New to the site.....but not really

Hello Gents,
Hi my name is Matt and this is my first post. I have been reading a lot in different areas and now I have decided to post after going through a lot of different subjects. There are a lot of helpful people on the SRP and I do appreciate their helpfulness. Though I would like to pick a "respectful" bone with other members. As I've read many many posts I've noticed a lot of you can't do this until you do that or there is no way you can master this until you master that. While I appreciate what they are trying to do, which is I believe save new shavers time and shorten the learning curve I love to jump in over my head and learn fast.
I have been DE shaving over a year now and I am jumping into straight razor shaving, honing and restoration all at once. I read a post that told me that if I am new to straight razor shaving I should not be honing or doing such other things.....I disagree. I want to start shaving right away, I want to ruin a few razors...if needed by honing, I want to buy some old razors and restore them and so be it if my techique stinks along the way. I also make beer, wine, shine in my spare time and I always tell people do it or make it however you think is best and learn from your mistakes. I think the way to get good at anything is practice, error more practice. Like we say in artillery shoot, adjust fire, shoot again. That is also why I say respectfully because I do realize that many gents on the forums are way more experienced than I and I do learn a great deal from them which i apply actively to my shaving. Plus I say if someone wants to learn how to hone right away, let them hone right away. Why not take their hand and help them instead of saying well, you better hold off on that until you master shaving with one first.
My first time shaving with a DE was awful. I used a way to aggressive razor and my face was a bloody mess. I didn't do any permanent damage to myself and I learned a great deal about shaving in a short amount of time. I don't know why I wanted to express this except I encourage learning in anything in life. So if someone comes to me and says hey I want to do straight razor shaving and I want to learn honing etc. right away. Maybe instead of saying no thats not good practice, say well ok since you have an eagerness to learn lets do it together and we will take it step by step. Will you ruin something along the way, probably yes. I guess thats just the enjoyment for me in doing something new is making those mistakes and learning from it.

I am not writing this to complain......nonewhatsoever! I love what I read on this forum and I enjoy the honesty and sense of community and helpfulness the forums offer. Its just that when someone, especially a new shaver wants to jump in i think the attitude should be, great lets get started here's what we need to do first. Not saying that this never happens, I just think this is the attitude some of us need to adopt in some fashion. Thank you if you read my whole ramblings here and have a great shave.

Every man is greater than me in some way and in that I learn from him.

Hi Matt and welcome to SRP.
I cannot disagree with anything that you have said, given that, to be polically correct, there are many and varied ways of removing the fur from a feline.
We all have our own journey in this and all other life endevours - some are easier and others more difficult.
I'm sure that others here would concur with you, however, there are those in this world who need to 'take it slow' and learn/master one thing at a time or they may get frustrated and lose interest.
From my point of view, I would be only too happy to help others on their journey should they decide to take the path that you advocate, however, the issue for most is that they are trying to learn skills without face to face guidance and therein lies the issue.
As with most of us here, our suggestions are just that, born from our experiences and not set in stone.
Full marks to you for bringing this up as all opinions are welcome here.
Hang on and enjoy the ride.

Welcome to SRP Matt. Quite the introduction.:) I understand where you're coming from as far as jumping into the deep end of the pool with regards to all things wet shaving related. Yes, many members here do recommend learning this before trying that. With experience comes wisdom and we do have a new shavers best interest in mind. It can be frustrating to try and learn everything at once for some people. Maybe an unintended consequence of the advice many members give here is to protect your wallet. This hobby/addiction can add up very very quickly. It's a shame when someone invests alot of money into gear only to get frustrated and give up. Once upon a time there was a new member here who thought the way you do, rushed out and bought a few razors, strops, hones, soaps/creams and tried to learn everything at once. Within a few weeks or so. he got frustrated with all the aspects and ended up selling all of his gear in the classifieds. If I had been quicker on the keyboard, I would have bought his stuff in a heartbeat because it was a steal. He lost a bundle. So some friendly advice would be just dip your toes in the water before diving headfirst. :)

Hey guys, great posts from you both. I appreciate both opinions, and you both have very valid points. I do have to agree with Havachat45 when he indicates that many of us are learning on our own, without face to face guidance. But, at the same time, I have always been one to jump in with both feet. So whom has the correct path, both of you, and all of us. Yeah I know, what a bunch of b.s. right? Isn't that what makes this site great? So many varied ways of removing the fur from a feline!

