Thread: New Guy

Hi all,
Just signed up so thought I'd do the honorable thing and introduce myself.
I'm a 57yr old UK Citizen born and bred living in Leicestershire (the Midlands).
I have been shaving all my life, well since I was 17 yrs old at least!?! Started out using cheap disposable double blade razors (Bic type) then after a short time advanced to the Gillette cartridge razors and pretty much up graded to whatever model they brought out over the years! Up until about 15 years ago when I got totally hacked off at the price of the cartridges!?! It was getting ridiculous plus the sharpness of the blade DIDN'T seem to be lasting as long, so hence buying blades more frequently!?!
So with this I went the DE Safety Razor route and purchased an IKON Open Comb (B1 OCD) married with PERSONNA Platinum blades and along with a 25mm knot Best Badger Hair shaving brush and Taylors of Old Bond Street Sandalwood shaving soap. This set up has served me well for the past 15yrs. For me faultlessly, granted it took a good 3 to 4 months to consistently get a smooth comfortable 3 pass shave that was BBS! Persistence and the willingness to improve definitely paid of! And the x2 major benefits that came from this was shaving was a hell of a lot cheaper now! Plus, and this is the most important one of the two, I was now ENJOYING my shaving experience and routine!!!...
But even after this new found experience I have ALWAYS had a desire to shave with and master a STRAIGHT RAZOR!?! Ever since seeing guys use them in old movies! I just thought that is the proper manly way to shave, not sure why but it just gave me that impression as a kid!?! So a couple of years ago I decided it's now or never time! And after a little investigating and some research of what is required ie razor, strop and such. Well I already had the brush and soap so just need a SR and a strop!?!
Now Razors are a very personal thing I feel and if I was going to do this and keep at it (as only shaving once in a blue moon is not going to impove the end result, that much I DO know) I needed something that to me I could be proud to use!?! THIERS ISSARD is maker's I decided to go with, mainly because their website offered the ability to customise your order and this greatly appealed to me!
I settled on a Corbonsong C135 Steel
Round Point
Mirror Polished both sides
Grind either FULL or EXTRA FULL HOLLOW??
Fleur-de-lis Spine
Etched Le CHASSEUR on the Blade
Rams Horn scales
And yes to me it is a thing of BEAUTY!!!
So my journey with the SR has been hampered somewhat due to injuries (Broken bones mainly) and have to admit a confidenc thing too!?! Getting nicks is no fun!!! But part of the learning curve I accept that, but still frustrating and demoralising and this does reduce the keeness to pick up the SR!?!
But after my recent accident (Coming off my 2018 Honda Fireblade CBR1000RA and breaking x6 bones coupled with a lot of bruises!?!), I decided to give the SR a serious go! I rewatched YouTube videos and took careful note this time, more so and read forum threads from here and other shaving forum sites in the hope of something anything to help progress and advance my skill level with a SR!?! Well YOU guys did it on here for me! Cannot say which thread or which posts for definite and feel it would be unfair to do so anyway as it's a collective joint effort from all on here!!! But what I got was Nice STEEP Blade angle, LESS Blade pressure than you think, Straight down strokes NOT across slicing and a lather that suits your needs!!! All these points have greatly improved my SR Shaving experience, and each time it's getting better! I know shave every 3 days with the SR and achieve a 3 pass shave, at present I'm on x3 shaves with NO nicks, that said I will no proceed to cut my throat at the next attempt no doubt!?!
Anyway that my intro and shaving journey throughout my life to date. Thanks to everyone on here for all your Threads and Posts, they are all worth something to someone at sometime! Oh and thanks for sticking with this and reading.
Cheers to all, Andy

Welcome to the forum
We like pics of your gear and questions

Hi Andy, welcome to SRP. Good on ya for sticking with the straight.

Welcome Andy!

Thanks for the warm welcome gents. We'll guess it's only right and proper that you get to see MY Special Straight Razor!?!

Welcome Andy. Nice setup.

Hello Andy and welcome to SRP.
Nice to see you took the first step. That’s some really nice looking gear. It only gets better from here. Practice and patience are the keys to success.
Enjoy your time here on the forum.

Pete <:-}

Welcome aboard. Are u going to look into honing, now. That's the other side to straight shaving. Periodic maintenance will come due, every so often. Specially when new to straights.

Those that don't hone, have two or more razors at ready, so they can send it out to someone, to hone it.

Thanks for the warm welcome gents.
@outback regards Honing, yeah, I have looked into this and again done some research. WOW this is one hell of a Rabbit Hole to go down!?! And sadly due to work and home life commitments I don't really have the time to learn this fine art!?! Plus the added expense of stones! This does grieve me somewhat, as I feel it is an essential part of SR shaving!!! For the guys that undertake this skill I fully admire their skill and dedication to producing the finest/ultimate edge.
Yes because of my lack of Honing ability I have obtained a 2nd SR a nice Dubl Duck Goldedge Square Point 11/16 in great condition! Again sadly due to home life commitments ( I have a WIFE who has a BIG HORSE and we also have a Dog! These ALL come before me!!! My choice!) I don't have the finances to start a SR collection!?! But I have promised myself one SR as and when I find it and that is to be a WADE and BUTCHER Square Point minimum 6/8 max 8/8 with Black scales in great condition!?! Not sure at present which model but something that is Special and possible rare!?!

There is no screaming rush as this no doubt will be expensive and a one off purchase!?!

.......Ignore 3rd photo, added by mistake and don't know how to REMOVE it!?!.....


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Welcome Andy. Glad you decided to join us. You sound like a very methodical guy and that will serve you well with straight shaving. The rule of thumb is 100 shaves is what it takes to get really proficient; over the hump so to speak. If you're enjoying it and getting good shaves already then you're ahead of the curve.
Sorry to hear about your spill on the bike. There are many other riders here. I don't currently own a bike but also live with an injury from a spill years ago. It's minor and I hope yours are too. There are motorcycle threads here you might enjoy.
That's a nice set up you have. I think you will be happy with that for a lifetime and if you are lucky a son or other family member may be privileged as I and many others are to have an heirloom. I have a razor from my father that I am pretty sure belonged to my grandfather and I cherish it deeply.
As far as honing, you don't have to invest a king's ransom to get started. Many of us have but that is largely from HAD: Hone Acquisition Disorder. I will warn you though to beware. It is quite insidious and can infect you too. My suggestion would be to get a good flax linen or hemp fiber strop and some plain canvas pasted with chromium oxide on one side and possibly ferric oxide (red jewelers rouge) on the other (plenty of threads about that here). This will keep you going for quite a while. You can also get one or two good finishers since what you have is already shave ready. My suggestion would be a thuringian or a coticule. Both of these can be slurried to take you back further in the progression, then thin the slurry out with plain water to get to a good clean finish. You can stay keen and shave ready indefinitely with those few items.
Again, glad to have you with us here and look forward to hearing about your progress.