Don't forget your local retired barber.

I just checked with mine and of course those guys keep cutting a little hair for mad money and all. I was quite disappointed as i chit-chatted with his patron when he whipped out a insert-bladed SR for the trimming up part of the job.

But I stuck around until it was appropriate to inquire about maybe him having a hone so i could fix up my old blade. Told him 'bout all the new old and new new guys taking up manly shaving. How i never knew how to shave for all them other years.

And eventually he offers to dig me out a hone when he can get 'round to it, that it's all packed up from the move. He warns me of over-honing (rolling the edge) and how to fix it.

I'm going back next week to see what he digs out!

Moral of the story-disposable SR's make antiques available yo. Wish me luck.

I have a good friend who is a barber. We skeet shoot together and when I became seriously interested in SR8 shaving a couple of months ago I asked him about it. He no longer uses a straight razor because, I believe, of sterilization requirements. But, he has a lot of practical knowledge.

I arranged to stop by his shop to get some tips from him, first person. Haven't visited a barber myself for 12 years when I started shaving my head (not with a straight razor!). I actually figure (rationalize would be a better word) that I still have not spent more money on SR8 shaving equipment in the past 2 months than I have saved by not visiting a barber over the past 12years. It might be getting close tho.

Every barber I have had cut my hair has no idea how to use a straight razor, & never have! I haven't had any luck with the old ones either, and I purposely go into these old barber shops in search of one skilled with the blade. One even told me, ''no, that's a thing of the past, nobody uses a straight razor anymore.'' :shrug:

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Originally Posted by Firefighter2

Every barber I have had cut my hair has no idea how to use a straight razor, & never have! I haven't had any luck with the old ones either, and I purposely go into these old barber shops in search of one skilled with the blade. One even told me, ''no, that's a thing of the past, nobody uses a straight razor anymore.'' :shrug:

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Beg your Pardon I Am a Barber and have been since 1948,I know exactally how to do a perfect shave with a real straight
There are exceptions:)

Sadly, the barber who graciously volunteered his time to teach me the art of straight shaving and honing passed on several years ago. He was the last of the old school barbers in the area and i truly wish that I would have been able to pay him back, even the slightest amount, for all of the knowledge he freely gave.

Oh yeah, doesn't hurt that Mr. Young was the last barber who ever cut my hair. Started clipping it at home 'bout seven years ago. was easier when _she_ did it, but i manage now.

i've had SR finish-ups by 4 barbers, all men several if not dozens of years older than i....but then i used to go to the stylists! holy crap to have that money back.

i remember wondering what all that stropping was about, of course i get it now.

I'd love to have a full straight shave by a master barber, but know of nothing of the sort here. I'll start hunting those down when i visit big-cities (about once per year). Our state stop testing for it, so they quit teaching it, but some old-timers still use 'em.



yeah, the barber was stubbly today, but then he's semi-retired working from home now.

Barbers I knew in the 1980s, in North NJ , were 60 to 70 ..... and older, still cutting hair. They had been cutting hair/shaving through the heyday years when straight razors and honing them was the rule rather than the exception.

I imagine there are still some of the guys who broke in with those guys still capable but health dept issues and public opinion have largely made it a thing of the past. Cool that we're doin' it though.

Best of luck with that old barber ..... hope he comes up with a suitcase full of stuff for you ! :tu

Thanks for the reminder, i really need to stop by and see that old barber Carmen who helped me get started. He honed up my first nasty old Boker i happened to pick up at a antique fleamarket. He really put a wicked edge on it. Makes me wonder what he used?
He still uses the Str8s for the back of the neck and around the ears etc. I really dont think he cares what the goverment man would say about the risk of blood transfer.

I guess I'm rather fortunate. My barber retired this past December, and gave awesome shaves. I'm lucky in the sense that we've been friends for years and, although he plans on spending his winters in a southern clime, I still see him at least once per week when we go fishing together. Maybe I should offer to buy some hones and strops off of him...:idea:

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Originally Posted by Firefighter2

Every barber I have had cut my hair has no idea how to use a straight razor, & never have! I haven't had any luck with the old ones either, and I purposely go into these old barber shops in search of one skilled with the blade. One even told me, ''no, that's a thing of the past, nobody uses a straight razor anymore.'' :shrug:

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The barber using a straight razor is how I choose barber shops. I found that shops that use straights do better jobs as a barber.

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Originally Posted by pixelfixed

Beg your Pardon I Am a Barber and have been since 1948,I know exactally how to do a perfect shave with a real straight
There are exceptions:)

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Yes, but in the area where I reside, barbers only seem to cut hair. I feel it varies from region to region. I do believe you are one of the few & last ''original'' barbers out there that know your way around a straight, it's just too bad there isn't more people like you around here. It's even getting hard just to find a barber shop these days, it's all salons now.

Too true, Firefighter2, too true. (Say that 3xs fast!)

Really wish there was a local barber here that still practiced the shave. would love to receive one from a pro. ill have to find one next time im in a big city.

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Originally Posted by mapleleafalumnus

Too true, Firefighter2, too true. (Say that 3xs fast!)

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LOL! Thanks to your little tounge twister, I now need the Jaws Of Life to extricate my tounge from my mouth.

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Originally Posted by Tylerman

Really wish there was a local barber here that still practiced the shave. would love to receive one from a pro. ill have to find one next time im in a big city.

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I agree. I've had a hot shave with a straight at the hands of a young lady with a shavette, but never from an old pro barber with a real straight.

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Originally Posted by Firefighter2

I agree. I've had a hot shave with a straight at the hands of a young lady with a shavette, but never from an old pro barber with a real straight.

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Had the back of my neck done once when i was a little kid. My aunt has a salon, so for my whole life she has been the only one i have trusted for my hair, but once when she was out of town my mother took me to the old timer in the town i lived in, i was about 12 and i remember seeing him take out the blade and when he walked toward me i remember thinking "o man that doesnt look nice" hahah. he just used it to touch up my neck line in the back. so ill have to see if he is still around next time i go home. This was about 10 years ago and he was in his 70's at the time (and didnt look too good on top of that)

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Originally Posted by Tylerman

Had the back of my neck done once when i was a little kid. My aunt has a salon, so for my whole life she has been the only one i have trusted for my hair, but once when she was out of town my mother took me to the old timer in the town i lived in, i was about 12 and i remember seeing him take out the blade and when he walked toward me i remember thinking "o man that doesnt look nice" hahah. he just used it to touch up my neck line in the back. so ill have to see if he is still around next time i go home. This was about 10 years ago and he was in his 70's at the time (and didnt look too good on top of that)

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Hopefully he's still vertical, and not too shaky!

You pretty much have to figure that any "master barber" who learned straight use the old fashioned way had to have done that probably in the 1960s and prior. So any such guy would be in his 70s or 80s by now. Most of those are retired or should be so if you know one who is in good physical shape and still works you have a Platinum Mine there. Anyone else is just someone who pretty much picked it up on his own using his customers to practice on.

i find a higher population of "real barbers" when near large military installations. they're not real keen on facial hair though...so watch out.

i never fail to instruct a barber to _leave_ my sideburns where i put them...i hear my clippers calling me.

Well me and Mr. Young finally got together and he pulled out a box of hones and mine eyes were immediately drawn to the few natural stones.

He sorted and picked and selected four for me to choose from. I reached for the "made in belgium" yellow coticule on a slate backer. Then he doesn't want any money.

So i gave him a tenspot for his time--the rock was a gift. He was happy, and my edges are now much better, but i've yet to acquire a good strop.