I think a majority of our advice given, is geared towards the largest percentage of the population who will learn best from a structured approach. But that is not everyone... If you learn best by jumping in headfirst then go for it!

Good luck to you

Oh man sorry to hear that. It is a shame that people become discouraged so easilly with wet shaving. Its a great hobby, but yeah you are right it can become very costly very quickly. I think its great what you guys do on hear and I'm looking forward to talking more with you as I get frustrated with the way I do things. I'm sure i'll be back saying i've had it with honing or can't seem to do something right. Either way it will be fun.

definitely there are so many ways to go about this. I've seen some videos on here. Is there a video section where people can post video responses? In my eyes that would be more helpful if someone is having a hard time with something to show them a video to help guide them. Seeing old timers do it is sometimes not very helpful because they make it look so easy.

Yes without face to face help it is hard to learn a lot of things in life. I was just saying in another comment video responses would help out a lot or even video chat. I've learned many things in life just by solely watching. Changing the brakes on a car I learned just from watching. Tried it on my own and been doing my own for a long time now. Either way i'm looking forward to learning all of this and enjoying my shave. Out of all my friends I am the only wet shaver and I try to get them into it but they don't listen. I tell them that they view shaving as a chore, why not make it a pleasurable experience. I actually look forward to shaving now and the smells of the creams and soaps and the feel of the cutting whiskers. Its no longer a chore but something that is soothing. Its hard to make someone else who is not a wet shaver to see that point of view.

I agree that most of the population learns better in a certain environment and most people are not like me where I want to learn it all now. Thats just how i am. I usually make horrible mistakes but I get to look back at the journey and laugh.

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Originally Posted by mmilby

I disagree. I want to start shaving right away, I want to ruin a few razors...if needed by honing, I want to buy some old razors and restore them and so be it if my techique stinks along the way.

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Great
Ya lost me right there, zero respect for history

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Originally Posted by mmilby

I read a post that told me that if I am new to straight razor shaving I should not be honing or doing such other things.....I disagree. I want to start shaving right away, I want to ruin a few razors...if needed by honing, I want to buy some old razors and restore them and so be it if my techique stinks along the way.

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Good for you! A razor is a tool to be used and enjoyed.

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Originally Posted by JeffR

Good for you! A razor is a tool to be used and enjoyed.

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Agreed, razor is a tool and should be treated (and enjoyed) as such.

Regarding how you want to do it yourself, since you have clearly stated "this is how I will do it" I'll just say 'ok'...you've made it clear this is how you will do it, so who cares if I'll agree or disagree.

That being said, I'm surprised you follow that up with telling much more experienced folks how they should tell new straight shavers how to do things. You clearly don't want to be told anything until you have a question...it seems strange you would do that very thing...to guys who have been doing this a long, long time.

I just hope none of the razors you ruin along the way are nice, there's already enough people doing that IMO.

Oh well. Goodluck and Godspeed.

Welcome to SRP. Unfortunately, if you started with a DE than you already have followed a structured approach. It's not too hard to recover though and prevent yourself from losing face. Buy a razor, bang it on a sink faucet, try to hone it after putting on new scales and shave away! Whatever you learn from that will be beneficial to someone. Maybe not you so much, but someone else. I think you'll be just fine and will have lots of fun too. The other side of the coin are guys who are afraid to damage the gold wash on a blade and never learn to hone at all. The only drawback that worries me a little is simply shaving with an imperfect edge. Every perfect edge feels imperfect to the beginner and every imperfect edge is best perfected through trail and error (by shaving). So it's a challenge that becomes a Catch 22 like scenario. In your shotgun approach consider also buying a shave ready blade. It'll save you some time and a few blades, which are a little expensive and hard to come by.

