Thread: First Timer.

I had been entertaining the idea of making the transition to a DE or a straight for a few months now. To my surprise, as a wedding gift I received a straight razor that just so happened to be made by GD Buckingham. Luckily I did a little research and it popped up on this forum with a dedicated thread to how bad it was. I haven't even made a pass with it yet and after reading I quickly became confused with all of the different honing, stropping, and razor choices. Since I was his best man and it was my gift I am just going to have it framed as a nice memento. My question is, without a money restriction, what is the best way to get started if I am going to go all in? I would plan on learning all of the proper techniques in sharpening and maintaining a proper blade.

Something else to consider as far a acquisition goes is to take a look around your local Antique Stores/Malls for a vintage razor then send it out to be honed. It will take a bit research here on the same list you found information on your razor from but there are some common good brands out there which may not be hard to find. Do some research on what to look for but I don't think it will be too tough. It is far easier and more of a sure bet to go with Classifieds or Vendors here but if you are looking for a bit of adventure and education you can't go wrong with gerting out there and talking to people. You can get a vintage razor restored/honed for around $80-$100. Look under Member Services in the Classifieds.

There are a lot of awesome new blades but the vintage blades tell one heck of a cool story and add a 'cool factor' new stuff just can't match.

Either way it will be a blast so enjoy, read a ton, talk to everyone you meet and think of it as a journey that just happens to make a mundane chore into something very, very cool!

Originally Posted by Prahston

You can get a vintage razor restored/honed for around $80-$100.

With all due respect , you can get a new , shave ready Dovo , from Straight Razor Designs , professionally honed by Lynn Abrams (the founder of this forum) or his partner Don , for the same money . With them , you will also get service after the sale .

Congrats on finding this site and doing your research. Welcome to the forum!!

As for what you need, you will get many different answers.

I would say that the most important thing is to get started, and keep at it for 3, 6, 12 months and more; gaining experience with out getting discouraged. The skills will come to you, and your preference will be defined.

Just get a good razor, a strop a brush and some soap to get going. If you want to get into honing you can get one good set of synthetic stones.

Those are the basics. After that, if money is truly not limited, then the sky is the limit on what you can buy to experiment with.


Michael

@ Dave5225... Absolutely! You just have to pick the direction you want to go. I grew up working on classic cars and still don't really consider anything built after 1973 a 'real' car but rather Moderately to Heavily Computerized Transportation. So, I guess I just take the same view with razors. For me with razors I picked up lots of vintage razors, put plenty of money into honing gear and have been drooling over some new stuff lime Hart Steel's website all at the same time. I have been picking up vintage razors anywhere $8-$45 each and honing them myself and the thing I am currently working on is restoring skills. My plan is to keep this up through Fall/Winter then start flipping a few of my refurbished razors to fund a few new ones and so on. I love the new razors but, in the case of many, at $275 that is a chunk for one... I don't have much more than that in my entire honing setup... Norton 220/1k, 4k/8k, DMT 220, Naniwa 12k, stone holder and paddle strop... Maybe a tad over $300 with the Diamond Spray and CroOx... And now I'm set for years of personal honing.

There are just so many ways to go witg this... Just gotta pick your line and drive it I guess. :-)

Originally Posted by DBrown

. . .
My question is, without a money restriction, what is the best way to get started if I am going to go all in? I would plan on learning all of the proper techniques in sharpening and maintaining a proper blade.

Good call to ignore the Buckingham!

No money restriction ??? Easy call:

Get a kit from Straight Razor Design (who sponsors this website) which includes:

1) a Dovo straight razor (any one is OK if it has a _round point_, not a square point);

2) a leather strop;

3) a brush;

4) shaving soap;

5) an Edwin Jagger DE89 safety razor;

6) a "blade sampler" -- a bunch of assorted blades for the safety razor.

You'll have everything you need for the near future, to explore both straight and DE shaving.

You could spend more money, but you need experience right now, more than you need fancy gear.

Charles

PS -- if you _do_ have a budget restriction, it would be good to know what it is. My suggestion won't be cheap.

Originally Posted by Prahston

@ Dave5225... Absolutely! You just have to pick the direction you want to go. I grew up working on classic cars and still don't really consider anything built after 1973 a 'real' car but rather Moderately to Heavily Computerized Transportation. So, I guess I just take the same view with razors. For me with razors I picked up lots of vintage razors, put plenty of money into honing gear and have been drooling over some new stuff lime Hart Steel's website all at the same time. I have been picking up vintage razors anywhere $8-$45 each and honing them myself and the thing I am currently working on is restoring skills. My plan is to keep this up through Fall/Winter then start flipping a few of my refurbished razors to fund a few new ones and so on. I love the new razors but, in the case of many, at $275 that is a chunk for one... I don't have much more than that in my entire honing setup... Norton 220/1k, 4k/8k, DMT 220, Naniwa 12k, stone holder and paddle strop... Maybe a tad over $300 with the Diamond Spray and CroOx... And now I'm set for years of personal honing.

There are just so many ways to go witg this... Just gotta pick your line and drive it I guess. :-)

There's nothing wrong with vintage razors . All the razors I shave with , except for one , are vintage razors . In fact , my first razor was a vintage that I cleaned up and honed (repeatedly , until I could get it to shave) , and I'm still using it . I had , and still have a collection of vintage razors , and by the time I was 2 weeks in to shaving with a straight razor , I was using 3 different vintage razors that I had cleaned up , and honed , myself .
Unless the razor is in very good condition , and doesn't require a lot of work , the cost of restoring will be at least that of a new razor , maybe more . Some vintage razors are so far gone , that unless you do the work yourself , the cost would not justify having it done .
I'm certainly not opposed to using vintage , I just wanted to say that you can also buy a new razor , for what a restoration might cost .

Make sure you love the first straight you get... I say buy the best you can afford. It'll help you get past those "humps." Assuming you have any.

The starter kits really are a great place to start though.

Yay - a new hobby welcome!