Thread: Hey there, Newbie here.

Hello all, I've had 2 straight razors tucked away in a box for years, can't even remember where I got them from. I have always liked the look of straight razors but never really thought of trying them out till now. One is a Boker king Cutter and the other is Moutin & Kirspel. I'll have to buy a stone and strop to take care of them.

I thought I'd post up a few pics of them and start learning on how to use them and sharpen them. I guess I have a few things to learn but I'm very anxious to get started. I know I've come to the right place. Take care all, Chris

ps: sorry bout the pic quality, not the best.

Before you start, you may have to get these professionally honed. You will also need a strop. I would also suggest to visit the wiki for information regarding all aspects of straight razor shaving Straight Razor Place Wiki

If you have any questions, and you will, please do not hesitate to ask.

Al raz.

Thanks alraz

Check the wiki for information on your razors. I believe the "Best Silver Steel" is on the stay away list. It's difficult for me to say though since there are a couple brands that use the term for various lines of razors. Get some advice from Lynn, Glen, Zib or one of the other old-timers.

Noooooooooo ! Sorry for the over-reaction... Don't worry that Tassa razor genuinely comes from Solingen & should be a fine razor.

Moutin & Kirspel, Solingen in 1920, 1922 and 1925, Kasernenstrasse 24 in 1939. Brand names: 'Mundial', 'Sanitas', 'Tassa'. Open-blade razor and safety-razor maker.

As for the Boker best send that to me for disposal Just kidding

hey Kipper Welcome to SRP!

very nice looking razors, as Al suggested please check out the wiki for lots of important info.

First off as the others have said please send those razors to be professionally honed you can find our honemeisters in the classifieds section LINK

why should you do this?
1. You have never sharpened a razor or shaved with one so you don't have a reference for what "razor sharp" really is
2. Hones are very expensive a starter set might cost you $100+ and since you don't know whether you will like str8t shaving it is a big investment.
3. Those are really nice razors and you would probably bang them up while learning to hone. After all who is good at something right away without any practice

my suggestion would be to get them honed by a pro then shave for a month and see whether you like it. If you decide you want to buy more razors and restore and hone them then we'll be here to get you set up

Don't know your backround have you wetshaved before? Used a DE (double edge/safety razor)?

If you haven't wetshaved before you will need a brush (boar or badger), I see you have one in your picture is that one a "vintage" (used) brush? If so I would reccomend getting a new one as you can find a decent one cheap. check out amazon.com for tweezerman or omega.

To help you learn how to lather check out our video section LINK or check out mantic59 video's LINK

You will also need a strop a great beginner strop is "the Filly" from ruprazor.com



Tony Miller at thewellshavedgentleman.com also makes amazing strops



soap that is easy to find is williams and VDH (van der hagen) found at most wallgreens CVS or wallmart. While you are there pick up some WH(witch hazel) this stuff smells pretty bad but works wonders for razor burn which most newbies encounter when they start out.





The easiest to find cream is C.O.Bigelow (relabled proraso) this can be found at bath and body( not to be confused with bed bath and beyond or the body shop) for about $10



One last thing after you do get your razor back from the honemeister DO NOT strop the blade the first time you shave! The blade will come prestropped so just shave and pay close attention to its sharpness. On your second shave strop the blade and shave again if you feel any difference in the blades sharpness you will know it was due to mis stropping on your part and not the honemeister fault.

Good luck and have fun!

sorry for the long winded post

Nice Razors. Great advice too about getting them honed by a pro. Don't do something you might regret later. My experience with Canadian packages, back and forth, between the US is about 10 to 14 days. So you might be without your razors for a month, unless you can find someone in Canada. You will be really happy when they are buttery sharp.

Enjoy!

Ray

Dan (floppyshoes) jumps to mind for Canada. Drop him a PM

mbwhoosh, I've never wet shaved before but I'm really anxious to start. I'm sending both razors to floppyshoes for sharpening since I live only 20 minutes from him in Montreal. My brush is a pure badger from Floris in England, it's about 10 years old but has never been used. What's the difference between a learning strop and a better quality one.? Is Arkansas stone any good for honing razors? The black ones. Thanks for the info.

I honed my razors with Arkansas stones for years & altho it worked it is terribly slow. Maybe you should consider waterstones like Nortons etc. as an alternative.
In any case it's best to focus on stropping & shaving skills at first. Your razors should not need honing after Dan finishes with them unless you somehow damage them.