P.S. Consider trying to get back on Glen's good side; experts in this field are few and far between. :-)

Its a recommendation. Follow it or not, dont really make a difference. Next week though, dont post up about how you cant get your edge to shave now that we know your dirty little secret. The only response you will get is its either bad technique OR bad honing. At the beginning, you can shave fine one time and the next day not so good, on the same razor. As for restoration sans honing its pretty far off base from honing/shaving, I dont see any need to shave or hone to restore a razor as long as you dont pretend its going shave hairs from 3 feet away.

Good job getting the wet portion down first. I really think more people should learn to lather for a bit shaving with the previous method. Just read the first few pages of the n00b chronicles. How much of that could have been avoided if the lather was down first before putting a razor to the face. At the least it would be one less variable to troubleshoot.

I kinda feel gssixgun on the ruining razors. Ruin some modern ones. Practice on old ones with a serious defect.

HUH? I have the highest respect for history. I'm sure to learn how to hone you will have to wear down a razor or so to learn proper technique. I already have some very old razors that I want to learn how to restore by getting the rust off and buffing them back to shave ready. Buy some new pins and replace them if they are rusted and so forth. Saying I want to ruin a few razors doesn't mean i'm gonna intentionally ruin them just for fun but i'm sure wearing one down to a certain point with come with learning to hone. I'm sure at first i will stink but i will teach myself and with the help of others get proficient. Hopefully i don't completely ruin a razor but knowing myself i probably will. I mean I make a pretty nice living but razors are expensive and I don't want to spend more than I have to on replacing razors. One razor I bought was very expensive and I don't plan on using it until I have a great handle on shaving and honing, sort of a reward for myself. Maybe i mis-spoke, its kinda like saying i want to sling some lead or burn through some ammo. I'm not really gonna actually sling the lead or actually burn ammo. I just want to get to the range and shoot. Just a figure of speech. By learning how to hone and how to do restoration I will be preserving history. There are a lot of great old razors out there I would love to put back into commission.

Oh yeah definitely practice on some old razors first, I have a few cheap ones i've acquired to do that on. That has been my experience so far with using a straight razor, not as good of a shave after 2 or 3 shaves. I've had to work on good stropping technique to get that same good edge. I was surprised to see a thread on lathering, I didn't know that was a problem with wet shaving. Even when I started a good lather was easily achieved. Though I always experiment with less/more soap and water combinations but i got down a pretty good system for that. Mostly i want to get into restoration for the relaxation of repetition and time to myself away from the family for a little while, plus when I learn how I will have taken something old,rusty and unshaveable and turned it into something useful.

Yeah my first razor i used was a shave ready dovo from Mr. Abrams (think thats how you spell his name, I'm a horrible speller). That way I knew what standard I wanted to achieve. I know it will be a long road to learn all of this and probably frustrating at times but that doesn't deter me from wanting to jump in and learn. I'm not very good with words and expressing myself sometimes so I'm not to worried about saving face if someone understands that about me. Haha ask my soon to be wife, its a constant "No i didn't mean it that way" battle but she understand me. Also I want to get into honing and restoring is because I want to keep up some kind of coordination and dexterity skills with my hands. The longer I live with ms the worse my body seems to feel so I try to keep as active and excited as I can about new endeavors. If I get honing or restoring and I make a mistake and post on here about it, its okay to either laugh or gimmie "i told you so". Every bit of advice i read on here I try to read and digest and incorporate into what I am doing and I try to give thanks and appreciation to anyone who gives advice on this journey.

I don't have all the answers(obviously). Look i am very bad at expressing what I want to say. In my neurologically sclerosis filled head it made sense when I typed it. I'm shaving currently with a beginner razor that I bought shave ready by a reputable dealer. I will not use or try to hone a nice one until I've got it down(which will probably be quite a while). Sure why wouldn't I want to be told anything? I stated in my original post that I was trying to be respectful, maybe it didn't come off that way. I try to learn what I can to whosoever is kind enough to offfer advice. I was trying to say that I'm jumping in full steam and this is what I want to accomplish. As far as honing I will be using some ones that are a bit worn to begin with so if I ruin them i won't be put out. By the way I love when people say godspeed. I was having a conversation with a buddy two days ago saying I wished more people would say that.

