Thread: Learning new things

Hello, am new to all this straight razor stuff. Have previously grown a beard to avoid shaving and now shave only if I have somewhere important to go. Was given two razors a while ago as they didn't have a home. They are a Flic 6/8 and a Gotta 120 4/8. Both have had about 15 to 20 years hibernation but are still sharp enough to shave. Some very light rust and edges are both unblemished. Interested in any information about razors and are they suitable for shaving with in the modern day.

No they are not. They may be sharp, but shaving sharp is different. While learning how to shave, it’s important to have the edge in the best possible condition. Plus stropping is an important part to maintain the edge, so start with a pro honed edge and if you post your location maybe someone is close to you to give a guiding hand or fix your equipment up.

Technique and experience will make shaving with a subpar edge doable but when new, you have none. Give yourself a chance to succeed.

I figured they would need a good hone and polish before they could be used for shaving have been sharpening various blades for about fifty years from handmade knives to combs and cutters for shearing hand pieces and butchers /chefs knives. Question was more are the blades still an option for using or do I go and spend money on new blades. Rather like the idea of using the old chefs knives. I have used a strop on numerous occasions previously and am not too worried about my ability to keep the edge on them in top condition.

Welcome to the forum and yes vintage straight razors are a very viable entry into shaving with straight razor. The majority of my straight razors are vintage ones and shave as well as the few new ones I have.

As TC suggested, they should be honed by someone proficient in honing straight razors before use. Honing a straight razors is a little different than sharpening a knife. If you have not done so yet a read of the forum's library contains a lot of info is a good primer.

https://shavelibrary.com/w/Shave_Library

After reading that I am sure you will have more questions which the forum members will be glad to help you out with.

Bob

Hi, welcome aboard! I'm new too and can assure you chose the better place to learn!
Cheers!

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Welcome to SRP.

The brand "Gotta" is known as being good. The brand "Flic" I personally have not heard of but maybe others have and will chime in here.
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Just a heads up.....many knife guys have come here and thought they knew how to hone a straight razor. To my knowledge none have been successful.
A razor is a different animal. You do have a good foundation to start with so your learning curve will be significantly less.
Post some pic's of your razors and hones and lets get you started.

Just my 2¢

Where do you live? A member may be near you.
Post photos so we can better understand condition.

Have posted pics on Introduction thread, the Flic razor has what appears to be a crescent and star mirrored at each end of the Flic

What you have learned could help but if you are thick headed like me it could work against you. I had learned to hone on my own and so I was slow to take good advice because I thought I had a handle on it much more than I did. Once I started to listen things made more sense in terms of cause and effect and it improved from there rapidly. I'm sure you are much wiser than I but if I had a piece of advice worth listening to (and I'm not saying that I do) it would be keep an open mind and think of it as something new to be learned. Lots of people here to help and already a lot of good information. Check out gssixgun's videos for starters. I know he has some links to YouTube videos posted here somewhere. Good luck to you. We are here to help.

I have already figured out it is like most things in this world, easy to watch, harder to do and even harder to learn to do properly. Much like shearing sheep.
I am not rushing any of this I will probably buy a new razor first to learn to shave with. I also think I will try to acquire a couple of cheap razors to learn and practice my honing on. After I have watched videos and read more about the subject.