Thread: New to Straight Razor Shaving, but stoked! A few questions

Hi all,

I just bought a Boker King Cutter and a Heljestrand No. 2 along with a Big Mama strop. I read good things about both of these razors and picked them up for about $35 each. I hope these will be good shavers. Both have a nice and rounded point for a beginner like me.

I've been watching videos on YouTube for shaving instructions, stroping techniques and other straight razor videos, so I feel I'm ready to start practicing on some balloons before my face. I'm already a close shaver and get compliments from girl friends on how smooth I shave, so at least I'm doing something right. None of my friends shave with a straight razor, so I'd love to be the first.

After reading a lot and watching video after video, I still have some questions.

I've heard stropping my razor before each shave is ideal, but also read every shave isn't necessary instead every 5 shaves with Chromium Oxide .5. Is there a preference between the two or should the Chromium Oxide be used on a separate strop every 5th shave and the clean strops used before each shave?

How often do you hone your razors?
edit: I just read a few posts recommending not to even think about this for at least 6 months.

I was thinking about buying an antique razor to practice honing, or would this be a horrible horrible idea?

Does anybody make custom scales? I'd kinda like to buy some or make some for my razors to make them really unique.

I don't have a badger brush yet, but thought about going to Target to get a $24 Van Der Hagen set. Is this a decent starter kit or are there better ones for a beginner?

Thanks everybody for your help. I'm excited about this!