Thread: English Newbie

Hi All - great site.

I'm hoping that my razor & strop will arrive from the Gentlemans Shop (delivery only £2.95, and by courier) tomorrow and attempt my first straight razor shave .

I'm already using good quality English shaving creams - Taylor's, Trumpers etc, but can't wait to ditch the Mach 3 and (hopefully) a lot of the ingrown hair problems it has given me. I tried a DE but could get away with it, and much prefer the control and flexibility that a straight razor seems to offer.

There is a lot of support for newbies on this site, in particular being able to send razors to other users for first time honing. The Gentelmans shop told me that my razor should be shave ready, but after reading post etc on this site I'm not convinvced.
Does anyone know of any member(s) in the UK who will sharpen a razor, if its needed (at least until I get the hang of honing myself)?

This may sound daft question, but for a first shave is it better to just have a light stubble growth or a good bit of fuzz?

thanks

Northpole

With my DE I always got a better shave with a couple days growth.

I have only used my straight once and had 3 days growth (which is pretty heavy for me!) and it went quite well.

If you have irritation from your current razor you may want to let your face recover a day or two prior to your straight shave. Ingrown hairs can bump up which could well be a problem and it is nice to start with an irritation free face so you have a good baseline.

If you have little irritation though I don't think you would have trouble either way.

Welcome!

You'll find that there are a few of us Brits here.

Welcome!

Welcome aboard. Unless they took the razor through an in-house or sub-contracted honing service, factory honings are in most cases way less than adequate. If I were you, I'd get the good one honed by a professional and learn how to hone on an e-bay antique, using the professionally honed edge as a template.

Originally Posted by FiReSTaRT

Welcome aboard. Unless they took the razor through an in-house or sub-contracted honing service, factory honings are in most cases way less than adequate. If I were you, I'd get the good one honed by a professional and learn how to hone on an e-bay antique, using the professionally honed edge as a template.

The more I read on this site, the more I agree.

I have already ordered a new razor assuming it would be 'ready to go' (wish I'd found this site first), but haven't a clue where I would send one for honing in the UK. So have just bought a refurbished razor (at a very good price - £ is strong against the $) from Joe Chandlers site that is 'shave ready'.

I will probably attempt a shave when my new razor arrives (can't resist!), but if it's not sharp enought at least I've got a shave ready one on the way, and a benchmark to copy.

Welcome and be careful. I dull straight razor can be dangerous. Remember, no sideways movements.

And if it's dull enough to skip along the hair, it can cause multiple nicks in one swipe. I'd wait for Joe's razor if I were you.

And if you like....I've done some honing for UK members...

Originally Posted by LX_Emergency

And if you like....I've done some honing for UK members...

Thanks for the offer and will bear that in mind.

Incidentally, what hones would you recommend? The Norton stones appear to be difficult to get a hold of in the UK. I'm going to get a couple of cheapie razors off ebay to practice with.

I got my Norton from the site below in the UK.

http://www.rutlands.co.uk/cgi-bin/psProdDet.cgi/NCWS3

You can also get one from the following site in the UK.

http://shop.johnlloydfinefurniture.c...98/af/page.htm

Price of delivery of the first was about £5.00 for courier.

Hope this helps,

Steven