Thread: Piet's first straight razor

I've been using electrical razors (Braun) for about 15 years and never enjoyed it. Takes me too long, my face usually ends up with red areas and a few cuts and I can't get it as smooth as I would like. I tried a Gilette cartridge razor for 1-2 months a few years ago but that was no success either.

Recently my current Braun razor died and I felt like trying something new. I decided to buy a brand new NTS Solingen 5/8 stainless straight razor with walnut scales. A set with that razor, a hanging strop and leather paste cost €85.39 (after asking for a discount). At an ebay like website I bought a paddle strop for €12.50 which appears to be unused. I thought that may be useful for practising and honing.

I did get shaving soap but I haven't bought a shaving brush yet. I plan on getting the Tweezerman badger brush. For now I will use some shaving mousse I still have.

Should I start stropping with the hanging strop or paddle strop?

I have already watched a few videos on stropping and shaving to prepare myself. To practise stropping I cut and filed a paint mixer stick to look a little bit like a razor and used it on a belt

Yesterday I bought 3 vintage straight razors from Solingen at the same ebay like website. One was €7.50 (+ shipping costs) and the two others were €6.50 (+ shipping costs). They will need polishing, honing and one will probably need new scales. I thought that would be fun for a future project and have some razors to pick from or lend out to friends if they wanted to try it out. I will post pics of the old razors when they arrive.