Thread: New guy

New to using straight razors, but I think I got bit by the bug bad. Love doing things the old fashioned, slower, but better way.

Bought my first straight razor before there was anything to shave. Found it at an architectural salvage company in their trinket area. Stuff they had found in old buildings that they thought was worth saving/reselling. I think I paid $5. Been sitting unused for the last 20 years in my knife collection. Now in mostly shave ready condition, and starting to get used.

I'm already finding myself looking for deals on other vintage razors to restore and use.

Welcome aboard,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

Welcome partsguy. If you got antique stores around you ,You have razors around as well .
Learn what to look for,and before too long you'll have more than you can handle.
While there keep your eyes open for tools, drill press, sanders, buffers,scroll and band saws, and of course the Dremmel.
Everything a growin AD needs.
Mark my words, you'll see.[emoji6]

P.S. we all have AD here[emoji57]

Haha thanks outback. Thankfully I do a fair amount of miscellaneous fabrication and repair work so I have a fair amount of tools. Truth be told though, when working on functional artwork like a vintage SR, I'm likely to do as much as I can by hand. I posted my current razor in show and tell. I am likely picking up another one tomorrow along with a vintage safety razor. She also has another SR I'll be looking at, but from the pics it looked like it's probably beyond salvaging. The decent one is a King Mfg. Co. The roached one is a W.H. Morley & Sons. The safety razor is a Treet.

Hi & welcome to SRP! There is a great wealth of information on here & you will learn a lot. Here are a few things you might like to check out.
You might want to start with the Beginners Guide in the Library above or here is a direct link to it:

Straight Razor Place Library:Books/Beginners Guide - Straight Razor Place Library

You will need to learn mainly how to strop a razor first which you can look in the Library at the top or you can go here:

Category:Stropping - Straight Razor Place Library

You can also practice stropping by using an old wide leather belt & a butterknife to keep from cutting up a new one, but if that happens, you can glue it back down with CA (super glue) or rubber cement or just sand it down with sandpaper.

Here's the Monthly Beginner's Tips:

Straight Razor Place - Monthly Beginner's Tips

You can also search for others in your area who might be able to help you get started. You can go to this page, enter your town or city & state & click search:

http://straightrazorpalace.com/memberlist.php?do=search

You might even look for get togethers & meetups in your area by looking here:

Get Togethers and Meetings

BTW, you will also need shaving soap, a shaving mug & a good brush to apply your soap.

Note of advice: outback mentioned a Dremel. Buy Lynn's dvd to learn how to use one on a straight razor, especially a blade or you can ruin one in a heartbeat. You have to pay attention which way the tool is turning. It must be turning away from the edge. If turning against it, it will break a blade! Nothing bad meant to outback, I just had to add that because I just saw it. Many member refuse to use one on a straight razor & I can't blame them. If you ever decide to use one, watch the dvd first, then try it on a junk blade first. It is personal preference & I use one but very, very carefully!

Good luck my friend!

Also even when used correctly, watch where the collet is in relation to the blade. Its made of hardened steel and will damage or scratch the blade as well.
Again, be very careful.

Originally Posted by outback

Also even when used correctly, watch where the collet is in relation to the blade. Its made of hardened steel and will damage or scratch the blade as well.
Again, be very careful.

Mike, I wrap electrical tape around the shaft of the tool being used in the collet. I once touched the spine of a blade with it & even though it didn't scratch it, I wrapped the tape around it for protection.

Hi and welcome. Both guys are making great points about a dremel. If you use one keep the pressure and speed slow and watch the blade doesn't get hot especially near the edge. I only use a dremel and haven't used it above the lowest speed. Good luck with your restores and any questions feel free to ask

Thanks guys I appreciate all the advice. I may use a rotary tool here and there, but mostly, I'm going to try to stick to mostly hand finishing techniques. Unless I'm working on something that's really rough, and then I'll probably only use it for the early stages to clean up the really rough parts. There's just something about the results in doing things the old fashioned way, and with the craftsmanship and effort used to create these beautiful blades when they were first brought into the world.

Hand sanding is the way to go, it's safer and doesn't take that much longer than using a rotary tool. The wire brush on the rotary tools are nice for gimps for though.