Thread: Newbie starter set

I've been looking around online for a good strop, razor and hone for under 200, but have not had any luck. Not looking for anything ornate or fancy.. Preferabaly an antique razor (Anyone know when Mr. Ellis's shop will be back up, anyway?) and just a working stop and hone. If anyone could point me in the right direction or even introduce me to someone with one of these three to sell I would be very thankful. I know there are plenty of these three available in online stores, but I am sometimes hesitant to buy something that seems this precise with so little background knowlege myself form a machine.
Cheers,
Eric.

Eric, welcome to the board. Stick around here for bit before you buy anything online. I'm sure some of the guys here will respond with offers/advise for what you need at very reasonable prices and most important, you will have a honed/shaveready razor. Good luck and enjoy!

Jordan

Well, you can get a strop from tony or handamerican for under $50, and a good razor and barber hone on ebay for under $20 each. Don't know of anybody with a pre-made set of these, though. Rough honing can be done with a ceramic knife hone like lansky or spyderco for $10-$20. The barber's hones are slow cutters but that's ok as long as you are starting with a decently sharp blade and you have some time.

I honed up my new ebay Engstrom last night using a lansky triangular ceramic hone to remove the nicks and a King barber hone to finish the edge. I was in the recliner watching the Pack self-destruct, so I opted for "handheld, dry" instead of "fast" when grabbing hones. Anyway, it took a couple of hours to get the nicks out (*&^%$#@ swedish steel) with the lansky and 30 mins or so to get it to shaving sharp with the king. Shaved with it this morning, and was quite pleased with the result.

Eric,

Welcome to the forum.

Checkout this site for a razor http://shop.writerferret.com/
This is the site of Joe Chandler and he sell vintage shave
ready razors.

You could also email adjustme69@yahoo.com and inquire about
a razor. This is Mr. Lynn Abrams the founder of this forum. Lynn's
razors come shave ready as well.

For a strop check out http://www.thewellshavedgentleman.com/
This is the site of Tony Miller another forum member. In addition
to top quality strops, Tony also sells shave ready razors.

I'm not sure when Bill Ellis will be adding new razors but I believe
it should be soon.

I can definately recommend all of these guys.

I wish you luck.


Terry

Originally Posted by Eric

I've been looking around online for a good strop, razor and hone for under 200, but have not had any luck. Not looking for anything ornate or fancy.. Preferabaly an antique razor (Anyone know when Mr. Ellis's shop will be back up, anyway?) and just a working stop and hone. If anyone could point me in the right direction or even introduce me to someone with one of these three to sell I would be very thankful. I know there are plenty of these three available in online stores, but I am sometimes hesitant to buy something that seems this precise with so little background knowlege myself form a machine.
Cheers,
Eric.

Tony Miller www.thewellshavedgentelman.com has a complete starter set for under $200. take a look .

Originally Posted by mparker762

Don't know of anybody with a pre-made set of these, though.

I do, I do <g>.

I have a complete starter set, strop, mug, brush, soap and instructions along with a new Dovo razor, honed to amazing sharpness by our own EL, here on SRP. I don't include a hone but the price would let you get a few barber hones or pretty close to a Norton and still stay around $200.

I also do the set minus a razor in case you favor one from any of the local Honemeister/ Razor Vendors here.

Tony Miller

Eric,

Chances are you WILL become a razor addict.
So go ahead and order a kit from Tony. A week
or two later order a razor from Joe and when
Bill adds some to his site order one from him
as well.




Terry

Originally Posted by wvbias

Eric,

Chances are you WILL become a razor addict.
So go ahead and order a kit from Tony. A week
or two later order a razor from Joe and when
Bill adds some to his site order one from him
as well.

That's just about how it works too <g>

Tony

Hi Eric. Welcome from one newbie to another.

Tony has been very helpful with my strop buying, honing info, etc. and that's a nice set he offers. Oh and about the addiction? Definitely good to set a limit. Recently, I started picking up some shaving mugs (I've used one forever), kind of collecting, when I thought "You know I always wanted to try a straight razor..." And so it begins.

John

If you don't have one already, I recommend going for a best or super badger brush (the vulfix 2234 works well for me). It'll set you back $50-60, but if you get a good one from the start, chances are you won't keep buying new ones. I'm very happy with my current and I see no reason to get another one. Currently the whole brush and cream/soap part is my favourite as the feeling of spreading the lather on to my face is amazing. And do treat yourself to a soap/cream with a pleasant fragrance. It's definetely worth it. I'd use $20 or so for a good soap/cream. Note that these high quality products last much longer than the canned goo/foam you might've used earlier. A good place to get soap/cream and brush is www.classicshaving.com.

For strops, Tony is recommended by many at this forum. I haven't tried his strops (I'm currently saving up for one of his #1), but they're supposed to be of high quality and look very nice. He offers an extra practice strop to beginners who get his #1. Since it's easy to damage the strop when learning, this is a nice deal as you'll get a _very_ nice strop you can start to use when you feel sure you won't damage it. This will set you back another $50-60. If you opt out on the hone you might want a pasted paddle strop. This will cost you about $45 or so.

If you get a shave ready razor from one of the guys who sell such here at the forum, you probably won't be needing a hone for a few months or so. So I'd put the hone in the bugdet for next month and get a shave ready razor instead. The razor can be from $30 to $300 depending on what you want. I'd go for something around $50 to start with since you'll get great shavers at this price. You'll have time to get a luxury model later.

For hones (if you decide to get one anyway), most people recommend the Norton 4000/8000 for beginners. It's about $65 and will let you restore edges on razors that have lost them completely and it will let you sharpen an existing edge to the point where you can shave with it. There are many other options, some cheaper and some more expensive. Read through the many threads in the hone-part of the forum for more information and info on where to buy.

In conclusion, you'll be able to get razor, strop and hone for < $200; you'll be able to get brush, razor and strop for < $200. Getting brush, razor, strop and hone might push you over $200. Of course, this is given that you do aim for the more expensive brushes and strops.

No matter what, for $200 you'll be able to get some really good products and I suggest you do aim for the good stuff. No point in getting a cheap strop or brush only to replace it with a better one in a few months, right?

Oh, and remember that I'm pretty new to this stuff my self, so don't take my word as gospel truth.

--
Alf