Thread: Hello from Phoenix and reflections from 5 months with straight razors

Hello everyone,

I thought I would finally introduce myself as I have been reading this forum for a while and have learned a lot from the its members. I took the plunge into straight razor shaving in July after shaving with a DE for about a year. I started off buying two cheap "shave ready" Gold Dollars, a latigo/linen strop, and a set of Norton 220/1000 and 4000/8000 stone (I later acquired a Chinese Natural 12k, which I now use for finishing and like a lot). With this setup, I was able to get the Gold Dollars sharp enough to cut hanging hairs. Some of these early shaves were OK, but far from BBS. However, the important thing was I was able to see that straight razor shaving was not as dangerous as people are conditioned to think. I was nicking myself a little, but I recall worse nicks with my DE.

With this initial confidence, I became curious as to what the world had to offer besides Gold Dollars. I started bidding on some vintage straights on Ebay for around $10-$20. At the price range, the early razors I won arrived rusty. I started sanding them with the limited sandpaper I had at the time (100-600 grit), and it was fascinating to watch how you could bring a old razor to life with just a little sandpaper. From there, I started to develop a passion for restoration. I acquired a full set of sandpaper and a set of mesh-type pads from Rockler that go from 1400 to 12000. I learned how to better put scratch marks on the razor by reading some tips on this forum. Eventually, I was able to take a sad, rusty razor to a mirror-like finish by hand. It's a time-consuming task, but one I have come to find very relaxing.

Looking back, I was somewhat lucky with my early Ebay purchases. The first few were rusty, but the blades were in good shape -- without chips or frowns. One of my early purchases was a Genco Fluid Steel Roundpoint 5/8 that I was able to hone to a very nice edge. The Genco was really a step up from the Gold Dollars. It was really at that point after the Genco that RAD hit me pretty hard.

Fast forward a few months, and now I am sitting on somewhere from 30-35 razors with a queue of about 10 waiting to be sanded/honed. In addition to the early Ebay value purchases, I have restored several nicer straights to shave ready such as several Filarmonicas (10N, and Doble Temple 13, 14); a TI 6/8 Le Dandy; several Dubl Ducks (Wonderedge, Special No. 1, Satinwedge); Red Imps 132 and 133; two Wade & Butcher (but not the giant wedges) a Bengall 5/8; A Wostenholm Pipe; two ERNS, plus two C.V. Heljestrands on the way (a No.23 and an MK 133). Since I shave every other day, it would now take my more than 60 days to shave with all my razors. While it saddens me to not use razors, it also saddens me only to shave with my Doble Temple 14 or Wonderedge once every two months. So in short, I am at the point where I will probably need to thin down the herd.

I wanted to share a few observations that I have made in my first 5 months of shaving. I read some interesting threads on Cold water shaving, and I have tried it out and become a firm believer in its virtues. I feel that a completely cold water prep/shave/rinse yields less irritation and razor burn than a hot water shave. Even better, a cold water shave is easier to maintain that a hot shave. I now fill two mugs with ice cubs -- one to soak my brush in and make lather in -- and the second to add water to the lather, if needed, and to rinse after the shave. The ice cubes keep the water consistently cold. With hot water, I used to find it a struggle to maintain the water consistently warm, especially in the winter. Second, I am a big fan of using alum post-shave as I feel that it does a great job reducing irritation and razor bumps. Third, while I started off using a nice silvertip badger brush, I have really come to like my Semogue 2000 boar brush. After breaking the boar in, I feel like it does a better shop massaging the skin, and maybe lifting hairs, than the badger.

Finally, going back to my RAD, there are a few razors that I have never been able to find at reasonable price that I am still curious about: a Wade & Butcher For Barber's Use large wedge (8/8); Any Dorko; and non-Fili Spanish razors (Palmera, Ducal, etc.).

Hi and welcome. Ed