Thread: Tutor

Hey all,

I was referred here from Badger and Blade. I'm currently a DE shaver, looking to take up straight razors as a hobby. I'm interested in not only shaving with one (in fact I'd probably only use a straight to shave occasionally once I learned due to time constraints. I'd be saving the straight for more relaxed and luxurious weekends), but I want to really learn to maintain and care for straight blades. I think I could really grow to enjoy taking care of a precision instrument that I was actually going to use on myself.

In any case, here is my question. I'm currently looking around to purchase a shave ready straight (possibly from Joe Chandler) and I was wondering if there was anyone in the boston area (I hope this isn't weird) who would be interested in maybe giving me a stropping/honing/shaving lesson. I learn alot better in person than by trying to read these guides (I'm a little too visual a learner). My plan is to pick up a cheap blade on ebay to learn to maintain while I start learning to shave with a slightly nicer blade.

I'm only in Boston til August, then I move to Madison, WI so I could also take a tutoring there.

I'd be happy to pay for the lesson (though I'm on a student budget) or maybe treat my tutor to a nice lunch or something.

Thanks,

John

Welcome aboard John! Even though I am sure there will be someone around and willing to help, there are also guys who have Skype and a webcam setup all over the place, which is the next best thing. Good luck!

P.S. It just requires a bit of discipline to turn straight shaving into a daily routine. I do it and I work 60 hours a week.

Edit: Don't even mention the money. People on these forums are real gentlemen and enthusiasts. I know I wouldn't charge you a red cent had you been in the greater Toronto area and that's the general run of the community.

Thanks. I hadn't thought of the skype idea. Although I think having someone there to inspect my work would be super beneficial.

I've found the quality of the people on blade and badger to be extremely high and I'm glad I can expect that here. I hope someone in the boston area chimes in.

Cheers.

If you get a shave-ready blade, you can use it as a template for your own work. That's how many people here started. They get one shave-ready blade and one antique. Once the antique can compare with the shave-ready blade, you know you can do the job. Also read through the help files and the archives.

John,

Welcome. There are some other B&B and SMF folks that have migrated over here to SRP, so I'm sure they'll chime in.

You can't go wrong with Joe Chandler's razors. There's also Bill Ellis and John Crowley as well as Tony Miller's starter kit, so you should be able to find some quality shave-ready razors that you'll like. While it takes quite a bit more of a time investment to learn to shave with a straight than with a DE, the shave you get with a straight is like no other and you'll be glad that you learned the skill. It takes time though, but it's a worthwhile investment.

Hopefully there'll be some folks in your area that can help you out. There's also Bill Ellis' updated CD that's available (or very soon will be) as well as a video by Lynn. There's also some good honing videos on this site that can help quite a bit. Of course the internet video chat is another option if you have the capability.

Ed

Not to dis Joe because I'm certain his stuff is quality, but if you're on a budget you should PM me. I've got some Dubl Duck Specials I can let go cheap.

Look to Tony @ www.thewellshavedgentleman.com for your best strop options.

X

And you can trust X.. He's the one who gave me my first honing lesson and did my first blade/best shaver. Once again, thanks X

I'm a DE shaver from SMF that migrated to straights. You might be surprised at how efficient a straight shave is. My DE shaves tend to run 15-16 minutes, and the last few days my straight shaves have dropped substantially below that time. The main thing increasing the time of a straight shave is the stropping, but this is compensated for by the wider blade (requires fewer strokes), and less rinsing of the blade (straights don't get clogged). Also, I've gradually settled on only two passes with the straight. That third pass against the grain gives me a better shave, but it's also a 2-day shave and that's not as much fun :-)

If I got good enough with the straight and it turned out to be faster I would surely consider it as my primary shaver. The only reason I might still save it for luxury shaves is that it'll preserve the blade between honings (although once i'm good at that I'm sure i'll enjoy the honing and wait impatiently to dull my blade to hone it ). I'm really excited to start learning to shave with a straight, hopefully I'll get the chance soon.

I also hate to miss a day of shaving. Since I'm new, I'm hoping to improve enough with both types of razors so that I can get a bbs shave every day. Not quite there yet.

Honing is more important if you're restoring ebay specials (and if you hang around here a while you'll get that itch), and maybe for bringing a new razor up to snuff. For maintaining your daily shaver a paddle strop or barbers hone does the job with little fuss. Most shavers around here seem to refresh their blade every week to a few months, depending on a variety of factors. If you use the same blade every day it only requires a few laps on a pasted strop or barbers hone once a week to bring it back up to snuff. Total elapsed time of 1-2 minutes, not much longer than it takes to replace and dispose of the blade in a DE.