Thread: newbie's first

I finally got my first real straight razor today. I had been using a disposable straight for a little while but this is a totally different animal. It's a Timor Hamburg ring I got off eBay. It was advertised as hand honed, shave tested and shave ready. I also got a strop. So I stropped the razor and shaved. I really loved the experience and I didn't nick myself once. On the other hand I did not get a really good shave for the most part. Though parts of my face were smooth so I was probably doing some things right. Being that it's my first time I'll assume there's a learning curve.

I do have a couple of questions however.
I had read somewhere that a razor should rest 24 - 48 hours between shaves. Is that true?
What is the easiest way to tell if my blade is sharp enough?
Does anyone know where I can get an inexpensive but good hone?

I'm sure I will have more questions as I go along but if anyone can help me out with these I'd really appreciate it.

Welcome aboard. For starters read all of the help files and go through the honing and strops forum to get a better idea of your maintenance needs. Can you post a link to your auction? It's quite possible you bought it from one of the members here. Always good to see a new face.

This is a place with a bunch of great honest guys. you can't find a better bunch of knowledgeable guys, the site is very informative. I have found the best way to learn about all this stuff is to read read read, use the search button above to search a topic or word and more than likely it's there. I started with a cheap disposable blade made by Fromm. But with the help of the guys here, I have been able to restore three old razors one was my grandfathers and the other given to me by my barber and I bought one to restore off e-bay which are the only three I have now which are Peerless, Hornet and a Sheffield Magbell #42 all old, but work good after being restored. I can't afford all the fancy stuff that some of the other guys have but I've started out with a regular coffee mug for my $1.50 Williams soap, a cheap boars brush for $6.00 a friend sent me a strop for free and Tilly at redtrader99 sold me the beginners set of hones at http://www.redtrader99.com/hones.html . So hang in there collect a little at a time and you will collect enough to work with. Check with some of your family that's how I got my grandfather razor my aunt had saved it, so see if any one in your family has any items. You might be surprised. here is some info on razor should rest 24 - 48 hours between shaves http://straightrazorpalace.com/showt...1891#post61891
also try here for sharp test http://straightrazorpalace.com/showt...ight=sharpness

These are just beginnings have fun and enjoy the ride.
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Damon I have to give you my respect for diving right in with very little gear and getting very nice results.
One word of advice: Keep the boar brush until you're ready to splurge on something really extravagant. I even learned to get a decent lather out of a $5 plastic bristled brush so it will hold its own until you decide on something FINE.
I currently own the Wilkinson plastic and the EJ Best Badger. The Wilkinson is used for the first lather with the cheap soap that stays on my face while I strop, gets rinsed and the lather from one of my finer soaps/creams (mostly Colleen's excellent stuff, real steals at $5.95 a cake) goes on with the badger.
However, the badger will be relegated to being a long trip traveller and for occasional variety-changeups once I get the custom piece I ordered from Matt.

Hey Sim,

http://straightrazorpalace.com/showthread.php?t=6759 is a good place to start for info.

I had read somewhere that a razor should rest 24 - 48 hours between shaves. Is that true?
I only shave every second day so I'm not the person to answer this.

What is the easiest way to tell if my blade is sharp enough?
Shave with it! That's the standard answer you'll get from almost everyone here. There are thumb tests, thumbnail tests, hanging hair tests, but if it shaves well then it don't matter. When honing I use the hair on my arm as a guide as to when to stop.

Does anyone know where I can get an inexpensive but good hone?
http://www.redtrader99.com/hones.html has good stuff really quite cheap. But if you razor is already shaving well you might want to get a pasted strop from Tony @ www.thewellshavedgentleman.com, just to touch it up.

Happy shaving!!!

One addition: You can cheap out on a brush and still get a decent Badger piece. Check out the Omegas.

Originally Posted by FiReSTaRT

Damon I have to give you my respect for diving right in with very little gear and getting very nice results.
One word of advice: Keep the boar brush until you're ready to splurge on something really extravagant. I even learned to get a decent lather out of a $5 plastic bristled brush so it will hold its own until you decide on something FINE.
I currently own the Wilkinson plastic and the EJ Best Badger. The Wilkinson is used for the first lather with the cheap soap that stays on my face while I strop, gets rinsed and the lather from one of my finer soaps/creams (mostly Colleen's excellent stuff, real steals at $5.95 a cake) goes on with the badger.
However, the badger will be relegated to being a long trip traveller and for occasional variety-changeups once I get the custom piece I ordered from Matt.

Thanks It's been enjoyable here and I think sim will enjoy as well will have to look at the Omega brushes, and yes I want to try some of Colleen's soap I think I will try to get her to send a few broken pieces of different scents to try.

Even though her soaps don't give you the Santa-Clause beard lather as they're mostly glycerin, they have the following advantages:
3) The lather stays moist throughout the pass (her use of bentonite and kaolinite clays achieves that)
2) You get a smooth glide (again, hail to the clays)
1) They smell GREAT!

My favourites (in general order of appearance) are:
1) Cavendish Black (her classic and hands down the best)
2) Orange Patchouli
3) Leatherneck
4) Bay Rum + Orange
5) Desert Ironwood
And yes they are all in my rotation together with C&E Nomad and a couple of creams.

I don't really worry about letting the blade sit since I can only shave every one or two days anyhow. Seems like a silly little thing that 'Old Barber's Tale'. I think it only makes sense to follow that rule if there's a chance you could shave two faces with the same razor in the same day. Still ... I'd follow it because it's what my barber told me.

For a hone, I'd say you get what you pay for and you'll likely get farther and save yourself a LOT of hassles by buying a 3" Norton 4/8 combnation water stone.

As for the shave ... a little more practice with shaving angles and cutting angles will likely give you better shaves. Keep at it.

X

As a general rule my razors wait 8 days between shaves because I slowly built up my rotation. However, in my early days I only had one and it was magic for several reasons:
1) Nenad pointed it [and some others] out to me (hvala Nenade ) and that was the start of our friendship.
2) I got it from Tony H, another friendship
3) It was honed by X (thanks X ). Dang it, it's like a friendship charm
4) Even though it's not much of a looker, it's still my best shaver, period.
For a while I used it and nothing else, on a daily basis, with no adverse side-effects.