Thread: Introductions, new to straight razors. Need advice.

Hi!

First of some quick introductions: I'm Steve and I'm sick of my mach3 ripping my neck to shreds. So I've decided to look into DE and straight razors.

A friend of mine who's a member recomended SRP to me. He's also sent me a genco razor to use for a few months. I still need to buy a strop though.

Okay introductions over, I need some advice. Last night I got overzealous on ebay. ("Oh my god. Everyones asleep, I can win everything I want!") and won
two auctions. One for 6 razors (one a genco apparently) and one for a "Senator Straight Razor ". I'd like advice on the quality of these razors - if anyone knows.

"senator straight razor"
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...e=STRK:MEWN:IT

Set of 6 razors
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...e=STRK:MEWN:IT

In the set of 6 razors there seems to be some decent looking (non-rusted, stll shiney) razors. I hope to put the decent ones back into use asap, and perhaps restore the scales/blades on the not so great ones - starting with that urine yellow coloured one. ick.

Also, is there any video close up of stropping? I saw lynn's video which was fantastic and calmed my nerves a lot - it seems like the actual shaving itself is simply a learned art. But the stropping seemed more a technical skill.

It looks as though you made out okay.

I like the looks of that "Senator" razor of yours. I actually saw that auction and considered bidding (you weren't the only one up!). It looks to be a 5/8 hollow ground with minimal wear. It should shine up pretty nicely with some metal polish and elbow grease.

Your lot seems to be pretty good, too. That meatcutter-ish blade should restore nicely, and the black handled one with the round point looks like it will be a good shaver.

I suggest you go easy on the splurging for a while. Get yourself a clean, sharp razor and perfect your technique. One you know you've mastered the ability to shave with one of these things, you'll feel a lot better about spending money on them.

Right now you're like a Karate student -- you're free to go out and buy an expensive black belt whenever you want, but you should first concentrate on learning to kick ass.

Edit:

Welcome, by the way!

Welcome to the SRP!

First you need a strop. Try the following two places
www.thewellshavedgentleman.com or
www.classicshaving.com

Look in the videos section and also the help archives for stuff on stropping and shaving and honing.

To restore those razors try www.billysblades.com and look at the restoration CD.

Then you will need to get those razors honed and shave ready. Give us a shout when you are ready for that.

Hope this helps,

Jesus, why don't you just ask him to post his credit card number, Randy?!

If you want to spend your wad, Shack, there are plenty of places to do it; my suggestion, though, is to take the thrifty approach for now. You're in the learning stage and judging by the fact you first borrowed a razor and then shopped some cheap relics on eBay, you're a man who isn't concerned with frills just yet. Way to be.

Our fellow member is right -- you need a strop. But you don't need to shell out sixty or seventy bucks just yet. What you'll get is a piece of leather, and you've probably got a few old belts kicking around the house that will do the trick just as well. If not, get a thick one at a thrift shop for a dollar. I've been shaving with a straight going on half a year now, and I'm still using a belt. I think I'm going to upgrade soon, but you get what I'm driving at.

As for restoration, all those those straights need is a some scrubbing with a rag and some metal polish. Three or four dollars, tops. When you become more "hardcore" about it, there are tools and resources to look at.

And yeah, there are plenty of people here who will sharpen your razor up. I'll do it free of charge for you, if you like.

My credit card number is 5452-000...........

ahem. I don't plan to do much splurging from now on. I was expecting to buy a new their issard and blow my wad on one razor. Instead it turns out I blew a smaller one and got a bunch of razors.

Clearly I'll have to put some work into each one to put it back into working condition, but that isn't so bad. In the end I may have 7 razors to choose from.


Anyways, thanks for the comments. I feel pretty confident in what I bought now.

EDIT: I forgot to ask. What do you guys do for travel? Do you carry around huge tubs of shaving cream? I've got a small travel (sampler) pack of art of shaving stuff, but it's too expensive imho to buy for travel.

Are there shaving creams of similar quality at a lower price?

The most bang for the buck (IMHO) of the 'top shelf' creams is Taylor's of Old Bond Street (~$13.50/tub). However, you can pick up a tube of Palmolive for about $2.50 at Walgreens or CVS--a perfectly servicable cream--and it fits quite nicely in a shaving kit.
Ed

That TI video showed good stropping. Flat blade and smooth moves on the strop. Belt? Yea, OK. Get yourself a real strop as soon as your ready. Get a tube of cream, like Taylors and use it up till you've got about 50% left or less. Toss that into your travel dopp bag. You've got an Ebay surprise coming, you won't really know the true abilities of the razors until you've played with them for a while.

Congrats and Welcome...

Isn't palmolive a dish soap? Sounds like it's priced right. It may be difficult to find in Canada though. I looked through the shaving section at pharmasave today, the selection consisted of gilette, schick, or generic. That's it.

Looks like I could buy palmolive on the net though.

I actually doubt I'll use any of the ebay razors for a while after I get them.
I've got the known good genco razor from a friend, I'll stick with that until I know
what it blade feels like. Then when I switch to the ebay blades, I'll know if something is wrong.

Yea its dish soap. A straight is like a really sharp knife. Bring the spoons and forks and dump them in the sink, saves time.

Palmolive offers two shaving lathers. Both tubes are white, one with red lettering, one with green lettering. The tube with red lettering is what you want if you use a brush. Green lettering is for brushless users. I picked up a tube at Walgreens, but have never seen it there again. I also picked up a tube at CVS while I was in Texas.

RT