Thread: first set up

your razor is already honed, no need to worry about that part.

if by regular shaving cream you mean the foam in the aerosole cans that would work more or less, but you'll probably get better results if you spend an extra $6-$10 for a cheap brush and shaving soap at your local drugstore/walmart/walgreens....
if you mean proper shaving cream that is brushless that may work ok too (i've got one here to try, and the one i've heard is no good at all is the herban cowboy stuff).

if you order from srd the blade should come shave ready so you won't be needing any hones. that dovo best quality is a good razor i went the same route.

as far as "standard" shaving cream, if you're referring to anything out of an aerosol can the answer is most likely no. your face won't be getting the lubrication and protection it needs from the straight razor.

Yeah, i was refering to the areosol stuff. hahah yeah ill definitely check out the walmart for that, i got the styptic as well....hopefully i wont have to use it too much. Thanks!

Chris Welcome

A little off topic here but I just wanted to tell you, take your time when you start shaving and pay attention to what your doing. You dont have to try and shave your entire face first time, and you can definitly do this without getting all cut up. Your first few shaves might not be that great, but they will get better, trust me.

Try to acquire a cheap razor to practice honing before you attempt it on your nice razor.... it took me a few weeks on the hone before I could get a decent edge, and I would have trashed my shaver...

-Chief

Originally Posted by BHChieftain

Try to acquire a cheap razor to practice honing before you attempt it on your nice razor.... it took me a few weeks on the hone before I could get a decent edge, and I would have trashed my shaver...

-Chief

touching up a razor on a naniwa 12000 is very straightforward. the hard part about getting razors to shave well happens on the low grits.

i just touched up a couple of razors on that very hone (i know i've been at this for a while, but i don't think it's going to be a challenge to anybody). i also remember getting the same feedback from guys who have bought other finishing hones from me (coticules, escher/thuringians, barber hones) saying that the touch up worked great and for some of them that was the first time putting razor to a hone.

the bottom line is that getting a practice razor is fine, but you want that practice razor to have been made shave-ready before by somebody with experience. Note, 'shave ready', not 'pretty close' by a guy who has only started honing recently - every single time I've gotten one of these they have needed to be taken back to stage zero for new bevel after bread-knifing it.

incidentally i consider that razor - cheap, easily replaceable and thus good for practice.