I got my first straight off E-bay maybe a week ago. It was the first straight razor I had ever seen. I ground the thing as sharp as I could by scraping it on my driveway. Well almost. I was pretty happy with the shaves I was getting, which weren't great. I must really want this. I went to the Art of Shaving today, and picked up one of their razors. The blade on my new razor is twice the width of the ebay model. It probably weighs twice as much too. I was absolutely shocked at the difference. I had no idea what to expect, so I was happy with the first one, but this new razor is so much better. There is no comparison. I did get one cut. It was on the back of my hand. When I wiped the lather off on my hand, I got a tiny nick. I am happy I started this way. If I started right off the bat with a high quality, Lynn sharpened blade, I wouldn't have any idea how good it is. I think everyone should start out sharpening a piece of angle iron off their driveway, so they can appreciate how good a good razor really is.