Thread: Hi all, beginner from the uk here!

Hey guys,
Getting my first straight razor for this Christmas and I can't wait! I would greatly appreciate any tips and advice, as I'm quite nervous about it, specifically honing!
Hope to become a part of this community!

Welcome to the forum!!

My advice - stay with it! It's really something to be able to say you can shave with a straight. But there will be bumps along the way. It doesn't come overnight. I vowed to only use a straight for a year. I did it - and haven't looked back!

Good luck and have fun!!

Hi & welcome to SRP. You will love it here & there is plenty to learn as there is a wealth of information on here! You will want to buy you a nice straight razor to begin with whether used or new. Beware of used ones not that they are bad but know what to look for like a lot of hone wear on the spine & edge or chips in the blade. Stay away from razors with rust on the cutting edge as that will only result in it chipping more metal off as it is honed. Here is also a list of straights to stay away from:
Brands of Straight Razors to Avoid - Straight Razor Place Library
Here is a list of good brands of razors you will want to own plus there are more than just these out there which you will find out from other members here:
Good Straight Razor Brands - Straight Razor Place Library
If buying a new razor, I suggest you buy one from Straight Razor Designs or SRD. The owner & founder of this forum is Lynn & he is also part owner of SRD. When you buy a straight razor from him, he will personally hone that razor before you get it plus you will get a certificate for another free honing for when that razor needs it which should be a few months. There will be vendors who will sell you a straight razor that is supposed to be shave ready but really won't be. You will most importantly need to know how to strop & you can learn in the Library or here:
Razor stropping - Straight Razor Place Library
You will need to strop your razor before & after you shave. If you buy one from Lynn, chances are you won’t have to strop it before you use it the first time.
You will also need a shaving brush, a shaving mug & some shaving soap. Later it will also do you good to get a second straight razor so that when you send the first one out to be honed, you will have a backup to shave with.
Here is a link to the Library where you will find stropping in there & everything else you will need to know including how to hone:
Straight Razor Place Library - Straight Razor Place Library
Here is another good link to know:
Welcome to the Workshop: How do I / Where do I / What do I / answers are here
Should you have any questions, there are a lot of knowledgable members on here that will be more than happy to help you out. If you want to find someone in your area, you can look here:
Local Help - Straight Razor Place Library
And if you can't find anyone near you, just ask and someone that lives in your are & hopefully they will let you know how to meet up & you can get some one on one mentoring. There is a lot to do on here, just search everywhere on the forum & in the Library. You will spend hours on here & have fun doing it, so there you go, have at it!
Good luck & have fun!
Steve

I think good starting point that you can get going with right away, is to get a brush and some good soap and start making lather. It will immediately improve your shave no matter what you are using as a whisker wiper. You can also do your beard map and practice skin stretching with your shaving. All things that will make it better. If you have a strop you can practice the motion of stropping, substituting a belt for the strop is possible. The other thing that is very important is to read in the library about beginning shaves and watch a few videos. Lastly, welcome to the forum. I hope you enjoy it here.

Hi and welcome. As said start with the library. Also important is to make sure that your razor is coming shave ready. It is also best to learn shaving before honing and when you do start honing learn on a decent but cheap razor as it will take some practice to get decent. Good luck and any questions feel free to ask

I've often heard that shave ready razors aren't - you may want to find a honemeister to sharpen it properly before taking it to your face. Also remember to strop the stuffing out of it before your first shave. After that first stropping you can ease up on that step, but I might recommend at least 50 on chromium oxide, 50 on the fabric belt, and 100 on leather.

Originally Posted by eddy79

Hi and welcome. As said start with the library. Also important is to make sure that your razor is coming shave ready. It is also best to learn shaving before honing and when you do start honing learn on a decent but cheap razor as it will take some practice to get decent. Good luck and any questions feel free to ask

I'll second that motion. I learned that lesson the hard way too. If you aren't proficient at shaving or honing and you screw around and dull your blade with an amateur honing job like I did it will significantly increase the learning curve. I put up with a month of trial and error, bad shaves, and razor burn that I really didn't have to. But once I got the stones in hand curiosity and my tinkerer's nature got the better of me, and I paid the price for it lol.

One final piece of advice - store your razor somewhere dry. I shaved one morning and left mine in it's usual spot in the shower. One of the room mates took a hot shower and the next day there was a thin surface coat of rust. It was my fault for leaving it there, but it did burn my behind a bit. Also, you gain a whole new perspective for the line in "What would you do with a drunken sailor" about shaving bellies with a rusty razor after you've tried shaving with a rusty straight. I figured that thin barely there surface coat of rust wouldn't hurt it - boy was I wrong. After that first good stroke there was no backing out, so I had to do the whole thing and it felt like it was ripping the hair out rather than cutting it.

Originally Posted by Marshal

I've often heard that shave ready razors aren't - you may want to find a honemeister to sharpen it properly before taking it to your face. Also remember to strop the stuffing out of it before your first shave. After that first stropping you can ease up on that step, but I might recommend at least 50 on chromium oxide, 50 on the fabric belt, and 100 on leather.

If you have a professionally honed razor most people would recommend not stropping it prior to first use, especially if you have never stropped a razor before, there is a chance that you will spoil the edge.
and I certainly wouldn't put pastes anywhere near it yet.

Originally Posted by edhewitt

If you have a professionally honed razor most people would recommend not stropping it prior to first use, especially if you have never stropped a razor before, there is a chance that you will spoil the edge.
and I certainly wouldn't put pastes anywhere near it yet.

Thanks for the correction! I guess it makes sense they would strop it themselves and have it truly shave ready when they hand it back.

Originally Posted by Marshal

Thanks for the correction! I guess it makes sense they would strop it themselves and have it truly shave ready when they hand it back.

I mentioned that in what I wrote but there's so much you may have missed it! I agree with edhewitt.

Sure enough, I missed the part where you mentioned you could skip stropping if you purchase your razor from SRD/Lynn.