H Boker 5/8 round point. It is also a good shaver, but I prefer larger blades. Unfortunately, most Bokers are 5/8".
I have made several purchases from Griffith Shaving Goods. That includes two Wacker razors, two hones and a shell cordovan strop. Matt custom designed the strop to my specifications. It arrived just this week.Quote:
Originally Posted by Robini
Matt is a great guy to work with. I recommend him highly.
Wanted to also recommend the idea of looking on the B/S/T forum and even getting a couple of razors to see what you like. I tried a few very reasonably priced razors and discovered that what I thought I might like wasn't the case (at least at this early point in my learning curve).Quote:
Originally Posted by Gasman
The other nice thing about a low cost option is that you can learn to strop and maintain the razor at a level that gives you a comfortable shave without worrying as much about it and to have a backup if one is more dull than you want and need to get it touched up. It gives you time to get your stropping dialed in (I think I'm at an OK level on this) and to figure out how you want to touch up the blade when it needs it (I'm not here yet, but it's on my radar next)
The downside of that is that I've become attached to the low cost ones I got as I really like the shaves I"m getting and love those razors.
FWIW, I also bought a couple of things from Griffith's and like the others, I was very happy with the products and service.