Thread: Disposable straight to real straight (first shave)

Hello all,

First of all I should say I have been shaving with a disposable blade straight razor for about 9 months now. I don't mean to say I am an expert in any way, but I have had success with my Parker SR-1 which I load Wilkinson's Sword blades into. My beard prep and lathering have also been practiced and used for these 9 months, however, I believe my lathering is only mediocre/average.

That said, I have been reading posts on this website also for about 9 months so I know the basics about skin stretching, blade angle, beard prep, passes, etc. My problem is I bought my first real straight (a nice looking Torrey No. 900) from this website last week. I had 2 day stubble. Then I beard prepped and lathered as usual, but when I used the Torrey for with the grain pass, with about the same pressure (very light), angle, etc as my disposable, only about 15-25% of the hairs were cut..... and it was loud and pulling hairs.

You can imagine my disappointment... The razor was advertised as shave ready by the seller, whose username I don't remember (I don't know if he's a recognized honemeister or anything) and the ad is gone. It is a Torrey No. 900 5/8 looks like hollow or extra hollow ground, round point.

So my question is if there are people who have undergone the disposable --> real straight transition or anyone else's thoughts about radical differences between the two (which I didn't expect there woud be). I really couldn't believe how it wouldn't shave my face. I even did a few back and forth rubs of the blade on my face and only a few more hairs were cut. Although I know this isn't advisable, my skin has gotten more resistant since I shave with a single blade disposable. Another observation, when moving the blade over my stubble it was much louder than my disposable (and it wasn't singing), just catching hairs. On my against the grain pass, the razor literally pulled my chin skin by catching the stubble (my chin is probably the most dense growth).

I had to use my disposable to finish the job. One note: I did not strop the razor, but it was shave ready, so sometimes I know they say it is optional. I know it is important, but would it really make the razor so ineffective?

Thank you very much for you help. You have a great community of support going on here.

Just send the straight out to a known good honer, and you'll be fine. The disposables are in my experience harder to handle than a real straight, and once you get a real shave-able straight in your hands you'll understand
I've used a Parker for a while myself, and going to a straight was fun, hey I even shaved using a razor I honed myself today with great success.

I made the same transition, from a disposable straight to a proper one, that you are attempting. With a disposable, you almost
never have to even think about sharpness. With a traditional straight razor, sharpness is not a given. It sounds like you ran into
the issues which are usually generated by a straight razor that is not quite shave ready. I'd get it honed.

Originally Posted by ace

I made the same transition, from a disposable straight to a proper one, that you are attempting. With a disposable, you almost
never have to even think about sharpness. With a traditional straight razor, sharpness is not a given. It sounds like you ran into
the issues which are usually generated by a straight razor that is not quite shave ready. I'd get it honed.

Thank you both for your replies. So it sounds like you both agree with me that it is not shave ready. I talked with my seller, who says I am the first in 8 years to say his blade is not shave ready. Is it possible for a straight razor shave to ever go like a disposable straight razor shave? My seller said to run the blade closer to my face, but seriously, I passed the blade over my face several times and so few hairs came off.

Thanks again

Whatever the case, you are better off by eliminating the "sharpness" variable by sending it off to someone on this forum to have it honed. I'd do it for free, including shipping, but you might want to try one of the better known honemeisters here.

I too started off with a Parker disposable straight and I must say that the regular straight to me, was easier and more fun. A breath of fresh air!

Hi there, i too did the disposable sr first for 5 days, and decided that the blade was too light and flexible, I bought a early 20th century flatters and garnett nr wedge, with a very heavy blade from steve at the invisible edge

That arrived yesterday, this morning i shaved with it, wow what a difference this thing was sooooo smooth to shave with but boy is the blade heavy.

I would say that the op blade is not shave ready.

Definitely sounds like the blade is not, as posted, shave ready. My first was honed by Lynn (from vintageblades) and it worked out very well. No stropping required. I would definitely suggest sending it to someone here- if you check the classifieds, you should find a good deal.

I would get it sent off to a honemeister, I started with a dovo shavette and used a lot of different blades, If you dont have a decent strop as of yet I would utilize the time that the razor is out getting honed to get a good beginners strop, you can have a razor be incredibly sharp but if it isnt stropped well then it will provide a lousy shave.

My first several shaves going from shavette to "real" were disappointing. With the shavette it's super light and almost impossible to get the wrong angle. IME, it is also less picky about skin stretching. Before you send it out, I'd give it a good stropping, 30 laps with mild pressure then 50 with nill pressure. American steel is hard stuff. It's very likely that if it doesn't center exactly or you or the seller closed it w/o guiding the blade in that it hit the inside of the scales thus doing a number on the edge. If it was a one time deal you may be able to correct it with stropping.