Thread: Hello from Kentucky!

Hi!

I'm from Central KY, close to Lexington, and I'm new to straight razor shaving although I've used the disposable blade shavette-style straight razors. I've got a restored Wostenholm pre-1891 that I purchased from my local barber (as per his recommendation), and I'm now looking to get the rest of the kit. (I need a strop, scuttle, etc.) I've worked with hones for years for polishing metal parts and the idea of maintaining my own straight razor has always been really appealing to me. It's only now that I've finally decided I'm not getting any younger...

I would really appreciate any tips and/or recommendations about hanging strops (I want to get a some time of leather and a separate linen strop). Also, any other tips, info, or recommendations would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

Welcome to the forum! You will find all the information you need here. Take a look at the library above, there you'll find almost everything you need to know before getting started.
If you want to learn to hone your razors (it is recommended that you learn how to shave first) watch some vids when Gssixgun or Lynn is honing on youtube. You'll find others that are good but these guys will not let you down!
Hold an eye on the classifieds here, you can find good strops and razors from members here. And I would recommend you to het a second razor as well so you always have one that is shave ready.

Welcome to the SRP Forum!

Here is a link that will help you find other SRP members in your area, just insert your location and hit search now. Note that the user name listing in red is a mentor, if you should need any personal help.

Here is a link to the SRP Library. This will help you with pretty much anything relating to shaving with a straight razor.

Welcome to the world of straight razor shaving!

Here is a link to the Central Kentucky Meeting scheduled for Memorial Day weekend May 24th and 25th in Richmond, if you are interested.

Welcome aboard. I'm 4 years into the straight journey and still learning daily. I love the gear, the technique and most importantly the results.

Biggest advice is to take your time, don't rush, watch your technique and remember the main goal is a good shave. I tried to start with the straight at least 4 times. It would tug so I would just set it down and pick up the DE. Finally found the right angle and it glided. From there it only got better.

Hi and welcome. Have a good read around and most of your basic questions will be answered quickly. For honing your best bet is to arrange to meet someone local to run you through it. This will save a lot of time and frustration. Good luck and any questions feel free to ask

Welcome, spend a lot of time reading in the library here, great info.

Hello and welcome to SRP.

Welcome to THE Forum for straight razors

Hi & welcome to SRP! There's a wealth of information to be learned on here but next you will most importantly need to learn to strop a razor since you must strop one before & after each use. You can see all Lynn's Youtube video's here:

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

And since you mentioned honing, thee are some honing video's in there as well plus here's gssixguns Youtube video's on honing with different hones:

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

Of course you will need a good brush with boar or badger hair. My preference is badger but everyones different. You'll also need some soap & you can experiment with different ones plus you'll need a mug or scuttle. Shaving with a straight razor is the best way you can get the closest, smoothest shave one can get as long as it is honed & stropped right. Just click on the Library on top of this page & you will find how to learn to strop. You can practice with a butter knife so you don't cut your strop but if that happens, you can sand it out or clue it back down with some CA (superglue) or rubber cement which you can get at any hobby store. If you have any questions, just ask on the forum or feel free to drop me a message & I'll be more than happy to help out in any way I can.
Good luck!