Thread: Mark from Missouri

Hi, guys,

I just finished my second straight razor shave and thought I might join in the fun. I've been DE shaving for a while now, but I've always been fascinated by straights so I decided to take the plunge. For now, I'm just doing the area below the sideburns on both sides of my face, as demonstrated in Lynn Abrams's video and finishing with my DE. So far, so good - I love it! I have two straight razors, one is a vintage Geneva that I got from a member in another forum, and the other is a SRD Dovo 5/8" faux tortoise. Both arrived on my doorstep Saturday, so I guess that's my start date. I bought the SRD English Bridle strop with pressed felt as the second material and some chromium oxide spray to use for touch ups (I wanted the crayon, but they were sold out). My first two shaves have been a bit clunky, but I'm getting a handle on it. Anyway, enough of my rambling. Thanks for having me here!

Hello, Mark. Welcome to Straight Razor Place!

Hello Mark and thanks for joining us.
In order that you get started off on the right foot you can take advantaged of the library which has answers to questions you haven't even thought of asking yet.
And don't hesitate to ask questions.
Hopefully you are shaving with truly "shave ready" razors.
Also there is a learning curve to learn proper stropping as you can very easily damage the edge of your razor with improper stropping.
You may run into a few setbacks along the way but that's what makes it all worthwhile.

Originally Posted by Raol

Hello Mark and thanks for joining us.
In order that you get started off on the right foot you can take advantaged of the library which has answers to questions you haven't even thought of asking yet.
And don't hesitate to ask questions.
Hopefully you are shaving with truly "shave ready" razors.
Also there is a learning curve to learn proper stropping as you can very easily damage the edge of your razor with improper stropping.
You may run into a few setbacks along the way but that's what makes it all worthwhile.

I splurged for the video from SRD, which gave me an overview on stropping. Lynn honed and stropped the Dovo, so I figured that would give me a good baseline for what a good hone is supposed to be. I also watched one of the YouTube videos that featured using chromium oxide or diamond spray to touch up the razor between hones, and I think I got a handle on it. My stropping technique is SLOW right now (I bought the SRD strop mainly because if I wreck it, I can get a new leather). I don't see much advantage to going fast until I get the hang of it, and I'm kind of clumsy, so I figured that so long as the razor gets a good stropping, speed isn't really an issue. Looking forward to improving my technique, and thanks for the helpful tips! MAW

Welcome to the forum. There is a lot to learn but many people here to help you.

Welcome to SRP!
I'm glad to hear to you got good gear to start with. It makes learning a lot easier.
Going slow stropping is the way to go. You are less likely to damage your strop or razor going slow. With practice, speed will come, and then you will slash your strop and realize that it is better to go slow.

As above, check out the library and ask questions - we are here to help.

Hi and welcome. Slow is good. It all comes together with time and practice. Any questions feel free to ask

Hi Mark & welcome to SRP! You got a great head start on things & two nice straights on your doorstep in one day! You got a nice Dovo because Lynn hones each on before they go to their owners plus you should have one free honing for when it needs it again. You also got a nice stop to go with the Dovo, great choice! The video's are very helpful & you can watch them as many times as you want. When I first joined I bought Lynn's dvd which is also very good to have. It shows how to strop & how to hone & a little on restoring Plus he shows his collection on there which is nice also because it gives you an idea of some good straights to own plus he shows how to shave on there but there are many video's on that out there. You're going to love it here especially once you start interacting with other members here. Just watch out for RAD, razor acquisition disorder. It is very easy to fall into by buying more straights as time goes. I love collecting older ones & restoring them too. Have fun with your new hobby & good luck!

Welcome to SRP!