Thread: Greetings Earthlings

G'day all.
Been lurking here for a while, and think I've caught the bug, so thought that I should sign-up and say hello. FWIW I'm a fourty-three yo male from Australia, currently awaiting the arrival of my first straight-razor, etc.
I've learnt a ton already from your archives/fora over the last six months (and still have a *long* way to go) so thanks are definitely in order for providing such a rescource.
I'll probably post little for a fair while apart from a few specific questions I suppose, as I've far more to learn than to contribute.
Thanks again for making such a site avalable.
cheers,


Ed

Welcome Ed! We're glad to have you with us..!

It sounds like you have done your homework, which is great. This should make your first few shaves easier as you will know what to expect!

If you dont mind my asking, what kit did you get? Its always exciting waiting for this stuff..! Unfortunately that blasted volcano (pun intended ) is holding up a couple of things at the moment, so I hope you're not affected!

We have members here from Austraila, including one of our site advisors (Jimbo) and one of our Mentors (Onimaru55) so it may be worth PMing them to say hi..!

Good luck, make yourself at home and keep us posted!

Stu

G'day Ed and welcome!

I wish you all the best for one of the most worthwhile, empowering and ultimately satisfying journeys you are likely to embark on in life. Six months should see you right in regards to most anything around here. Saying that, there is no substitute for actually getting in there and doing it... whether that be shaving, honing, stropping, prepping, post prep, lathering etc, just do it and do it a LOT. You will see positives every shave and make mistakes. Reflect on your experiences, ask questions and you will improve quickly. As I am sure you are aware, the talent responsible for the quality of this forum is mindblowing. Even the most obscure of queries will be met with an answer or opinion from somebody who has experienced either the same thing or similar. Enough from me.

Welcome again and I WISH YOU GREAT SHAVES!

Cheers

Mykel

Welcome to the insanity

Ta for the welcome fellows

Originally Posted by Stubear

If you dont mind my asking, what kit did you get? Its always exciting waiting for this stuff..!Stu

I haven't bought a kit, although I have drooled over a few recently. I'm probably still a month away from my first shave
I'm an invalid pensioner, so money is pretty tight. That being said, I also appreciate the relationship between price and quality (hones will be by far my biggest outlay - already have some nice arkansas stones but not of appropriate grade for straight-razors).
I've a background as a machinist/tool-maker, and have always had a love of old cutlery (restored a fair few old knives over the years and always maintained my own hunting/utility blades) so have some understanding of putting an edge on various metals.
So what I've done is:
Order two Gold dollar 108's from eBay at a delivered cost of $25. The worst of the two will be used to acquaint myself with re-bevelling and honing. The other will be semi-bluntened and then used to get my stropping routine sorted, then to further refine my honing technique.
I've bought an el-cheapo eBay strop SELECTIVE NY BRAND STROP FOR STARIGHT RAZORS SHAPINING - eBay Strops, Sharpeners, Shaving, Vanity, Perfume Shaving, Collectibles. (end time 19-Apr-10 17:58:44 AEST) to practise with (and possibly use in future with a cutting compound if the quality is suitable), and am having something decent made up by a leather-working friend.
I'm currently perusing the classified's here and a few other reputable traders to purchase a "shave-ready" razor to learn to shave with (and as a referral point as to what is actually 'sharp'), but want to have at least a bit of stropping practice in prior to that. One of my greatest lessons in hand-sharpening metals is that constant *exact*repetition is essential (assuming you've got it right to start with) and you need to teach your body to be comfortable with repetitive strokes/sweeps of a particular nature, so would like to get a little 'muscle-memory' happening in this regard prior to using a decent blade on either hone or strop.
As stated above, my major outlay will be whetstones.
I should be sorted for coarse stones, but a Norton 4K/8K seems almost mandatory. In future I'll look at a quality finishing stone, but will need six months practice before that will be of practical value anyway, so it's not an immediate issue.



ed

Another fly in the web! You don't know what you're in for, once you start buying this stuff. Welcome aboard!

Welcome Ed!

(You're not from Tasmania by any chance??)

Hope you enjoy the journey.

All the best,
Michael.

Originally Posted by FTG

Welcome Ed!

(You're not from Tasmania by any chance??)

What do you mean? Ed said nothing about only having three teeth OR coveting his cousin

Originally Posted by Thylacine

I should be sorted for coarse stones, but a Norton 4K/8K seems almost mandatory.

ed

If moving in this direction call the bloke at Lie Nielson here in Adelaide. He is the sole distributor(still as far as I know) for Norton Waterstones in the country. He sometimes has some slighly damaged but completely usable stones for sale cheap.

Mykel

Funnily enough, I did live on the West Coast of Tassie for a couple of years (and those stories are a bit too close to the truth for comfort over there, a product of their isolation I suppose).

Ta for that info Mykel, I'll definitely look into it.



ed