Thread: first straight razor shave

This was my first shave with a straight razor. I had read some about how to go about it. Even thought my face might be somewhat bloody after the experience. But it was not. Not even a nick. I bought a Geo. Wostenholm & Sons 9/16 "Peerless" from Gabriel Fanelle . He said it was excellent in the ad. I know when I got it it looked quite nice. So I cut down the right side of my face and it did real well. That was yesterday when i got the razor. This morning I went for a complete shave. I was in a hurry. Finished up with a double edge. Then this afternoon I tried it out again. I liked it real well. For each time I had no cuts, no runs, no drips, and no irritation. But I think I will wait till morning before shaving again. I do need to get some things to put an edge back on the razor though.
whb0- bill

What exactly do you have, right now, to take care of your razor. You really need a strop to maintain the edge, and if you have a pasted strop with Cro2 or Dia. paste, that will keep your edge going for quite some time.

Ray

i really have nothing to speak of. i have run it across some blue jean material and some soft leather i had. i got it 2 days ago.

You really do need to get yourself a strop. Check in the classifieds for dealers such as SRD, Classic Shaving, and even Tony Miller who sells a practice strop. This will become your most used piece of equipment. Start reading different articles in the wiki, especially those describing blade sharpening and maintenance.
If you think you have ruined the edge on your blade I would be willing to take a look at it and resharpen it for the cost of shipping, pm me if your are interested. There are also others listed in the classifieds who could help you with your sharpening if you prefer that also.

Ray

I honed that razor. It's got very good steel. You will continue to get good shaves from it for quite a while if you can get your hands on a decent strop and learn how to use it right. It sounds like you had pretty good success for your first shave!

Keep up the good work. You can always use your other razor to finish off spots as you progress up the learning curve.

Just so you know, I have two strops. One 3" leather/canvass strop and One 4 sides paddle strop which I bought specifically to have different grades pastes on each side. The leather strop is used daily and on every two to three shaves, I will include the pasted strop in on the stroping process. For the Carbon Steel blades, about 10 - 15 passes on the .50 pastes. For the Stainless Steel blades, its every three to four shaves and they get about 15 passes on the 1.0 pastes and about 20 passes on the .50 pastes. Those edges take a greater effort to make very sharp, but they shave so well when they are that sharp.

I thought this would give you some thought on your next purchase.

Good Luck!

Pabster

thank you Utopian it seems quite sharp. i have sharpened knives for years but never a straight edge. any suggestions from you all about a strop. i have one guy i need to call tomorrow about one. he is checking with his leather supplier.