Thread: Greetings from San Francisco!

Hey folks!
I switched to DE shaving from carts almost a year ago. I've assembled a decent collection Gillettes and Gems and whatnot, along with lots of soaps and brushes. Now it's time to try a straight. I have incoming equipment, and once my strop gets here, I can have my first shave. Compared to DE shaving, the amount of information is a bit overwhelming, especially when it comes to honing (I need stones for my stones?!?), but I'm working my way through it all.

It's good to be here!

Capslock

Welcome, from a neighbor in the North Bay. Give us a shout if there's anything we can do to
help you find your way through the maze.

If your razor is shave-ready, I recommend not stropping it for the first shave. That way you will know what a sharp straight razor feels like. As someone new to stropping, there is a chance you could actually dull the razor. Good luck.

Welcome to SRP. Your neighbor from the East Bay. Lots of great places in SF to pick up shave gear. Have fun and enjoy the shaves

Hi and welcome. Any questions feel free to ask.

Hey Caps,

As you can see, you've hit the motherload of great help. Even local help!

You're absolutely right that its easy to get overwhelmed w/ how much there is to the game. It probably helps to keep it simple for now. You already know one of the 3 basics - how to make lather. That's not a small thing & you already have it licked. The other two are the shave itself, well outlined in "your first straight razor shave" linked on the home page and stropping. As one who sucked at stropping, the most helpful threads I've found are Glen's "Beginners Tips from 3/11".

http://straightrazorpalace.com/begin...ch-2011-a.html

Pay special attention to the 'flip' at the end of the stroke, 'cause this is where most of the carnage happens. Afdavis' vid on the flip is linked in this thread and was (may still be) linked on the home page. It would have saved me 5 strops & no small amount of work & $$.

On maintaining your edge, it helps to have a 2nd blade to use while one is out being honed. It needn't be a costly blade. The temptation to jump into honing is *very* strong, but best deferred until you can reliably get a close, comfortable shave. There are many, myself included, who will gladly hone (not restore) for the cost of shipping it back to you. So after you have a good sense of what a good edge feels like - then you wade into the world of honing. I made the error of trying to learn to hone as I learned to shave. I wish I hadn't.

You're gonna love this.

Thanks everyone, it's MUCH appreciated! I'll dive in head-first this weekend, and report back on the level of blood loss! If not for forums like this, the world of the straight razor (or even DE for that matter) would be impenetrable. Now, I know I can get great advice for any questions I have. Good stuff!

Welcome to SRP, Capslock! Sounds like you're all set to go crazy. Take it slowly after reading up on everything you can. Oh, and have fun!

Hello, and welcome to SRP. Like you said there is alot of information on the forum, and it tends to be overwhelming. With that said, Have your razor professionally honed before you start so you can have a bench mark for how the razor should shave as far as sharpness is concerned. Just concentrate on your shaving technique, and stropping technique. And don't worry about every thing else to start. Just get the shaving and stopping going along nicely first and foremost, then you can concentrate on other aspects later.