Greetings from the great white north

Greetings from Ontario Canada! The snow is gone, hopefully the frost is as well. The temp is climbing towards the 80's. I'm interested in learning what I can about straight razor shaving and buying.

Thanks
HBJ

Greetings from the Great Wet North. Welcome to the forum. There is tons of information here and a lot of friendly and knowledgable people. The first thing a beginner needs to know about buying a straight razor is is needs to be properly honed to shave ready before it can be used. There are many vendors that sell them pre honed. Classic Edge is close to you, at least from my perspective, and Phil puts a nice edge on them. If you are shopping for new I cannot say enough what a good job he does. If you are looking for a used razor there is often a great selection in our classifieds. You should get a brush and some good soap right off the bat, and start shopping for a strop and razor. While that is going on do some reading here and ask a few question if there is anything that does;t make sense or you haven't found.

Welcome to the forum, lots of great people here and a few dozen fellow Canucks...check out the Beginner section, the Classifieds are a great place to get a straight razor to start the journey and it's lots of fun!!

Thanks for the welcome. I'm on a very tight budget at the moment so we shall see how it holds up for now. I currently am using 2 blade Costco disposables with a nice soap I found a few years ago my wife lovingly bought a dozen or more of. I am returning to blades from the electric world since it needs new blades, battery, and they stopped carrying the cream designed for use in the built in dispenser. a straight seems like a new challange and a lost art I'd like to tackle. I'm have to modify my lifestyle a little as I am usually running late. I found a few blades on kijiji that look interesting not sure of their quality I'd assume being vintage blades they likely would need some care to get a shave at all if not a good shave. Might be an interesting challange.

Thanks
B

It is easiest to learn to shave with a properly prepared blade first then mess with getting a blade ready later, if at all. There are enough people around that will hone for a small fee that refreshing a blade should be all you need to do, unless you start restoring, but that is not a budget friendly activity either. Best bang for your buck is to buy two inexpensive, shave ready razors and no more, learn to shave and refresh an edge and that's it. In theory unless something happens to one of your razors you are set for life. There are members here that never hone their own blades, and are quite happy with that arrangement.

Greetings from Vancouver!

Welcome to the vice er hobby :)

There are some affordable straights in the classifieds, at least one of them is in Canada so you will not have to pay shipping.

Hi and welcome. RezDog has given you some great advice on how to start. Buy older vintage razors doing the necessary repairs and cleaning and honing is labour intensive and probably cost more than just buying from the classifieds or a reputable dealer. You said you were using a nice soap just checking that it isn't from a can. A couple cheaper vintage razors and a strop could be purchased for 150 easily enough if you already have the soap. Start with learning to shave and let the rest come in time. Good luck and any questions feel free to ask

Hello and welcome to SRP 'eh

Welcome to the forum.

Bob

I'm quite enjoying your input. I absolutely am not using canned product. If you do that's your choice and I can respect you for it.

At this moment my brush has died and will need replacement. I get a reasonable lather with my hands just not as much stubble working or exfoliation. The triblade disposables aren't bad for a day or two. And the electric is now just irritating at this point although I did enjoy it's speed and ease at 0500 in the morning when on days.

I used to do a lot of knife sharpening years ago and am quite familiar with the process its a matter of learning the angles and holding the angle to get the correct bevel. I've read through some of the sharpening pages and am picking up the angles while, I get the idea behind taping the spine I'm a little comfused as that will adjust the angle. I'd assume that once taped you will need to maintain that when on the hone as lowering the angle once the bevel was set with the tape on seems like it's counter productive?

What's the thought on disposable blade straights. There's a kijiji ad in my area with a decent looking disposable straight and 25 blades for $25. Would get me into the learning curve amd decide if it's for me without the strop req and minimal out lay. Would be a good travel blade as well I'd think? Thoughts? Thanks everyone you've all bee quite helpful

Yes tape is used throughout the honing process. Usually you change the tape every time you change hones. It is reccomended as people new to razors tend ho wear the spines out while learning to hone.

The disposable razors or shavettes are a mixed bag. Some like them and others hate them. From the overall reading I've done it seems they can be harsh to shave with and easier to nick yourself. Many would use them for travel as it is easy to get blades wherever you go.

Hi and welcome to SRP!

Knife sharpening and razor honing are quite different processes, so new techniques will need to be picked up, not to mention most likely a new hone or two. The stones to hone razors are of a much, much higher grit than is normally used on knives. However, having an interest in Very Sharp Things is a good starting point.

Using tape or not using tape is *entirely* your call. Some do, some don't, either will work. That having been said, gssixgun (one of the most experienced honers out there, and someone whose youtube videos you should check out for honing info and instruction) has spent a heck of a lot of time looking into the angle difference between tape and no tape. It boils down to a minuscule difference that appears to disappear withing a short number of strokes on the hone.

All of which to say: don't worry too much about the tape/no tape debate. Pick one and run with it when the time comes. :)

Otherwise, I'd echo the advice given above, especially to start off with a razor that has been properly (i.e. by a pro) honed to a shave-ready state. Even if you do decide to hone later on, that will at least give you a benchmark to aim for with your own honing. Without knowing what a truly shave-ready razor feels like, you'll be trying to hit a target you can't see when you're honing your own.

Here's one of gssixgun's vids that I think should be required viewing for anyone starting out on honing:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vxrs5kFkmJg

I've never used a shavette or disposable blade straight, so can't help you much there. But if you're thinking of buying a straight and want some advice on potential purchases, feel free to shoot me a PM and I'll help as I can.

Good luck :tu

Welcomed aboard