WARNING: Content May Not Be Suitable For Adult Straight Razor Users!
The long winding road ended one night with me in front of the computer sitting with a combination of poor posture and crazy tension. EBAY and I was bidding on what was to become my first straight razor: A Red Imp, red like a fire engine, red like some favorite toy from years past, red like the face of an embarrassed straight razor enthusiast starting out bidding low on his way to the high road. I was the 'winner' at sixty some dollars. The razor was 'shave ready.' There were excellent pics proving that the seller had nothing to hide. Sure there were some dark areas, tiny spots here and there. Opening the razor I thought it was beautiful, not other worldly beautiful like a NOS Filarmonica or one of Max Sprecher's razors not other worldly beautiful like so many of the Shave of the Day razors that have hypnotized me. Attachment 106668
I do not own a strop yet but have something in the works. I could not wait to shave so I shaved. It was fun and surprisingly bloodless. I have noted that I did whack the edge off of a mustache which I had to get rid of.
Still no strop but I wanted to shave again.....and again. Now 3 shaves in and face sending some signals regarding comfort, read discomfort.
Yesterday I read somewhere on SRP a thread regarding pitting, particularly along the edge. The words which come from a member with plenty of chops read something like, I stay away from anything with pitting, discoloration...my words....along an edge. That seems pretty common sense. I missed it the first go around.
This morning I decide to have a look at the bevel with a jewelers loupe that I have had so long I forgot the magnification.
I didn't cry out loud for fear of being tossed out of the SRP altogether. I see something very different from anything I saw in a photograph or (more importantly) in my mind. This razor looks beautiful to me, but the Red Imp is ugly and quite possibly trash. I know, I was warned. And why did I wait over a week to open the loupe and have a look?
I've learned lessons that have been harder than this one and more expensive, but...
OK fellow Aspirants, don't be like WW243. Listen to your Elders, they want you to make good choices, they want you to have a solid foundation and systematically acquire knowledge and skills to change an act of drudgery into a joyous celebration. Stay with your SRP vendors and member sellers if possible, they have some concern for your dream, not exclusively their own.