With so many members at SRP and newbies signing on everyday it's impossible for mods and mentors to tailor our advice to each and every individual, so a novice or "middle-of-the-road" approach may be required for beginners. Of course these are just guidelines and are not commandments from Mount Sinai; we realize everybody learns at different rates. Just don't blame us for damaged razors or premature blood transfusions :)

I want to learn to shoot heavy artillery.
I think I'll wander out to the range at camp while the boys are at lunch, and figure it out.

haha never, I would only blame myself. God hope I don't need a transfusion. With all the people on here and all the questions and newbies I'm impressed all of you keep up as well as you do. I can't believe i've responded to as many posts as I have already. Yes though if help or advice is given, it is appreciated. Wet shaving is supposed to be an enjoyable and relaxing experience and I try my best to keep it that way.

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Originally Posted by mmilby

HUH? I have the highest respect for history. I'm sure to learn how to hone you will have to wear down a razor or so to learn proper technique. I already have some very old razors that I want to learn how to restore by getting the rust off and buffing them back to shave ready. Buy some new pins and replace them if they are rusted and so forth. Saying I want to ruin a few razors doesn't mean i'm gonna intentionally ruin them just for fun but i'm sure wearing one down to a certain point with come with learning to hone. I'm sure at first i will stink but i will teach myself and with the help of others get proficient. Hopefully i don't completely ruin a razor but knowing myself i probably will. I mean I make a pretty nice living but razors are expensive and I don't want to spend more than I have to on replacing razors. One razor I bought was very expensive and I don't plan on using it until I have a great handle on shaving and honing, sort of a reward for myself. Maybe i mis-spoke, its kinda like saying i want to sling some lead or burn through some ammo. I'm not really gonna actually sling the lead or actually burn ammo. I just want to get to the range and shoot. Just a figure of speech. By learning how to hone and how to do restoration I will be preserving history. There are a lot of great old razors out there I would love to put back into commission.

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Gotcha. Hopefully you will take some time and research before taking the plunge. There is a little something different to an old razor I have.

Please please read through this thread:

http://straightrazorpalace.com/razor...ery-razor.html

Long and boring, maybe. But the BEST warning I can think of for someone with a small collections and an itch to repair/hone. Some things are even better if you just leave them alone.

HA. I get your point. Though one kills and one can give you a nick or two or three. Though I can show you to shoot heavy artillery.

Cool thanks, I will definitely read that. I do read quite a bit and jumping right in for me so far has been buying materials I will be needing and lots and lots of research and reading before i think to begin honing.

mmilby,

I sort of jumped in to honing and shaving at the same time. It sucked basically. That was six years ago. The fire went out after about a year and I stopped. I hadn't gotten very far.

I've been back for the last 8 months or so. For me the obsession is as strong as ever. I'm much more organized than I was back then. I'm making progress. And I'm not exactly doing it on my own this time. Part of it has been accepting advice from those more experienced than me.

Take your time. Look around the site as much as you can. Feel free to disregard any advice you that doesn't apply to you. The more experienced members here will still talk to you, mentor you, and answer your questions. But you may want to ease up a little.

The best part of SRP is the community. Enjoy it!

Thanks for the input. I will def be taking advice and putting it to use! Can I ask what made you disenchanted with honing in the first place? How are you more organized? If I do jump into it, and jumping into it by no means to go fast, what advice can you offer me as a beginner. Yes I agree thats one thing I put in my original post that I did love the sense of community at the SRP.

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Originally Posted by mmilby

Changing the brakes on a car I learned just from watching.

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Sure you can do that but there are other aspects to a brake job other than just replacing worn brake pads. Hopefully you already know that.
But first of all you need to know how to drive the car so you can test your job & that's a bit like us recommending to get the shaving wired prior to honing & restoring.

I can understand wanting to do things your way. I'm a bit stubborn, although not as much as I used to be. I think you just came on a little strong on your first post on this thread. I totally understand that sometimes what you say or type, isn't exactly how it could be taken by people overhearing or reading. I'm bad for that myself. I can't add much to what has been said, just repeat that others here have been where you are, and are where you are. There are members here that have been shaving for their entire lives, and there are members that haven't received or even ordered their first straight razor yet. The ones who can, teach and guide. The others like myself try to soak up the information they give out so that we are not starting from scratch and we end up enjoying our hobby more than just the dreaded yet needed (in some cases) chore it was before. Keep in mind that you didn't mention you had already ordered and shaved with a shave ready straight on your first post. That alone could mislead our view of you.

