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Hello again everyone. I've just finished building my first setup. :D I've got a Asco razor from the early 20th century restored and honed by Manah. The El Toro 2.5 inch strop from Kenrup. I have no clue on the origins of the brush, mug, or soap. I inherited from my Great Grandfather and have been using them for about a month, but will soon be ordering the Tabac shave soap. What do y'all think and what was your first setup?
The set up I started with which hasn't changed much since I am only a few months in was a blank Le Jaguar 5/8 with black celluloid scales, best badger brush, lavender soap, and a basic paddle strop. Like I said it hasn't changed much except for adding a Wapi and some CE sandalwood soap and aftershave.
My first setup was a Dovo Special, Dovo Strop, the Merkur Futur Badger Brush from my DE shaving set, Col. Conk BayRum Soap, Alum Bloc, and Hawleywoods Old #9 BayRum Aftershave. And I still have and use all of it at one time or another...only now I have other options to rotate...lol. :)
My first razor, aside from my experiments with a feather straight, was a Dovo Best 5/8. A Filly strop from Ruprazor, and my splurge was a Vulfix 41 SuperBadger and a puck of Kent soap.
My Filly is now my travel strop, my Dovo is always in rotation, the 41 Super badger is still my favourite brush, and the Kent is still kicking strong.
However, as with all addictions.....there are now more razors, more brushes, more soaps, more creams, more strops, more hones, and alas...a scuttle should arrive sometime this week.
It sounds like you're ready to roll too, and nice to have something from a family member!
Have fun,
Maxi
It is nice. While it wouldn't surprise me if he bought it from sears and robuk it's still nice. I do need to see about replacing the actual brush head because I keep loosing 15-20 hairs per shave and it isn't a big brush to begin with.
My first proper straight set was a Bergischer Löwe from Dovo,
SRD premium IV English bridle and a Soap from SRP.
Vanilla something if I remember correctly.
I also bought a 22mm Simpson Persian Jar 2 super badger.
I still have all of these items, although the English bridle strop was replaced with a new leather after a month or two;)
First razor: Dovo ebony handle 5/8 spike point from SRD
First brush: Vulfix best badger
First strop: Dovo 3" Russian leather
First soap/cream: Proraso
I still use them all from time to time. Although my vulfix has become my travel brush.
First razor: Dovo Ebony Silver Steel 5/8" Round Point from SRD
First brush: Tweezerman badger from Amazon.com
First strop: Poor mans strop from Whipped Dog
First soap/cream: Proraso Shaving Cream 5.2 oz Tube
My first setup was a TI 6/8s with horn scales and a CM Best badger brush and a Jemco narrow leather strop. As I recall my first soap was Col Conk.
My first set-up was a 5/8 Dubl Duck Satinedge, Tony Miller 3" Artisan latigo strop, 20mm Vulfix pure badger brush, Proraso green soap w/ Proraso pre/post shave cream. All of which I still have, but just like everyone else I got a whole whack of new stuff, enough to have a rotation for nearly everything :D
My actual first razor was my grandfathers. However, it was not the first I shaved with. My second was a cheap Pakistani blade I picked up to carry in my haversack. Never used it. I bought it to have something to talk with visitors yet and never thought about actually shaving there.
I've only been shaving with a straight for 1 month now. The razor I'm learning with and strop were found on a small vintage site about 1 week before I found this site. The razor is a restored Smith Brothers 4/8 with black scales and a new black leather case. The strop was made by the restorer and is black leather almost 3 inches wide with a brass piece to hang it on the wall and a leather handle --(all for $40). It was advertised as shave ready and as far as I know it was, at least it works. I found a Boss razor hone and made a scuttle out of a soup bowl I wasn't using and stainless steel 1 cup measure. The brush is a VDH Boar bristle from Walgreens and soap is VDH from Walmart, glycerin and styptic pencil from Walmart as well. Haven't needed bandaids yet.
I do civil war reenactments and Smith Bros was around in 1860 so this will fit perfectly. I just need to find a mirror I can use in the field and then I'm set. For now though it works great in the bathroom. Oh, I have nicked the strap already and repaired it a couple of times... I've nicked my neck and face too, but they repair themselves...
My first razors were brand new Gotta 120's 4/8,5/8 & 6/8. IIRC only one had a straight spine :(
Strop was a Black Beauty made here in NSW. Still have it but replaced the leather straps. Hones were 1 Washita & soft, medium & hard Arky's & 1 Black hard Ark. Bought a waterstone made by Lapport after a few months. Will freely admit I was really in the dark for a long time.
You new guys got it easy thanx to Lynn & SRP :)
A 5/8 full hollow German razor in chipped scales, marked "Pride of the West" on the blade, and a big old Sheffield wedge that smelled like cat pee; an Illinois Strop 127, some Crabtree & Evelynn sandlewood soap, and a Kingsley badger brush.
Oh, and a 1k/6k hone. There were a Frictionite and a coticule in the house, but I didn't know them from a brick until I started reading SRP.
Now there's one to tell your grandchildren! :rofl2:Quote:
Originally Posted by roughkype
Let's see, Dovo Bismarck Red 6/8th's, Rooney's finest badger and a Herold Solingen 2" w strop and I believe Castle Forbes Cedar & Sandalwood...
A full hollow 5/8 "Blue Ribbon" something for a Hardware store I picked up at a antique store on a whim. I believe it is stainless.
An assortment of wet/dry sandpaper.
