Thread: Just Received My First Straight Razor

Hi, firstly the feet in the photo is hilarious! Do you have a strop? I guess your first shave will tell you if you need a hone or to get it honed. Good idea to wait until the weekend before your shave, you will need to put aside a good hour. Take it slowly, only a bit at a time, light, short strokes. Nice looking razor BTW.

Originally Posted by carlmaloschneider

Hi, firstly the feet in the photo is hilarious! Do you have a strop? I guess your first shave will tell you if you need a hone or to get it honed. Good idea to wait until the weekend before your shave, you will need to put aside a good hour. Take it slowly, only a bit at a time, light, short strokes. Nice looking razor BTW.

SOTD right there.

Originally Posted by Grazor

SOTD right there.

No, no, not till he uses it...We'll look forward to the SOTD post on Saturday, Private DAHE4!

I do have a strop, the razor came with a strop, leather travel case for the razor, soap, bowl, and boar brush. I am thinking about trying the shave soap and the boar brush with my normal shave tomorrow morning. That way I can get a little practice in on making a good lather. I am definitely going to take my time this saturday when I try to shave with it. I am honestly scared of it, but at the same time I am excited! I may be weird but oh well. lol

Originally Posted by DAHE4

I do have a strop, the razor came with a strop, leather travel case for the razor, soap, bowl, and boar brush. I am thinking about trying the shave soap and the boar brush with my normal shave tomorrow morning. That way I can get a little practice in on making a good lather. I am definitely going to take my time this saturday when I try to shave with it. I am honestly scared of it, but at the same time I am excited! I may be weird but oh well. lol

Yeah, I was shit scared when I got my Burrell two years ago. I thought there is NO way that's going near my face! That first shave with a straight is so cool, you'll feel like you've skinned yourself afterwards, your skin will feel so raw. It feels so cool to shave with a straight the first time; you feel so gung ho.

Great idea about practising with the lather. You want an 'oomphy' lather that's not dry at all, and not TOO frothy. You want cushion and glide. Pre-shave cream like Proraso can really help a beginner. What sort of soap did you get?

Carl

BTW, I note on your other thread you have a Norton 4/8. Just wondering if you have a plan if you feel the razor isn't sharp enough on the first shave? Also, do you plan to strop before the shave? If so, how many strokes? I'd like to offer you a plan if you don't have a plan...FWIW...

It came with Van Der Hagen soap. I know it is a cheaper one, but it came with the razor and is something to start out with. I don't have a plan set in stone for the shave on saturday. I am still trying to figure out this strop. It is a smaller one, with a black leather side and a light brown leather side. Im not sure what side I am even supposed to use. Should I strop it before I shave for the first time? Any advice you have carlmaloschneider is greatly appreciated. I am completely new to this and have just been reading posts on this forum to figure stuff out. So, I am greatly appreciative of any and all help! I saw a video of honeing that I will have to find again. I believe it was gssixguns that made the video. He was doing circular motions on a norton 4/8 and I figured I would try that if the razor turns out not to be shave ready. I am trying to keep sending it out to get honed as a last resort, as the mail system out here is extremely slow and I will be changing duty stations in the next 2 months.

Originally Posted by DAHE4

I do have a strop, the razor came with a strop, leather travel case for the razor, soap, bowl, and boar brush. I am thinking about trying the shave soap and the boar brush with my normal shave tomorrow morning. That way I can get a little practice in on making a good lather. I am definitely going to take my time this saturday when I try to shave with it. I am honestly scared of it, but at the same time I am excited! I may be weird but oh well. lol

Good idea trying the soap and brush first. Stropping takes a bit of practice, so maybe try the razor without stropping it. Depending where it came from, it should be good to go out of the box.

Originally Posted by Grazor

SOTD right there.

I >really< don't want to see this guy's toes in Cut of the Day!

Hi Alex, welcome to SRP. You're in good hands with Carl. Best wishes to you.