Thread: Hello from Wisconsin

Hello to all in this forum,

I am of course new to straight razor shaving and look forward to using my new straight razors that I have just bought. I just recently sent the first one that I got off the internet out to Straight Razor Designs to have honed, I want to make sure my first shave will be a wonderful experience.

I've had a barber in the past use a straight razor on me and found that it didn't hurt like it does when I use a regular 3 or 4 bladed shaver that I normally use, it was a pleasant shaving experience. Sometimes even when I have just replaced the blades I still find that it tugs or pulls on the hairs before its able to cut them, not very pleasant feeling at all.

I hope to get a pleasant shaving experience like I had at the barber using the straight razor as a replacement to the shaver that I have been using for the past several years, if everything goes well I will be a straight razor fan indefinitely.

Welcome to the forum, fellow Wisconsinite!

Hello, MAG515, and welcome to Straight Razor Place. I, too, live in Milwaukee. If you need help or have questions, you're welcome to drop me a personal message and I'll gladly mentor you. Good luck.

Welcome to SRP. Most likely your first straight shave will be less then a wonderful experience. This forum of full of threads that describe a bad first shave. But not to worry, with practice and patience, the shaves that you dream will be yours. You did the first thing right by sending your razor to be honed. Lynn will have it back to you before you know it. In the mean time, be sure to read the very helpful links on the home page, especially this one:

First straight razor shave - Straight Razor Place Wiki

Following the advice contained therein, your first shave will be better than mine...I found this resource months after I started. On my own, I was able to experience a whole new level of razor burn I never knew existed, proper blade angle, prep, stretching, and etc would have prevented that. It may take a few weeks or months for all the variables to come together to achieve a stellar shave, but it will come eventually. Your first few shaves may take upwards of almost an hour, but you'll get faster with practice. Someone had a poll recently about how long does it take to shave and I think most answers where around 10-15 minutes, including before prep and cleaning afterwards. Best of luck and keep us posted yon your progress. If you need anything, just ask.

Welcome to SRP. You have come to the right place to learn and be mentored on everything about straight razor shaving. And that Obie, well he is the diamond in Milwaukee you need to contact if you have questions. Plus, Obie is excellent at honing razors.

Thanks' for welcoming me all of you and thank you for offering any advise and help that I know I will need.

I am also interested in looking to learn how to hone my own razors in the near future as I did buy a 4k/8k stone for when I am ready to start on that journey, but for now the best thing is to learn how to shave with a straight razor, This I'm sure all of you would agree with that.

Originally Posted by MAG515

Thanks' for welcoming me all of you and thank you for offering any advise and help that I know I will need.

I am also interested in looking to learn how to hone my own razors in the near future as I did buy a 4k/8k stone for when I am ready to start on that journey, but for now the best thing is to learn how to shave with a straight razor, This I'm sure all of you would agree with that.

Indeed, there is plenty of time to learn to hone your razors. Honing your skill with the straight and proper stropping are essentials at this stage. A little at a time and you'll get there.

I have a question about stropping, I already bought a strop with a second separate piece from the leather piece its made of nylon webbed fabric. The question is...when stropping do I need to start out on that nylon then when done move over to the leather and do some rounds on that before I shave or just go to the leather without using the nylon side. I am a little confused about that.

Also I bought some Chromium Oxide Paste to apply to one of the sides of the nylon. I guess you use that when your blade starts to dull and not cut as good anymore. is that right? If not how and when should I use that paste. Sounds like its used to help refresh the blade every so often and when that stops working its time to go to the stones. Is that correct?

Welcome to SRP! I'm a fellow newbie, and I agree with the previous posts- patience and practice are key. I might suggest, while your razors are out being honed, that you go ahead and read/watch videos on lathering and stropping. You can also go ahead and start using your brush and soap/cream with your current shaving implement (assuming that you already have them). You can practice stropping with a butter knife or something else that won't cut your strop; in particular, practice the flip (on the spine), light pressure, and taughtness.

As I'm sure you are aware, there are many things to learn/practice and getting a jump on these two while waiting on your razors can go a long way. Welcome to the party!

Yes, you do generally start with the fabric then move to the leather before shaving; the number of passes varies from person to person, but 20 passes on the linen then 60 passes on the leather seems sort of average.

As far as the paste goes, it is used to "refresh" or "touch-up" the edge when it starts to dull. I would, however, wait a bit before applying it to the strop. I'm not sure if you can apply it to one side of the fabric and still use the other side as normal; I'll let one of the more experienced guys comment on that. But, I know that a lot of guys have a totally separate strop for applying pastes and then another everyday strop. I have a piece of balsa with CrOx on one side and IrOx on the other, which I bought from a vendor.

Still, practicing stropping in general is probably more important at this point. Hope this helps!