Thread: Just starting out.

Hello to all.

I am just starting out with possibly having the notion of getting a straight razor. I had a shave before by the barber near my house and I loved the smoothness. It was not like I had before though on the back of my neck of it was still nice.

Today I went over to talk with them about where to grab a razor and I might be able to get one off them tomorrow, as he said he might have some others around the house. The next part is that I will need a strop and wetstone i assume. I have read through the help files and the pdf's and you are all seeming to say get a norton 4k/8k stone.

The barber's suggested I goto the flea markets to see about razors and the other equiptment such as the strop and stone, which i am going to try this weekend at my cottage.

Just wanted to know if you have any advice on what to get and what seems to work well. I do not have sensative skin really and i only grow patches of hair even being 22 yrs old (mostly stache, goatee, neck and a bit on cheeks.)

Thanks in advance and I hope to be straight shaving soon.

Hi pilothaz,
Firstly welcome aboard!

No doubt you'll get bombarded with different options and advice. Members here are really good with suggestions and how to's.
I've been shaving with a straight for about 6 months now so I don't have a great deal of experiance but I can tell you what I did.
Straight razor shaving takes quite a bit of time to learn, so I started with a shavette which takes disposable blades. It's pretty cheap and lets you work out if this is for you or not.
After I got hooked I bought a couple of straights off ebay, a norton 4000/8000 stone, and a 2nds strop from Tony (he's a member here and sell quality stock along with quality advice).
With this equipment I've been able to get a reasonable shaving edge on both blades. Now that I have done this I'm thinking of either sending one of them to Lynn (Honemeister) or another senior member to see how my honing stack up with someone with more experiance than me. Or possibly buying another blade from a member to once again see how my honing stacks up to the others and wether I'm doing it correclty, kind of a benchmark.

Anyway I've babbled on enough and hope it helps.

Good Luck!

here's some info to help you get started, including good razor brands to focus on, where to find information on what, etc.

http://straightrazorpalace.com/showthread.php?t=6759

Simple advice, get 1 or 2 shave ready razors from members on here, a strop, soap, mug, and brush. When you are ready to start your own honing get the hone and a practice razor or two for practicing on.

I never started with a shavette or feather. went straight from cartridges to a straight. Love it and have no plans to leave it

Thanks guys for the advice.

And yes FUD I have read through your sticky there

I just found my dad's brush, mug and soap (his brush is not an amazing one but it will work). Now i must wait for tomorrow and goto the Barber's to see about the razor.

My family/girlfriend do not think that a straight razor is going to be a good enough shave and I will be wasting my time and money on this stuff. Also, they believe I will cut the crap out of my pretty face lol... So hopefully I can do this well and prove them wrong.

Welcome to the dark side... If you can pick up a razor from the barber, that's great. Most barbers should know how to hone it, too, so that's a wonderful resource to have, along with the experienced advice he can give you. Just go slow, work on your face prep (that's half the battle/fun), remember to stretch the skin to prevent irritation (and give you a closer shave to boot), and work on technique. Speed comes with practice. As one of my instructors used to say, "fast is not fast...smooth is fast". Lots of members here, myself included, will be happy to help in what ways we can. It's a lot of fun, and makes something you have to do anyway (unless you're a biker for a living lol) a lot more enjoyable.

Joe

I have just noticed that in the videos the movie called Honing Video #2 it seems to be going back and pulling the blade in the latter part of the stroke. I thought it was in the books that way for Stroping and the reverse for honing (with blde being pushed first).

Which is the correct way?

I'm a newbie who switched to the straight edge after about 4 or 5 months with a double edge. One tip I learned the hard way today is to watch out for the faucet if you rinse in the sink. The tap on the faucet resulted in a very slight nick which I could barely see but could feel on the back of my finger nail. From now on it is a wash cloth by the sink to remove the lather.

On the bright side, it gave me an opportunity to use both sides of my 4k/8k Norton and finish off with my pasted strop from Tony Miller. By the way, Tony's great in answering private messages from newbies if you have any questions concerning stropping.

Honing is always forwards unless you're removing a wire-edge. I work so much over the weekends that I don't have the time to hit the flea markets, but may do so one of these days. If you get a used razor, make sure you sterilize it properly. A cleaning with an antibacterial detergent of the blade and the scales (inside and out), a rinse and a 15min dip in a 1:1:1 mix of alcoholater:bleach should do the trick. However it will corrode the metal so you will need to use a metal polish to take the rust off. If you need a small travel brush, C&E has their small "pure bristle" (is that boar?) on special for $5 a pop. I bought one with my nomad as they were cheap. For our American friends, they may have the same deal in the US, but the sales associate didn't know. Good luck

Most barbers around here that even HAVE real str8 razors act as if they are priceless gems.

Good luck finding one.

If you want some ebay razors to look at here's a few in your area for an idea. I don't know any of the sellers and I'd strongly recommend questions and asking for better pictures of EACH side of the blade. Any blade bought off ebay will need basic cleaning and honing at the very least and possibly restored.

Auction Items:
Item #
190019767936
320016510651
250018690084
190020779238
220017796125

Buy it now items:
item #
220005474297

Originally Posted by pilothaz

I have just noticed that in the videos the movie called Honing Video #2 it seems to be going back and pulling the blade in the latter part of the stroke. I thought it was in the books that way for Stroping and the reverse for honing (with blde being pushed first).

Which is the correct way?

Several of the vets on here offer honing lessons via webcam if you can hook up via skype or some other IM that offers WebCam. I'd highly recommend hooking up with one of them when you're ready to start honing.