Thread: Hello Everyon, Newbie here with a comment and question

This is my first post and it will tell on me. My experience first...
I have never used a straight razor, well almost never. I traveled to Spain in the mid 90's and bought a razor for it's looks, gold inlayed inscription on the polished blade. I kept it as a riminder of the day I visited Tolado (sp?) with friends. OK lets skip a few details and step in front of the mirror with me. My wife (29 years) bought me a kit from"The Art of Shaving". How hard can it be? I lather-up my badger brush, soap my face from ear to ear and position my razor so that it fits just so and start at mt right sideburns and... STOP! Fear filled my eyes and my wife knew it too. That thing is not playing. This is not for beginers. Whew! I felt it grip my skin, perhaps catch my skin would be better, as it did not slide like I thought it would. I would like to try again though. How would I know if my razor is good enough? How do I prepare?

Thanks in advance for all your help.
Paul

Welcome to SRP and to the straight razor train may your ride be smooth and long...

I would suggest first reading the stickies in the newbies forum and watching some of the Videos
Most likely that razor you have is not shave ready but most of that is in the stickies and threads....

The newbie sticky is a little out of date and is being up dated as I type but the actual info in there is pretty timeless.... Also the shaving forum is packed with info for new guys

Do some reading then if you still have more questions please voice them on here... we are more than happy to help new members get started on the right track.....

yes sixgun is right read a lot you might even want to send your razor out to have it honed by a professional, im stubborn so i didnt but i really need to to have one to compare my honing with,take your time also you will be rewarded by shedding less blood lol kidding everyone gets a nick or 3 when starting out. it sounds like your wife is supportive that is great i see lots of presents in your future

I can give you some somewhat noob to noob advice. When I started out I spent a year using just a Dovo Shavette, along with a crappy zeepk razor and strop to practice with. Now I know a year (Im not saying take a year, thats just what I did) is a long time to wait to class up, but taking it slow to start with helps in the long run.



And having SWMBO on board helps much.

Originally Posted by Roadie

When I started out I spent a year using just a Dovo Shavette, along with a crappy zeepk razor

Oh no the dreaded Zeepk and you did a year with it!!! You are a stubborn man

Yeah as others said, do some reading and you'll probably learn a lot. It's hard to tell you over the internet whether your razor is sharp enough or not. Art of shaving sells relabeled Thiers-Issard and the new Thiers-Issard that I've had were sort of shaving, but on this forum we most certainly like our razors sharper than that. You can always send your razor out to one of the guys who offer honing service (gssixgun is one of them). I suspect if the razor doesn't need honing they won't charge you for it and shipping isn't terribly expensive. Actually having your razor honed isn't expensive either - considering the amount of money and time most people spend on it.

Greetings Paul and welcome to the forum.

As Gugi says it sounds like your razor needs honing. Did you get a strop in your shaving kit? You will need one to keep the edge on your blade after each shave (or before depending on your preference).

Well done to your wife and her support, some of the Gents have unsympathetic SWIMBO's when it comes to RAD (Razor Aquisition Disorder). As my Hubby is also a membr here and we both straight shave this leads to a lack of funds in our case!

Enjoy your time here and your future shaves.