Thread: Introduction and a few questions

Hi SRP!

First time poster. I'm from NC and currently live in NoVA, and I've seen a few Fairfax posters while lurking. I'm generally an enthusiast for all things that make me look pretentious, including bow ties, pipe smoking, cigars, safety razor shaving, and now (hopefully) straight-edge shaving.

I've been wet-shaving with a dual edge for about 3 years now, and I love it. I've spent 6 months practicing with a fake straight (with replaceable blades), so I feel comfortable with my shaving technique.

I imagine a recent Woot deal caused a lot of registrations. I've always wanted to try shaving with a straight, but the initial cost put me off. I'm a graduate student, so dropping $300 on a blade is pretty serious. Anyway, I picked up this "kit". It's probably a cheap Pakistani blade, so there may not be much to hope for.

Please, don't post bashing the company or my choice of how to get started.

I've seen plenty of posts here and at B&B about the deal. I don't want to start a flame war, I just want advice on how to make the best out of a bad situation!

So I finally got the strop today. When I first got the razor a few weeks ago, I trade shaving with it, and it pulled terribly. It felt fine on the back of thumbnail, and there was no warping or frowning on the blade, and the blade arrived without honing damage (which was apparently common). I figured it just needed good stropping.

The strop is pretty nice, cowhide and canvas. I lathered both sides, cleaned the blade, and stropped about 40 strokes on canvas and 50 on the smooth leather, letting the back lead and turning on the back instead of the edge. One thing that wasn't clear was whether the blade should be flat or at a slight angle when stropping. Some of the FAQs say flat, a few YouTube videos say angle. So I did the laps such that the blade made a slight hissing sound, angling a bit with full tension on the strop. Laying the blade flat didn't make any sound, which I interpreted as not polishing the edge.

This time, it cut a few strokes which were OK, but not painless. Then it started skipping and dragging on my face, and I put it down to finish with my DE. The DE was very refreshing!

I'm thinking about sending the blade back to get rehoned, but from what I can gather, VintageStraightRazor uses Chef's Mate electric sharpeners to hone and strop the blade. I'm not sure the edge can get any better that way, but before I spend money on a hone (which I may not be able to use correctly), I'd like to know what other actions I can take before looking to other solutions (like a different blade).

Thanks for reading. Happy to be here, and looking forward to advice!