Hello, everyone. Thanks for helping out a guy looking to enhance his shaving experience.
A little background – I’ve been using a DE for about 7 years now and love it, but want to take it to the next level. My stepfather gave me an old straight that wasn’t high quality just to play around with. He also gave me a strop, but I have no idea how to gauge the quality of a strop yet. I took the razor to a knife sharpening place thinking that since they sell straight razors they might hone them too. He took it in the back and ran it through a sharpening machine. I know it’s not quite the same, but at least it gives me something to experiment with. The razor will easily remove any hair from my arm, but not my face. I am eventually going to invest in a nicer razor that has been honed by someone who knows what they’re doing. Right now I use that straight for every shave’s first pass, then finish with a DE. This at least makes me feel more comfortable with the razor, even though it’s not really taking off any hair.

I have a few questions.

1. When using my DE I go against the grain almost exclusively. Without doing so I can’t get a really smooth shave. Do most people go against the grain with a straight or is with the grain still going to give a smooth shave? With my current straight, going against the grain feels like it’s grabbing my face. I’m hoping that a better razor will allow me to slide through that.

2. How important is stretching the skin? Never did it with the DE, but I keep seeing people do it in straight razor videos.

3. How often does a razor that’s used every day need to be honed? This will determine whether or not I buy a set of stones right away or wait.

4. How much should I expect to spend on a razor? I’m guessing around $70 for a restored one just to get a feel for what I want in my next razor.

Thanks for the help. I really appreciate it.

Tony