Hello from UK Newbie!

Hello All,

I am a complete newbie from the UK. I have been trawling the interwebnet for info on straight razors having gone into my local shop and been told I need to shell out £8.50 for 5 gillette dsposable blades for my Mock 3! It inspired me to think "There must be a better way!"

I am fed up with paying silly money for these blades, that don't even give a good shave!

Glad I had a look at the forum before shelling out on a razor from ebay, and looking forward to getting some advice on this fine and Gentlemanly art! :)

Any other Brits on here?

Since we are an international forum, yes there are more Brits and I'm sure they'll chime in shortly.
Some things to remember:

1. Read the Help Files. The Permanent Archives is where we keep the ancient wisdom.
2. Check the Links. You might find some fun stuff there, actually all you need.
3. Use the Search function in the forums as you think of things and if you don't find your answers, please don't hesitate to ask. Participation is how this place works effectively.

X

Welcome aboard Skilly. There should be a Brit or two around here. I'm from Canada. If you're looking for steal-deals on razors from a local seller, check out Tony (portal5) on e-bay but consult with more experienced SRP members before bidding. Some members here (like urleebird -- Bill) can get you affordable shave-ready blades if you're not ready to learn honing yet. Your basic gear will include a razor (ofcourse), a strop (Tony Miller has a great selection @ www.thewellshavedgentleman.com), and a good hone or a 4-sided pasted paddle strop. Check Tony miller out for paddle strops as well, and as for the hones, there's quite a bit of controversy but you won't go wrong if you get a Norton 4000/8000 grit waterstone. I hope this helps to get you started.

P.S. It's VERY nice to have a good soap and a nice brush. Crabtree & Evelyn Best Badger gives you the best bang for the buck.

Welcome Skilly

Scotland....at least 3 others from here.

Word of warning....very addictive...hope you have a large cheque book,understanding wife/GF.....AND LEARN all about Ebay.

Apart from that,this is one of the friendliest forums you will find...genuine desire to help.

Hi Skilly, welcome to the friendliest forum on the interweb.

Another Scot here. A weegie to be precise!

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by snaggletooth

A weegie to be precise!

---

You guys are so fragile. ;)

X

Skilly,

Welcome to SRP. It might be best to get a shave ready razor from Bill Ellis or John Crowley for your first razor. They have some nice razors at reasonable prices and you'll know exactly what a properly sharpened razor is supposed to shave like. Best of luck, this is quite addictive.

Ed

Welcome Skilly,

this forum is really very useful. Take a look at the video from Lynn it helped me quite a lot. There was that morning back in 2005 were I first used a straight razor ... from that moment I could not think of shaving with something else :D

So good start for you ... ;)

Arnd

Welkcome. I'm glad there's another EU member on here......trading with the yanks and southerners from the states is soo much more expensive because of the shipping. Looking forward to hearing from ya. Anything that you don't like put it up for sale on here....I like trying neww things :P

Alex, I'm offended. You didn't mention Canadians. We're people too, you know. When you cut us we bleed red (just look at our flag). Ok I think I did enough whining for this morning, thus making my point :D

true true.......ok ok.....let me not discriminate....anyone NOT from europe costs a bundle to trade with.

That's better.... We won't have to send our rabbid beaver squad after you! :eek:

Hey Skilly .. welcome to SRP I'm in Scotland close to Glasgow on the loverly west coast .. :-) home of the world famous Nardini Ice cream :D

Glesga power! Where in Scotland are the others from? I lived in Glasgow (inner West End) for a year after university when I was studying bagpipes full-time. Best year of my life.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by piper

Glesga power! Where in Scotland are the others from? I lived in Glasgow (inner West End) for a year after university when I was studying bagpipes full-time. Best year of my life.

---

Trinity .. iirc is Galsgow
Coully - Buckie
me - Largs ..
Is there more ? :shrug:

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by piper

... when I was studying bagpipes full-time. Best year of my life.

---

And the worst for your neighbours! ;)

I had a friend that played the pipes. He loved them and carried his prize set everywhere. One day when he stopped for lunch and had them sitting in the car. While eating he suddenly remembered his prized pipes were on the seat, un-attended and he had forgotten to lock the car. He quickly ran out to his car only to discover he was too late,the damage had been done, someone had left three more sets of pipes in his car <g>


Actually I am big fan of the pipes.

Tony

Aye, another Scot here (near Inverness) - I recently dug out an old straight razor that I bought from a junk shop in Edinburgh years ago and I seem to have fallen into the same pattern of buying strops, hones, creams and razors as everyone else does. So much for my canny plan of not spending money on disposable blades anymore (although that was only an excuse, if I'm honest.)

Malcolm

Not a scot but lived in scotland for 2 years and loved it. Got the Kilt to prove it. (someone gave it to me, don't worry I wouldn't presume to pretend I'm a Scott)

My ancestors got kicked out of Scotland (after some ruckus in 1745-6) and never looked back.

Sometimes though, I have this inexplicable desire to carry a vegetable peeler in my sock.

Regards &C
LG Roy (Clan Motto: What? Us again?)

Welcome to SRP! :)

Yes, welcome indeed. I'd think that in the U. K. there would be a lot of nice old razors to be found in second hand or antique stores made by the old Sheffield cutlers. I'd think this would be true all over Europe. But maybe they've exported them all. I see several Scots posting, and can't help but wonder if you're into str8s because of the high price of disposable blades. I have Stewarts on my mother's side and Gordons on my fathers, so saving money was one of my motivations originally!

Firstly, a big thanks to everyone for making me feel welcome!

I have to confess that I have decided to start gently! I just purchased a Merkur DE from the lovely people at The Gentlemans Shop.

It arrived this afternoon, and I have to say it looks like a peice of art!

I left it a couple of hours and then went up and had my first shave with it. Now please bear in mind, I have only ever used Mock 3's and similar.

Wow, what a shave! I have never had such a close shave! I must admit I got a few nicks, especially around the chin and top of the neck, I suspect that was a combination of having the setting wrong, not keeping the skin taught, and poor technique with the new brush and Wilkinsons own soap bowl.

I have changed the setting on the razor to a more face friendly one, but does anyone have any suggestions or tips for foaming and general use of a DE?

TIA

Skills

Hi Skilly,
I must admit that I never really got on with the Wilkinson soap (or the horrible matching nylon brush) but things got a lot easier with Crabtree & Evelyn's shaving cream or Musgo Real. These were both with a straight razor but I would assume that the same would apply with a DE.
Malcolm