Thread: What pearl of wisdom can you give a beginner?

There is so much great advice mixed throughout the forums.. This thread is an effort to organize these "pearls of wisdom" into one common thread. It could end up a pamphlet or a book!

1. Buy a "shave ready" razor from a reputable web sight like this one's classifieds or SRP member selling on EBAY... ask the seller how he sharpens his razor and why he calls it "shave ready". How has he tested the "shave ready" status... Hanging Hair, shave test..etc...A "New" razor is frequently not honed to a "shave ready" edge.

who else has a pearl of wisdom for a new straight razor shaver?

Maq

2.) 50 Linen/50 Leather a day keeps the honer at bay.

If you think you're using very light pressure you probably aren't - try using even less.

Spend $2 and invest in a stypic pencil.

My sig line below on holding the razor.

don't cheap out on consumables IE .. shaving soap/cream ,AS, pre shave oil etc ...

Don't eat yellow snow.

Slow down and be patient - this stuff isn't easy or people never would have stopped doing it in the first place.

Interesting one. Most of what I found useful in the forums went into the Straight Razor Place Wiki, especially the Frequently Asked Questions - Straight Razor Place Wiki and the beginners guide (see sig, also available as a PDF - which somewhat qualifies as a book, I should hope).

My personal findings (some of them marked by mind numbing simplicity, I came to realise) are below. JimmyHAD's "light touch" and Bart's "finer points of angles" as well as Lynn's and Glen's remarks on honing being my personal "pearls of wisdom".

Things I learnt during my previous 999 posts

1. Having a shave ready razor is absolutely essential. My first razors were not, and this had a rather negative impact on my initial shaving experience.
2. Shaving two or three times a day does not necessarily make the learning curve any less steep. It will, however, affect your marital life, up to a point where your wife might be secretly looking for professional help for you.
3. A wider blade (5/8 or, in my humble opinion, 6/8) is better suited for beginners than the 4/8 blades I started with. 4/8 blades are easy to manoeuvre, but they also make it difficult to watch the angle of the blade against your face.
4. A 1/2 hollow grind is a good compromise between feedback (which you get in spades from a full hollow) and the ability to cut hair with slightly wrong angles.
5. One razor is good. Two are better. Three are the beginning of marital difficulties, or early warning signs of a neurotic personality disorder. Replace "razor" with "hone", "strop", "brush" were applicable.
6. A brush is a tool with which to apply lather to a face. Expensive brushes can, but not necessarily will, enhance your shaving experience.
7. Unlike inexpensive brushes, most inexpensive creams, soaps, aftershaves, etc., will have a negative impact on your shaving experience. Expensive products like those made by Castle Forbes or Art of Shaving, tough, have the ability to change your shaving life forever.
8. Knowledge transfer is not always possible. While using a bigger hammer if you cannot fix the problem is a proven path to success when it comes to IT security, it does not work well with straight razors. If a razor pulls because it is not shave ready, additional force will not make your shave more successful, let alone comfortable. Holding the razor in a grip that is a light as possible, and applying no pressure to the blade against your skin, will remove hair consistently, and efficiently, provided that your razor is sharp.
9. Strops get nicks. Buying an expensive strop will not help you to learn stropping faster, or better. It will only lead to your turning an expensive strop into a nicked pasted strop, eventually.
10. There are many hones on this planet. While it may be tempting to buy as many of them as you can, no stone, or combination of stones, will turn you into a honemeister. Practice will, though, but it takes a lot of time.

Things I learnt during my previous 1000 posts - Straight Razor Place Forums

1. Big blades are good. Bigger blades are gooder. As my technique gets better, I am learning to appreciate 8/8 razors.
2. There is more to life than lavender, lime, and sandalwood. In fact, there is even a life beyond Castle Forbes. But when it comes to lime, nothing beats Castle Forbes's shaving cream.
3. Apart from face preparation, stropping is the single most underestimated contributing factor to a successful shave. Being the proud owner of the three best strops on earth, and having received a stern stropping lesson from Bart, my edges now last forever.
4. Even if they don't, I can now fix every problem I have with any of my razors with just one hone, a Coticule. Thanks again to Bart for another round of lessons. Honing life can be fun!
5. Organising a European SRPCon can be rather challenging. But you can have lots of fun, even if you're only four people. Especially if you manage to buy a Dorko 8/8 300 in the process.
6. Speaking of NOS razors, they are generally overpriced. Unless you're looking for a specific model and make, you'll be much better off financially buying something from the Classifieds.

1. If you don't buy from somewhere renowned for selling TRULY shave-ready razors, send your blade off to be professionally honed. Not only will this kickstart your straight shaving hobby, you'll also have a benchmark for what sharp is when you're finally ready to touch your razor to a hone yourself. There are many very well respected members here who offer professional honing at reasonable rates, including none other than Lynn Abrams himself.

2. Stropping is one of, if not THE most important aspect of owning and maintaining a straight razor. Stropping seems simple at first, and it actually is, but many people often become overconfident and end up stropping improperly. It's an activity that should NOT be taken lightly, and I urge every beginner to take the time to truly become proficient with it.

Improper stropping technique can result in rounding an edge or even damaging it. The beginner, not having the experience needed to know much of a difference, feels that his razor or shaving technique is at fault (not saying that's not part of it), and feels the need to put his time and energy in the wrong places when their stropping was to blame the entire time.

3. Don't go hone crazy just yet; there's plenty of time for that later. Odds are, if you buy a razor that's already been professionally honed by someone that knows what they're doing, you won't need any hones for quite some time. It would help, however, to pick up some chromium oxide to paste a piece of balsa wood or an inexpensive strop with for the occasional touch-up. This goes back to what I said above, though: Your stropping technique will greatly increase the longevity of your edges.

BTW: You mentioned a beginner buying off eBay. Personally, I think it's a smarter idea to buy from someone here or, if they're looking to buy a new razor, from a place like Straight Razor Designs or Classic Shaving. That way, a newbie KNOWS what they're getting. eBay is often a crap shoot and they can end up becoming frustrated because their razor wasn't as described. There are, however, some guys here that also sell on eBay.

Good luck...