Hello from SF

And I thought the DE version of wet shaving had swallowed me up these past four months: I'm afraid I may be sliding over to the deep end...

Hello everyone. I switched to DE shaving in November, and I've been loving it. Needless to say it became an active hobby pretty quickly, and I've succumbed to RAD, SAD, even a bit of SBAD, all while stumbling while I learned and refined my angle, pressure, and lather (why don't they tell you how important and elusive great lather can be?). Recently, my DE shaves have been great and pretty much problem-free.

Maybe because I'm craving a new challenge, and maybe because the idea of a straight razor has been seductively whispering to me the whole time (however much it did and does intimidate me), maybe because it just has such a bad-ass appeal, I've decided to give straight razor shaving a try. Gulp!

Based on recommendations on another forum, I ordered a "sight unseen" razor and poor man's strop kit from Larry at Whipped Dog. Then this afternoon, after spending more time (too much time?) reading up on this whole catastrophe I placed an order with Portland Razor Co. for one of their Siren models. I figure the 7-8 week lead time for that will leave me with some quality starter time with the other one.

So, I haven't even held a straight yet and I already have two on the way. I figured I'd better register here and avail myself of another strong community and all the information you have to offer. I'm just hoping the potential satisfaction from learning to wield a very sharp piece of metal will outweigh the bloodshed. :)

Welcome to the SRP Forum.

Shop for a strop next and make room for Brush Addiction (BAD) and Hone Addiction (HAD).

Welcome aboard and+1 on ad's

I am sure you will enjoy it if you have the patience to learn. If you have the lather under control that will make things a bit easier, one less thing to learn. From what I have read a straight razor benefits from a slightly wetter lather than a D/E, we'll either that or D/E's are more accommodating of dryer lather. I do use a D/E from time to time but not enough to be able to comment from personal experience.

I would hold off on any more purchases until you have used the two you have for a while. If the site unseen is a different size and or grind to the PRC razor you will be able to get a bit of an idea of where you want to go. I also think variety leads to confusion early on, learning with one razor will be beneficial in the long run as you aren't trying to work out angles etc on two different razors.
it sounds like you have done a fair bit of reading so you should have seen a few themes with beginners questions, of course we are happy to answer any that you do have though.
Regards ed

Hello and welcome to SRP.
Ed pretty well summed it up. :tu
There is a lot of information here and members looking forward to guiding you along the way.

Welcome! Ed has hit the keys. The only thing I'd add is keep reading and watch some of the videos on shaving with a straight.

Welcome from Santa Cruz!! There's something very Bay Area about shaving with a straight. Sort of clean shaven lumberjack chic or something.

Great hobby and a rabbit hole if I've ever found one. Enjoy!!!

Thanks for the welcome, everybody! I'll certainly heed the advice to stick with one razor for a while to get the technique down (the same principle applies to DEs, I just made things a bit more difficult by ignoring it). The PRC I gave into because, well, pretty! And the idea of having a "nicer" American-made razor early on appealed. But good points on focusing on technique first.

I now have several DEs that I really like, including my beloved Above the Tie S2 slant. If I really take to straight razors, I already anticipate being sad in abandoning, or even neglecting, these DE beauties!

Quick question on lather: I like making a thick, creamy, but slick lather by loading generously on a damp (not dripping) brush, then adding water gradually to get a "cold cream" sort of consistency. It's still slick. Will this not work for SRs? I keep hearing about needing a wetter lather for SRs; but isn't slick slick? Or maybe I'm misunderstanding what "wet" means in this case.

Welcome. I think everyone has hit the important stuff already. Enjoy!

Hi onethinline & welcome to SRP. You will find a lot of good information on here & it is endless. If you click on the links at the top of this page, they will take you to different places on this site but the most important one is the Library. Since you have two straights on the way, you will most importantly need to learn how to strop a razor. You can do so by going here:

http://straightrazorpalace.com/srpwi...azor_stropping

There are different strops available but the one used most is the conventional one that hangs. There are also paddle strops which are mounted on a board or some that have interchangeable pieces like leather or felt that you can load with stropping paste or whatever suits your needs. There's also one called a loom strop which has the tautness already set by however you set it which is what I mainly use but i also have used a paddle strop too. I'd start with the conventional one for now. You can practice with an old wide leather belt & a butter knife. If you start with a straight, you will most likely cut your strop which many of us have done but you can sand it out or glue it back down with CA (superglue) or rubber cement. I like using rubber cement which you can buy at most craft stores but the CA works well, it is just not as rubbery as the rubber cement.
You will also need a good shaving brush with boar or badger hair on it. You just want to star with a good cheap one for now until you get the feel of things & start shopping around. Also you will need shaving soap to use with the brush & a mug for you soap. When you do get yor straight razor's, the one from Larry at Whipped Dog should be shave ready. Here are Lynn's Youtube video's which will show you how to strop, shave, hone & much more:

https://www.youtube.com/user/LynnSAbrams/videos

There's a wealth of information on here so you'll be here for hours at a time. There are things to click on at the top & when you click on "Forum" you will see many sub topics on the left side of the page to click on. You will also be directed to the main page if you click on the large SRP logo on the top late of the page in which you can access some more links on the left including the straight razor database. If you have any questions, just ask on the forum or please feel free to pm me & i will help you out in any way I can.
Good luck my friend!

Thanks so much! Though to be clear I haven't even touched a straight razor yet; I'm waiting for my order from Larry at Whipped Dog to arrive. I've been DE shaving since November, though, and enjoying it quite a bit. I suppose the temptation to try a straight was inevitable!

I'm looking forward to exploring all the resources here.

Welcome to the forum and the brotherhood.

There is much to learn/master - but the fact that you have been wet shaving and making lather (and doing beard prep) is going to help you a great deal.
When you are learning the shave takes longer, and the lather tends to dry - so refresh as needed.

And of course we feel it is worth the time and effort to master.

Smooth shaving...

Welcome onethinline ,
I don't have anything more to add that hasn't already been said. 2 razors before you have even shaved...make sure to start saving for shaving addiction.


Meghan

Welcome to the deep end! We all end up there eventually -- it's good that you got a head start.

By the way, I have nothing but good things to say about Larry at Whipped Dog. I ordered a flawed sight unseen from him a while back and all it needed was a good cleaning to turn it into a nice little shaver. It was perfectly shave-ready and is still my go-to travel razor.

Welcome to SRP

Hi and welcome. Any questions feel free to ask

Thanks again everyone for the warm (and already helpful) welcome. Looks like my Whipped Dog sight unseen should arrive on Monday. I'm already thinking about SR techniques when I use my DE in the morning, so my brain is processing the info I've been taking in. Of course, getting the muscles involved with the real thing is when the learning will really begin. I'm looking forward to it.

Hello and welcome to the forum. Not sure if anyone answered your question on lather yet so thought I would throw in my two cents. From your description sounds like you build a lather similar to me, start out on the dry side and add water until you get the consistency you want. When you start with the straight you may want to work in a little more water than what you normally do. I find that there is a fine line between just right and too wet/thin. All trial and error and you will find what works best for you in time.

Welcome from the Bay Area 707 to 415 & 510