new to the straight razor

Ive always been intoresed in straight razors but have always been nurvis about them. but as of this year I got sick of spending $10 a week on mach3's and having my face torn to shreds when the blades go bad after 2 shaves. so last week thanks to the local news station I discoverd that Lynn Abrams lives in my town. so being a collector of german knifes for many years I sort of knew what to look for on ebay. and bought myself a few nice blades. Im realy looking forwerd to lerning about this almost lost art, and my first shave. and I would be greatful for any advise for a newbie.:D

Welcome to SRP! You've certainly come to the right place.

The best advice that I can give at this point is two-fold:

1. Read through those stickies at the top of this forum.
   
2. Buy Lynn's DVD.

The first will give you an idea of what wet-shaving is about and what you might need. The second will fill in all the gaps of the first. :)

Again, welcome to SRP!

Hi Deathshead and welcome! :)

Well, you're in very good company with Lynn as a neighbour! He has a DVD you can purchase which from all accounts is an excellent resource for new (and old) straight users. And from what I've heard he's very approachable too (although you may want to drop him a line first, as I imagine he's also very busy).

Generally when starting out you'll need a decent razor, which it sounds like you have, a strop, and something to sharpen the razor with. A lot of first time users get their razor sharpened by an expert like Lynn as knife sharpening skill doesn't always translate into razor sharpening skill. Learning how to strop correctly is also very important in terms of getting good shaves. Finally, the shaving techniques used with a straight will probably be slightly unfamiliar to you (angles, grips, pressure, direction, stretching, ...).

There's plenty of information here regarding all these things, and plenty of people here ready and willing to help with any and all questions. Make use of the search facility too - many of your initial questions will probably have already been answered before in older threads.

Enjoy the ride mate, and best of luck!

James.

Welcome to SRP!! You are on the right path, if you need anything we're here for you.

Welcome to the SRP!:)
The only thing I can add is to make sure that you have Lynn, or someone else from the SRP, hone your first razor before you attempt to shave with it. Razors from Ebay are usually a long way from shaving sharp.

Welcome to our world:tu

Welcome aboard!! What kind of razors did you end up buying?