1/2" wide Spyderco Medium and Fine ceramic sticks. (from a "Sharpmaker")
A leather strop made from a Cinch Strap (horse tack)
Cardboard
Some generic buffing compound from hardware store.
VDH Boar Brush
"new" Williams Mug Soap.
My roommates having the cell phones handy. Not to call 911, but to take pictures of the carnage they thought was at hand.
Shaving off those edges wasn't unbearable. Heck, once I learned the importance of pressure and a few "tricks" with the spyderco sticks they weren't bad at all. I'm a firm believe that you can coax a much finer edge out of a stone than it's label indicates. Getting some proper CrOx was the real ticket.
I miss college. Good Memories.
razor, strop, brush, soap, i'm pretty sure that's about what it was.
the razor was a vintage razor cleaned up a bit and honed by a member (josh earl).
the strop was a simple leather strop made by a member (tony miller) who sold those as an inexpensive cosmetically challenged addition along with nice looking strops. plus a canvas piece from a vintage strop the leather of which had rotted.
the brush was badger made by vulfix, i think silvertip, from another member
the soap was williams mug soap from the nearby cvs.
only the soap was brand new, which was an advantage - the razor was honed and tested, the strop was already broken in, so it worked better than new, the brush was also broken in and had most of the animal funk gone.
then i only had to learn to make lather, strop the razor, and shave - each a pretty decent challenge I must say, but in few months i got the hang of them
I've only been shaving a week with a straight (and have already got RAD bad). To finish off, I'm using my Merkur 34c DE razor that I have been shaving with up until now.
Out of my small collection I have already made, I have only shaved with a Giesen + Forstoff Timor Special, but have a few other shave-ready razors waiting to be tried. (I'm waiting until I have built up an "expectation" of performance with one before I try the others.)
My strop is a 3" Neil Miller Buffalo hide.
I am using the same Vulfix super badger brush I have had since starting shaving with a DE (sorry, can't remember the model). I only have one other brush -- a Simpsons Wee Scot that I recently bought for travelling and have yet to try.
When starting DE, my first soap was a TOBS sandlewood, which I have recently PIFed as I can't get it to lather in my hard water area. Mostly I shave with Body Shop's Maca Root shaving cream. But I am out of it at the moment, and have an assortment of other creams to try before I can justify buying more. My first straight shave was with the TOBS lavender cream. I am sticking with that until I finish it off to bring down the number of tubs in rotation.
I use a little wooden bowl I got from Muji for lathering.
You nearly make me miss having roommates!Quote:
Originally Posted by Soilarch
Been at it for about six weeks now, so I'm still on my first everything:
Dovo "Best Quality" 5/8
Dovo paddle strop
Col Conk badger brush that I've had for 10 years or more
Col Conk Almond soap
I suspect this all will last me for awhile. At least until my great grandfather's Frederick Reynolds comes back from the restorer (Gemstar).
My very first straight shave went something like this:
Dovo Best 6/8
Vintage Blades Black Latigo Strop
VDH boar brush
VDH soap
Nivea Sensitive Aftershave Balm
My first setup was a dovo 6/8, rup razor filly strop ,wee scott brush, castle and forbes lime, a col. conk shave mug and nivea aftershave balm.
My current setup is a 5/8 dubl duck satin edge, tony miller heirloom latigo and linen strop, wee scott brush, caraceni cream, the same mug and Al's bay rum aftershave balm.
I notice a trend among first razors purchased...
Razor: Dovo Best Quality 5/8
Strop: SRD 2" Latigo
Soap: Col Conk Amber Glycerin
Brush: Col Conk Best Badger (still love this brush)
Aftershave Balm: Jack Black Post Shave Cooling Gel
I remember hating the Conk soap so much, that I went out that day to score some Bigelow/Proraso cream. Now that I know how to properly make lather, the Conk stuff really isn't that bad.
Hello and welcome to the SRP forum. It sounds like you have a good setup to start off with. It will last for quite some time . It is better than my first setup. My first straight razor was purchased before I knew about the SRP . I purchased a 6/8 Mehaz razor that was marked Soligen Germany on the tang. After sending it a fellow member of SRP for honing it was suspected the steel to be from Pakistan and of poor quality. It took a great deal of effort to hone it to shave ready. I also had a 2.5 inch Ilinois 835 strop, a cheap Everready boar brush, a cake of Colgate shaving soap, and a cheap shaving mug. I have learned so much since then and have acquired several razors, brushes, hones, etc.. since then. It has been a great journey for me. I still am learning .
DevilPup,
My first setup when I first started shaving with a straight in the early 1990s was:
6/8 Gong razor, an old English cotton/leather hanging strop, a boar brush and an Old Spice shave stick. The razor was honed by on old barber I knew on what I now know to be a coti.
After the old barber died, I switched to using cartridge razors until 2008 when I took up wet-shaving again.
Have fun !
Best regards
Russ
My first razor was a Filarmonica shavette from my barber.
But my first real setup:
Razor: W.M. Elliot full hollow 9/16 w/muted square point
Strop: Dovo cowleather strop w/ canvas webbing
Creme: The Body Shop Maca Root cream
Brush: The Body Shop synthetic
first razor: artist club dx.
first brush: vdh boar
first cream: tobs almond
first aftershave: old spice
i had been using williams and the van der hagen for years with a mach3.. and probably been using old spice since i was a toddler.
My first was a Dovo Best Quality 5/8 full hollow, SRD 2'' strop, MWF and best badger brush.
That was last June. Now I've bought 35 more razors and sold 17 of them. Eventually the collection will go back to 14 but I'm having a hard time deciding which ones to sell!