Thread: Hello All!

Originally Posted by keen

Thanks for all the encouragement it really makes me feel at home. The one question I do have is what is the difference between a 150 dollar brush and a cheap one? I see that there is such a wide price range out there, and I can't really justify spending a lot on just a brush.

I couldn't say specifically, I have had cheap brushes which were perfectly good, I currently have a Frank's shaving brush, which is still fairly cheap but seems good. Semogue brushes are also well liked and Inexpensive. The Frank's shaving brush I have is currently about $42 Australian I think. Or maybe $25. And the semogue brushes can be had for similar prices, the semogues are boar though as far as I know so are a bit scratchier.

Thanks for the info ed, I think I might just pick up a cheaper one to start. Eventually I will probably pick up a few more to see if I like them better or not. I don't think I will ever spend much more than $50 on a brush, but I guess time will tell.

Originally Posted by keen

Thanks for the info ed, I think I might just pick up a cheaper one to start. Eventually I will probably pick up a few more to see if I like them better or not. I don't think I will ever spend much more than $50 on a brush, but I guess time will tell.

Sounds like a sound plan to me, after all it's only there to get the soap on your face . I would just go to the chemist and buy whatever they have, should be about 10 euro I would guess.

The price is usually the kind of hair used( boar to top of the line badger), the size of the knot/loft and how pretty you want it to be. That said you can find good brushes for reasonable prices. Check out the brush thread or do a search there's heaps of info

Hello Keen,
I was in your exact situation last year around the same time: new to straight razor shaving, having read a lot of tutorials and watched videos, i might say studied the whole thing then I took the jump and bought a $400 Thier Issard razor, bought a silvertip bagger hair brush for $240, various soaps, a $40 Muhle cup, $30 stainless steel, other skin products, an atoma diamond lapping stone $70, naniwa chocera 2000 for $80, shapton glass 6000 for $70 and naniwa 12000 for $80., $80 paddle strope and diamond paste. Altogether around $1,100 investment into straight razor.
The initial blade came extremely sharp from the factory and I micro-cut myself about 4-5 times on the first shave. I was not painful because of the sharpness and healed in days. I assumed I had a lot to learn yet. month later the blade had gotten less sharp and more comfortable and I was able to shave with only 1 cut every other shave.
** the result of shaving with a straight razor was in no way better than shaving with a disposable supermarket 3 blades only more risks of cutting yourself and having to spend about 3X as much time to do it (including stropping) **
Then came the time when I needed to hone the blade with wetstones. I first tried the 6000 + 12000 and got it back to something ok for a few times. Then it started pulling skin too much and I had to set a new bevel.
Let me only tell you I was never able to get the blade back to the factory level of sharpness.
I watched tens more videos including from key people on this forum. I failed about 3 times then on fourth try got something quite good that passed arm hair test. That lasted about 4 weeks and it was just as bad as before. I changed my technique about 3 times bought 10X and 20X loupes (around $90) to look at what is happening with the the edge while honing and learn from that. You might not believe me but I am a patient, good learner in general. I got really good at feeling the blade on the hone, and all visual indicators showed that I was doing the right thing. Yet the blade would never get real sharp just passably sharp. By this point I had read and watched so many videos ad nauseum I swear I could teach a whole razor honing class that would say the same words and give the same impression as these videos. Yet I am getting mediocre shaves out of the honed blade. i did not gave up and tried a few more months and adjusted my technique several times. Today I spent 1 hour to try again : lapped the stones, 2000, 6000, 12000. Honed the razor. The result is that the blade is worthless for shaving ! I have those old supermarket disposable one and I tried that. Holy cow !!! I forgot how easily, comfortably and effortlessly these shave and much much closer than straight razor. Especially on the chin and close from the nose holes a straight razor is very poor at giving a close shave and dangerous to use. So maybe other people are getting better results but one thing I am certain, even the experts I consider them to be beginners when it comes to teaching that skill because nothing can be learned from any online information/videos. It is just waste of time.

I do not hide my losses and do not care about the $$$$ invested. That is nothing to me. My mistake was to believe straight razors are good, they are not. But I am glad i made the mistake of getting into straight shaving. You learn from your biggest mistakes in other ways even if they are insurmountable. Now some idiot on this forum is going to say I made the mistake of buying an expensive razor to start with. @#$% that comment! I buy what I want, they buy what they can afford, money has NOTHING to do with the difficulty of this skill. That is an off-topic subject that they need to talk about to their financial advisor NOT with me.. I could afford that, money is not why i am pissed. Wasting time in straight razor is why. But that is allright. If they see it as a waste for themselves than that is THEIR problem not mine, so Xxxx comments like that. Closing that parenthesis.

I am contemplating selling the whole thing. But not for cheap. I'd rather not sell it than discount it.
Most likely it is going to end up in a box maybe for future generations.

And mark my words, I am looking forward to using disposable razors. They are the best. Maybe you can get something close a few times with a straight but 80% of your shaves are going to be worse, slower, and more cleaning, stropping, oiling, honing, and ... on the side.
Not to mention if you travel, straight razor is not good to bring along and will rust if put in a closed suitcase and not perfectly dry. And the brush will rot.

PS: i forgot to mention camellia oil I also bought from Japan to keep the blade from rusting. I probably missed other things I bought..

So there you have it, honest straight experience about straight razor. Welcome and hopefully for you GOOD BYE. Remember you can leave at any time.

It's all about luxury, basically. An expencive brush doesn't function much different than a cheap one. Much of it is in the name and the handle material. You can get a really nice, top of the line boar brush relatively cheap. Check out this thread.

Oh, and welcome to SRP

Oh, and sunsweet - sorry to see you go. Straight razors are not for everyone. I only wish you would keep the swearing out of your post though.
Good bye.

Originally Posted by str8fencer

Oh, and sunsweet - sorry to see you go. Straight razors are not for everyone. I only wish you would keep the swearing out of your post though.
Good bye.

+1 ... Good bye.

Sunsweet is nightsour and goodby to a naysayer who should have found a mentor and spent one on one time to see where he was going wrong. Biggest mistake is to think that as a beginner you automatically know hoe to hone a razor from just reading about it!

Sunsweet,

Did you not enjoy shaving with the factory edge ?
It sounds like you were really getting there until the edge went.
If you have any notion of continuing, consider:
- Getting some one-on-one time with an experienced honer.
There are great videos out there, but if you are stuck and frustrated, it is time for hand-on instruction.
or
- Send your razor out for honing and just enjoy the shaving.