Intro to Forum

[karlr]

Hi All,

Joined only a short while ago. I've been "lurking" for a while.
I've shaved with DE for a number of years, went to the dark side with the Electric razor for a while, returned to blades again. Been using a Mach 3 for ever. Recently I've decided to try a straight razor again. My Father had one and moved to DE when I was very young but I always loved the shave I got from my barber when he used his straight razor and wished I would do it.

I recently bought a shavette I've been using Merkur blades in. It didn't take long to master it so I decided it was time to move on to bigger and better things. I've been using Ebay to try to find a nice razor but I'm not much of an "Ebay'er" so i lost out on many good blades IMHO. But I just got lucky and got what looks like a nice one.

H.BOKER & CO. ANTIQUE STRAIGHT RAZOR WITH BOX NEAR MINT - (eBay.ca item 300282653493 end time 30-Dec-08 17:45:35 EST)

I paid $56 USD for it and think I got a fine blade for a bargin price. I'll have to reserve the wOOhoos until I get it in my hands.

So that's my story, Look forward to chatting with many of you.

Happy new year... yeah I'm early but I hate to be late.

[chee16]

welcome! i am just over a year into straight shaving and these forums are the best resource i have found by far. watch all the videos and read all the tutorials as everyones technique is different so trying things a different way every once in a while helps, atleast for me it did. if you have gotten the hang of the shavette then i am thinking you are well on your way anyways.

that looks like a great buy for your first real straight. my Boker is one of my best shavers, very smooth and stays sharp pretty well, so far anyways.

welcome again and good luck!

[nun2sharp]

Nice Boker! Be sure to let us know how it shaves!

[dward]

Welcome to SRP!! Don't be afraid to ask questions. There's a wealth of knowledge here.

Nice razor.

[AFDavis11]

Welcome! Let me know when you find it too. I can stop being such a pain in everyones side! LOL

Have fun and enjoy spectacular shaves!

[Mike7120]

Welcome to SRP!

That's a nice razor. You might want to send it off to get professionally honed before you use it.

[karlr]

Thanks for the warm welcome.

I'm really looking forward to the razor. I have not found a place to TLC the razor yet. I'm thinking my barber is the first place to start. He is a long time "old school" barber, and an "Italian" soccer fan. I'm a German fan so we bump along nicely, all in good fun of course.

I'm look forward to the wealth of knowledge here, I have a lot of wood working sharpening skill that will hopefully transfer to straight razors.

Cheers
Karl

[JimmyHAD]

Welcome to SRP !

[kahunamoose]

Sending the blade off to a honemeister is a good way to get a sure fire quick start. The short list is here in the classified /member services section. Others may PM you if you post looking for honing services. Figure about $20, and you will have a good reference blade as you try to learn how to do it yourself.

If you’ve already done tool or knife sharpening, pride and a few pre-existing hones is probably telling you to do it yourself. Though it is by no means the same skills and process, if you can do one you can probably do the other. You may need a finer stone, the Norton 4000/8000 is a great place to start. Also maybe a way to polish your edges, whether it be a super fine stone or a paddle strop with fine abrasive smeared on the leather. And you will need a plain leather strop for every shave use. You will have fun no matter what.

[karlr]

Great advise. I live in Ottawa, so I'm lucky to have Lee Valley HQ 20 mins. from home. I have plenty of course stones for my plains and chisels. Nothing as fine as 8000. I geuss I'll have to make a shopping trip to Lee Valley. Poor me.

I like the idea of a reference hone, I've been using a shavette with Merkur blades so I have an idea of what I'm looking for, but I'm expecting even better from the real thing.

I'm sure the forum will be a great asset to my learning.

Tks again
Cheers
Karl