What ho, all

I'm a professor of linguistics; recently moved to Salt Lake City.

I've been wet shaving for about 15 years, using DE for about 6 of those. In the late 90s I made an ill-fated attempt to start SR shaving. But in those dark ages before shaving forums populated the Interwebs, I knew very little and ended up being sold some rather sub-par equipment in a chemist's shop in Boston, including most relevantly a Pakistani SR, which wouldn't take an edge (it was a choice between Chinese and Pakistani SRs, as I recall, and I assumed that Pakistani SRs would surely be superior).

Today, I finally made a purchase of a shave-ready Wade & Butcher 1/4 hollow, curved back/round point, 4/8-5/8 today (online, don't have it in my hands yet), which I'm anxious to receive, to fulfil my uncompleted attempt many years. I still have a 90s-vintage Illinois 835 strop from that unfortunate Boston chemist's adventure, which I hope is enough to start with.

Other than shaving things, I enjoy quality loose-leaf tea, mystery/scifi/fantasy literature, pocket watches, Linux, fine blades (of various sizes), reggae & blues, and things to do with India (Nepal, Sri Lanka etc.) and the Caribbean.

Welcome aboard,,,,,,,,,,, drop into our library section & enjoy your journey into wetshaving,,,,,,,,,,,:tu

Welcome to SRP!
Have you checked out the SRP library yet? There is some good info there for beginners.
http://straightrazorpalace.com/srpwi..._Place_Library

Many of the members here enjoy the same hobbies you mentioned. Check out the threads under The Finer Things in Life.
http://straightrazorpalace.com/finer-things-life/

Hi and welcome. Good luck with making the transition to a straight. Any questions feel free to ask

Great intro.
Welcome,.....now the fun begins :rock:

Hello, and welcome !!

Hello and welcome. ... There are some great folks in here and a lot of knowledge for you to enjoy, so enjoy your time and shave responsiblly.

Hello and welcome to SRP. :D

Do you enjoy teaching pigeons to line dance? 'Cause I do and haven't been able to find anyone who shares this passion, not even the pigeons. Oh, and welcome.

welcome back to SR,s do yourself a favor and get your razor pro honed by a true honemiester, your experience will be much improved , read all there is to starting and go slow, knowing what a truly shave ready razor is will be half the battle of diagnosing what your doing, then learn the strop ,, the rest is will come together good luck tc

Thanks for the welcome, all.

@Leatherstockings: Thanks for the pointer - have been browsing through "The Finer Things"

@tcrideshd: Yes, I bought the razor professionally honed, for the very reason that I wouldn't have a reference point otherwise.

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Originally Posted by emacsomancer

Thanks for the welcome, all.

@Leatherstockings: Thanks for the pointer - have been browsing through "The Finer Things"

@tcrideshd: Yes, I bought the razor professionally honed, for the very reason that I wouldn't have a reference point otherwise.

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Trust me when I say that not all "shave ready" razors are shave ready. Who did you buy it from? What type of reputation do they have? If you purchased from one of the vendors here then it will be truly shave ready, but if it came from eBay it would be questionable at best.

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Originally Posted by guitstik

Trust me when I say that not all "shave ready" razors are shave ready. Who did you buy it from? What type of reputation do they have? If you purchased from one of the vendors here then it will be truly shave ready, but if it came from eBay it would be questionable at best.

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I bought it from someone over on /r/shave_bazaar who seems reputable, and I communicated with him about the exact state of the razor, including ascertaining whether 'shave-ready' truly meant "ready to shave with". He assures me that this is the case.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by emacsomancer

I bought it from someone over on /r/shave_bazaar who seems reputable, and I communicated with him about the exact state of the razor, including ascertaining whether 'shave-ready' truly meant "ready to shave with". He assures me that this is the case.

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Well, hopefully he is right. You should be able to tell right off the bat. Don't strop before the first shave with it and that way it's honed state will be apparent. Your years of wet shaving will support your new adventure since lather quality shouldn't be an issue, although I find that a lather "good enough" for my DE shave isn't quite adequate for my SR shaves. (I still do DE when in a rush in the morning or when traveling).

Welcome to the form!

I can't speak to the Illinois #835, but I have the #827 and it is an amazing strop, a real complement to my SRD 3" Roo Strop, the hard linen backing and the leather is an excellent strop, and many here use and quiteike the Illinois brand.

+1 to what Phrank said. I bought an 827 because he is always saying how great it is. And I feel the same about it