Hello from Central Illinois. Well I want to learn the art of the straight razor shave. I currently have a old straight that was my Dad's. I do not use it but love the nostalgia. I look forward to learn all I can from this board. Thanks Flint
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Hello from Central Illinois. Well I want to learn the art of the straight razor shave. I currently have a old straight that was my Dad's. I do not use it but love the nostalgia. I look forward to learn all I can from this board. Thanks Flint
Flint,
Welcome to the board! take you time and read through the sticky notes and then watch all the videos while you are waiting for your razor to come back from a proper honing session with one of our gurus. There is a lot to learn most of it comes with practice but understanding the concepts from reading and seeing the videos will make it easier!
Welcome aboard...You are in the right place to start with the straights. You will find a friendly group of people here that are willing to help any way you may need.
Welcome Enjoy Learn
Cool you've got your Dad's straight
Spike
Welcome to SRP!!!!
Welcome Flint.
You first need to establish how sharp she is. Can you shave hairs off your arm with it? If yes, you only need a strop, if not you still need a strop as well as getting her honed. Unless you want to be self sufficient from the start it is recommended you get her honed by one of the honemeisters, there might be one living near you. I would ask in the basic honing forum.
Well guys it will shave hair off of my arm. I do have a old strop that was my Dad's as well. Question can I use regular shave foam with this? I assume not I tried it with pre shave oil and and edge sensitive skin foam and boy did it grab my hair on my face. I tried different angles as well but to no avail. Thanks for the help. Flint
Seems your razor is sharp enough. I am not sure what you mean by shave foam but if it is the goo from a spray can you better not use it. Skin prep is very important for SR shaving. You need proper soap or cream applied with a brush to your face before you let the blade come near it.
Welcome to the forum Flint.:D
Better late than never, sorry I'm late posting by the way.:o Some excellent advice has already been handed out I see.
Well see you around the boards and I hope you enjoy your stay here.
I have to disagree with Kees here (respectfully, of course). I have found many razors that are sharp enough to remove arm hair that are nowhere near 'shave ready'. YMMV, though. Sending the blade to one of the honemeisters here is probably the best advice. Or purchase a Norton 4K/8K hone and take the plunge.
You're right of course. I should have said: shave hairs effortlessly off your arm with no pressure at all. OTOH the shave test will eventually decide if it really is sharp enough.
If despite a good arm hair test and a +/- 30 degree angle you still cannot shave comfortably you'll have to have the blade checked by a honemeister to see whether there's a problem with the razor.
+1 on the advise from Kees. I would almost vote for sending it out to a honemeister just to make sure you have a good edge on it. This may be inappropriate but there is a nice tutorial on all things dealing with straight razors on another forum: The Interactive Guide to Straight Razor Shaving - Badger & Blade
There are also many excellent resources here but this reference puts a lot of information in one place.
Cheers,
Steve