Thread: What else do I need ?

Hello All,

Well I've got razors coming from Lynn and Bill, a 3" strop from Tony Miller, I have a Japanese "Sun Tiger" 6000 water stone and plenty of soap and cream and a Trumpers badger brush.
What else do I really need ?. Is there something essential I must have to really enjoy the straight shaving experience, any other tools I must have ?.

Sorry for the stupid questions but when I get in to something, I want to make sure I have what I need. I still have plenty of "wants" for later.

Thanks

Gary

You'll want something for final honing/finishing. Probably in the 10-12K area. A barber hone off Ebay might suffice or a 12K Jap waterhone. A paddle strop with 1 m paste might work too (and you can add .5m as well).

Other ideas will follow, there are lots of options for final finishing of the blade, which you won't need to do for a while with either of those razors.

A finishing stone is a "must-have", in my opinion. I'm one of the few guys that likes finishing on a very fine barber hone, but any sort of 12K or better hone would be fine. And yes, until you get very good with a finishing hone, I think a pasted strop would be a good idea for refreshing your blade once it's lost a bit of it's keenneess.

I'd also recommend an alum block to wet and rub over your face after your shave.

Yes you could gt a 12k stone but you are ready to go in my book. The 12k is a nice to have not a necessity.

Don't forget the pre-shave photo of your face so the plastic surgeons have something to go by <g>.


(told to me when I first started)



Tony

Originally Posted by garythepenman

Hello All,

What else do I really need ?. Is there something essential I must have to really enjoy the straight shaving experience, any other tools I must have ?.

Gary

A big set of balls, and a steady hand.

Nah, I'm kidding, tis really easy and fun, you'll enjoy it


Nenad

Don't forget the 96-bladed vibrating handle straight-razor, equipped with strobe-lights and a flux-capacitor

Actually it's fairly simple to get a good SR shave, but check out the axioms in the Shaving forum. All you need are a decent razor, a good hone and a strop. However I do have a couple of tips for you:
1) Do not rush the job!!!!!!!!!!! That and shaving with a bad pakistani razor left me with a couple of permanent scars (nothing major, but still). Be slow, gentle and deliberate. If the blade won't shave with only light pressure on your face, it needs to go back to the hone.
2) Do not use shaving gels. They leave nasty residue on your blade that impedes your shave. We have a shaving soap discussion going, you may want to check it out.
3) Getting a really clean shave of the chin and under the jaw-line will be difficult to learn, especially if you have an angular face. It will require you a bit of time, an extra lathering, a few nicks (during the learning process) and a very sharp blade.

Originally Posted by FiReSTaRT

Don't forget the 96-bladed vibrating handle straight-razor, equipped with strobe-lights and a flux-capacitor

I tried to talk the wife into doing my shaves, you know, "the man is the king of his castle" and all. She responded with I should treat her like a queen and draw her a bath and shave her legs for her .

I don't think we'll need strobe lights and electrapulse razors for the luxury effect

Wow that sounds like an offer you can't pass up

Originally Posted by Tony Miller

Don't forget the pre-shave photo of your face so the plastic surgeons have something to go by <g>.


(told to me when I first started)



Tony

Can't believe you remember that.