Thread: Beginner looking for cheapest usable SR

Originally Posted by Alltracturbo

Yes, this is pretty much correct. I don't need the razor to be shave ready because I wan't to sharpen it myself.
......
Really need a shave brush? I have access to one, but don't use it.

What about shave soap? Wouldn't regular shaving cream or even bar soap work? I use both now with a regular Mach 3 turbo razor. I'm 23 and have been using the mach 3 for about 5 years.
.......

Learning to sharpen a sound blade is worth doing.
I saw someone offer you one... Life is good on that point.

As for shave soap and a brush. If is not a requirement
but even a Mach-3 user can profit from a good shave
lather and good face preparation. For me face preparation
is 80% of what it takes to get a good comfortable shave.

Since faces and whiskers are so different it is possible that
your regular shave cream is optimum for you. There is a reason
there are so many products and so many are sold. Some
is marketing and some just work for a lot of folk.

Re. my 80% assertion. I suspect that number is wrong.
A better way to look at it might be the process for
digging a post hole. It is harder than heck to dig the
bottom half first and it is harder than heck to get a
good shave without good face prep.

For anyone that's still reading this, I took Glen (gssixgun) up on his offer and accepted the free Genco that he had. He even offered to bring it to shave ready for me which I couldn't turn down since this is my first straight razor and I think it would be best to have a refrence of how a shave ready razor should feel before I try to hone it myself. I just wanted to say that he has been really generous and helped me out a lot. This is definetly making my straight razor experiance much more enjoyable.

Also, when he said earlier that it wasn't pretty, I wasn't exactly sure what he meant by that and thought that I may even have to some restoration. I recieved the razor today and I must say that it's much nicer than I expected.

I useually shave every other day or sometimes every third day if I get lazy and today was the third day. I was thinking it might come so I decided to not shave untill after the mail came. I checked the mail and was so excited when I found it was there. I brought it in and stared at it for probably 20 minutes. Then I did some last minute reading of the beginner wiki pages here, took a quick shower, and then started my first straight razor shave.

No special brush or soaps, I just used the bar of soap from the shower. I went real slow and just did what I was comfortable doing while always remembering to keep around a 30 degree angle. I ended up doing about 3/4 of both sides of my face. I didn't do any of my chin, neck, or below the jaw bone. The left side was a little harder. I tried to use my left hand, but it didn't feel right. It felt like I wasn't cordinated enough and didn't have enough control, so I used my right hand instead. I'll learn to use my left hand later on. It went well and was really comfortable. It felt better after the shave than the areas that I did with the mach 3. Actually it didn't feel like I shaved at all. I tried to tell which was closer, but it was hard to tell. I think the mach 3 may have been a little bit closer.

All in all it was a good experiance and I can't wait to try it again. Here's a couple pictures I just took. Should have took them before I used it. I re-oiled it after I was done, but some surface rust already started to show up.





Thanks again to Glen and everyone else for spending your time helping me. I might still pick up a Gold Dollar razor in the future when I have some spare cash. There cheap enough to experiment sharpening with and quite a few people say they give a decent shave (don't wan't to argue about that here). Restoring an older razor would be fun too.

When I started shaving with straights, I used regular shaving cream for a few weeks. Then, I went to Walmart and spent $7.50 and bought some very cheap shave soap, brush and mug. Even though it was as cheap as it gets, I was very surprised at how much better the shave was.

So...

Buy some shave soap and a brush! $7.50. Can you swing it?

You can upgrade later.

Glad you liked it !!!
Now you have one that you can mess with all ya want and at least you got to try the shave

Originally Posted by LarryAndro

When I started shaving with straights, I used regular shaving cream for a few weeks. Then, I went to Walmart and spent $7.50 and bought some very cheap shave soap, brush and mug. Even though it was as cheap as it gets, I was very surprised at how much better the shave was.

So...

Buy some shave soap and a brush! $7.50. Can you swing it?

You can upgrade later.

Thanks, sounds like a good deal. I think I changed my mind and wan't to order your "poor man's strop kit" also, just sent a PM.

Originally Posted by niftyshaving

IMO, That is a superior example of a tumbler run razor.

You are a lucky man...

I had no idea what you were talking about so I just wen't and looked it up. The results in this 31 page thread (link) looked really good. Is this how you polished the razor Glen?

Originally Posted by mrmaroon

Ive picked up some very nice razors for less than 15 dollars at antique stores. If you want to have your "own" I would reccomend that. You could also sharpen the antique store razor and leave glens alone. You won't get it as sharp as glen on your first 100 runs.

If I come across another razor I might try it. I'm not going to try and sharpen this one now, i'm going to continue to use it untill it needs to be honed. It may be a while, but I guess I can wait. I'll enjoy the shaving for now.

Originally Posted by Alltracturbo

I had no idea what you were talking about so I just wen't and looked it up. The results in this 31 page thread (link) looked really good. Is this how you polished the razor Glen?

No, I only use the tumblers now when I want to preserve etching on razors..
Look at this thread and look at the 600 grit buffing compound level, it re-creates a factory satin (working) finish it should look familiar...
I just run them from 80-600 and they pretty much look the same as when they left the factory...

http://straightrazorpalace.com/works...lustrated.html


For the custom stuff I run them into the polishing compounds... Also if I were cutting that razor to a custom level I would have stayed on the 80 grit wheels much longer and tried to get more of the pitting out... You have to be careful though with hollow grinds, you can push them into the "too thin" level....

What has actually amazed me more, is now that you took pics no one has asked what the notch is for at the front of the tang

I believe the notch is for a guard or comb for making the blade a "safety razor" Glen there should be more people like you who are willing to give thier time and possesions to further the great art of straight razor shaving, people like you make this the greatest forum on the web.
Thank you John

Originally Posted by livingontheedge

I believe the notch is for a guard or comb for making the blade a "safety razor" Glen there should be more people like you who are willing to give thier time and possesions to further the great art of straight razor shaving, people like you make this the greatest forum on the web.
Thank you John

Give that man a Cigar !!!!!
There is also a tiny screw hole on the front of the blade, for the guard attachment...
Thank for the complement John, I just have fun man... and if I can help out I try..

Originally Posted by gssixgun

What has actually amazed me more, is now that you took pics no one has asked what the notch is for at the front of the tang

I was wondering about the notch and also the hole in the front. I had no idead what the reason for either was, but forgot to ask. So what does a straight razor guard do? I searched online for a picture, but couldn't find anything.

http://straightrazorpalace.com/237674-post8.html


There is a Shumate with one on...

Some were more like a comb and allowed for almost a trimmer version ...