Thread: Another Noob!

Hello all. I just wanted to introduce myself here as another newbie and member. My name is Dave "Zeke" Veleke from Eden, WI (about 65 miles north of Milwaukee or 70 miles south of Green Bay (GO PACK!!))

I wanted to thank Lynn for putting this website together and thank Tony Miller for producing such quality strops. (the mug is sweet too )

I also want to thank everyone else for their expertise and willingness to share information. This has to be the best group of people anywhere on the web! I salute everyone here.


Here is a little about me:

My late wife used to collect antiques, glass wares, depression glass and what not. Well about a year ago, the kids and I were going through a bunch of boxes of her stuff that had been packed away in the basement. We were dividing up her belongings and giving stuff to her family that we thought they would like, to remember their daughter and sister. I came across an old cigar box that had two straights in it that she had gotten and I never knew she had them. I took the razors out, looked them over and decided to give it a whirl. My obsession started!

I started to read and research about wet shaving on the web and found *some* useful information. Of course not being very educated about just how sharp a straight is supposed to be, I busted out my Fleet Farm knife sharpening stone and went to work on those straights after I finished resharpening my deer hunting knife. LET ME TELL YOU, those straight would slice up a block of cheese like it was nobody's business, but shave?, that was another story. . Even though I was discouraged, I did not give up on the idea, just thought I would put it on hold for a while. Ok, fast forward to about 3-4 months ago. I decided to give it another go. Ebay (the wrong way) had some *NEW* and *SHAVE READY* and *FACTORY SHARPENED* straights that I thought I could not go wrong with. Even got me one of them fancy razor and strop combo's for about $45.00 USD off of ebay. WOW!! What a shave Still not to be beat by the straights, I stumbled across SRP! What a godsend! Long story short, I now have all the PROPER gear, Thanks again to Tony Miller, and I NOW am enjoying a twice daily shave!! .

So here is my Noob question: How many other guys have naturally taken to striaght shaving with little or no problems? I dont know how or why, but I just seem to be a natural. (knock on wood) I am DOMINANT right handed, but when that straight is in my left, it feels like an extension of my hand? Other than shaving, my left hand is pretty much useless. Do some guys just GET IT!!!??? and others don't?

Zeke

I usedto only use my left hand (southpaw you know) but when I tried to use my right as well I found I had no problem with it whatsoever.

welcome aboard,I guess its like anything ,some pick it up easy others don`t. I took the same ebay course as you about six months ago I now have about 40 razors.(BE CAREFULLY) being in Australia I had to teach my self to hone and refurbish but being a member here had made it so much easier with Bill (urleebird) and the likes giving freely with tips and info and yes I didn`t have too much trouble to pick it up .
All the best
Kind regards Peter

i lucky found SRP before i bought all my tools for straight shaving. i was lucky in that respect as i made the decision to buy quality and spend the extra up front cash to do it correctly. that saved me much irritation as i look back im happy i did it that way.

as for what hand. after reading the boards i made the decision to use both hands as i learned. it was very difficult to hold and move my left hand the first week or 2. it just wouldn't do what i wanted it to do or as i looked in the mirror i would do it backwards. however, after those initial 2 weeks of learning things we very much improved. i have found that i can do angles and cut in directions becuase i use my left hand that i could never do if i was only right hand shaving. i am very glad that i took the 2 weeks to get used to using my left. it really helps my shave.

~J

I ended up making the same mistake in buying a new razor as you did and ending up with a couple of scars on my right cheek. Then I came here and never looked back.

Welcome Zeke!

As a latter newbie (I have already earned the title of "shaver" ) I know exactly what you have to expect in the upcoming months.
Learning to lather yourself to perfection, getting that first BBS shave (without aftercleaning with a DE, or worse a GM3 ), getting to know how to strop (and getting a few knicks in it too ) and finally honing your blades to get that feeling of "I've done it myself! You know!

I am getting very close to that feeling every morning when I shave. And, man! That's a feeling to get up for in the morning!

Just follow the good advices from the honemeisters, pick out what you can use and master and learn the right way just for you!

Grtz,
Erik

I was in the same boat as Peter - Australia, so very little in the way of "on the ground" knowledge. So I taught myself. Shaving was fairly easy - stropping and honing took a bit longer...

While I wouldn't call myself a natural I think I was surprised at how easily I took to it. I imagined being nervous and uncertain, but when I put the razor to my whiskers for the first time I was remarkably calm and focussed. I even had to stop myself and take a breath I was so keen to proceed. I attribute a lot of that to just having shaved for twenty years. Bringing a razor to one's face is something one gets accustomed to. My left hand on the other hand () was never very comfortable so I and my sparse sideburns have joined the minority of one handed shavers.

X

And I'm going to continue the learning process for joining the majority as soon as my AC experiment is done.

Originally Posted by LX_Emergency

I usedto only use my left hand (southpaw you know) but when I tried to use my right as well I found I had no problem with it whatsoever.

Welcome Zeke
You know one of my salesmen is named Zeke as well. I thought he was the only person with that Handle.

I also shave with both hands. If you are not careful these guys will teach you a thing or two whether you want them to or not.