Basically I want to applaude that you have drive, but please keep in mind some starting out may never hone in their life. A service from someone like gssixgun, or in my case Maxi, is only part of the cost of one hone, let alone an entire set of stones. No one NEEDS to buy a hone, but many of us, myself included, want to learn. If someone wants to learn, a Norton 4/8 is suggested, just because it is relatively inexpensive, consistent and for some people is all they need to hone their own razors. Also many people have them, so they can give advice based on working with that hone. Then that person can go from there and decide what else they want, if anything. I'm just using that as an example. Some people prefer and/or started with natural stones. some may have unlimited funds and they are not worried what it will cost, but others are going to a straight razor to try and spend less than they have to for replacement blades.

I wish you luck in your adventure. Against all advise I did the same thing. I believe the structured approach prevents a plethora of "cant get hht5 off my stone", "this razor wont take a bevel" posts- you get the picture.
That being said, in a year your going to look back at the razors you wrecked and wish you didnt.
Remember, they arent making antique razors anymore.
Good Luck!

Thanks I will take your advice and put it to work. Yes i've researched hones and i've found norton 4/8 combo is a good place to start. I do want to jump in but i have a lot more learning to do before i actually start honing. At first one my razor needs it i will send it off to have it honed so i can compare what i'm doing to what its actually supposed to be like. I'll get frustrated for sure but i love learning new things and it will be enjoyable experience for me. Feel free to either correct me or offer help along the way. Whatever you say will be read and applied to my shaving experience.

Very true they aren't making them anymore. I am eager to learn and that initially may be my demise. Ha, though i do appreciate the luck, i will need it. I'm sure i'll be posting a honing thread and many people here will probably be correct in their assumptions about me jumping in. So goes the process of learning.

yes! very true. See how much i'm learning already from all you guys! I will either keep a blog when i start honing or post a thread of how its going. I'm hoping once I start getting into it, it will be a relaxing task. We will see.

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Originally Posted by mmilby

Thanks for the input. I will def be taking advice and putting it to use! Can I ask what made you disenchanted with honing in the first place? How are you more organized? If I do jump into it, and jumping into it by no means to go fast, what advice can you offer me as a beginner. Yes I agree thats one thing I put in my original post that I did love the sense of community at the SRP.

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It just got too frustrating for me. I would try for a few hours to hone a razor, get high hopes for the shave, then I would get mixed results. After that I would be down in the dumps and stressed out. Then I would put off more honing and shaving for a while because of the stress. Then the cycle would repeat. Then in may 2007 I had a really bad shave on my Birthday, and maybe touched a straight one or two more times over the next four years.

Now I hone in shorter sessions, much more frequently. If things start to go bad, I put the razor down and save it for another time. I keep a journal where I write down what I do to each razor, and what the results are. I use a variety of tests as I hone, but I rely most on the shave test. After I shave I make a note in my hone journal, and write down a plan for the next step on the razor. I shave regularly and I enjoy each shave. When I get a good shave I am high on it all day, a bad shave still gets me in the dumps. Either way I just make a note in my journal and look forward to the next one.

My best advice? Never be afraid to ask for help! If you post today that you are the next honemeister, don't be afraid to ask a newb question tomorrow. Find someone to sit down with you and hone with you. Watch Lynn, and gssixgun on youtube.

Practice on some e-bay razors. You will wind up treasuring those razors, not ruining them.

PM me if you ever have any questions. I always love to talk about razors.


Michael

Thats exactly what I do in my beer making, I keep a journal of ingredients i use and what temps I hold the boil at and refer to it often. Thanks for the advice. I can see how easily it could put you down in the dumps because you spend so much time honing and if you have no so great results, it could get depressing. Like I said i'm excited to jump in but right now my jumping in is consisting of watching, reading and learning. I know its a long process, even lifelong process but i am excited about getting started. I will definitely contact you if I run into a snag, which i'm sure I will.`