Thread: Hello from California

Hi all,

Greetings from Southern California. In previous years I'd always wanted to cross over to a straight razor because I'm a big cutlery fan, but I barely had to shave so it didn't seem justified. But now I'm 23 and I've mysteriously had my facial hair fill in a lot better during the last year, so I've decided to make the jump.

Thank you everyone for all the informative threads I've already read on here before creating an account.

I impulse purchased an old Gottlieb Hammesfahr Solingen Foche on eBay for $15. To be honest I have no idea if there's anything wrong with it or if it will be usable (I really don't know what to look for in a used razor), but I figured for $15 I could afford to find out later and buy another razor if this one is not workable.

Pics from auction attached, as I'm still waiting on shipping. Feel free to offer any feedback













I look forward to learning more from these forums and hopefully contributing a bit once I figure out what I'm doing

Hi and welcome. The razor looks in good condition so get a pro honing and a strop and you will be good. Any questions feel free to ask

Welcome to the forum and congratulations on the new blade.

Welcome to SRP!
To me the blade looks like it has a slight frown, but it could be lighting. A professional honing will straighten it out.
You will also need a strop.

Read through the beginner's section in the library and ask us any questions that you have.

Thank you all for the welcome!

Criswilson10: I also thought there seemed to be a mild frown. Do you think I might be able to hone it myself? I have a decent amount of experience using waterstones to sharpen knives.

You may be able to get the razor straightened out and shave ready but odds are against and you wouldn't know even if you did. Get a pro honing and practice on a second razor that way you have a benchmark and a razor you can shave with.

Have a good read through the library and the honing forum for more information on honing. The YouTube videos by Lynn Abrams and Gssixgun are also very helpful

Welcome to SRP

Have it honed by a pro to fix that apparent frown and you will be on your way to great shaves.

Learning to hone and shave so that you can test how the edge is progressing is much harder than just learning to shave. If you decide to hone it your self the library/wiki has all the info you need.

Jonathan

Since it is your first razor, I'd send it out to be honed so that you know that you are starting with a good sharp blade.
If you enjoy shaving with it, get a second cheap razor and learn to hone with it.

Welcome to the forum, there I lots of information for new straight shavers.

We do have an active group here in So. Cal and are pretty spread out from San Diego to San Francisco, were in So Cal are you?

You possibly could hone it yourself, but chances are you don’t have the proper stones for razors.

Honing razors is very different than knives and it is common for knife guys to have a hard time accepting that. What stones do you have?

You could do as others have suggested and send your razor out to be honed (or in this case I think it needs to be re-ground ) to turn that frown into a smile. OTOH, this could be a great opportunity for you to start learning to hone yourself. Maybe you haven't gotten to the point where you know if SR shaving is something you'll stick with, but starting to hone will help you decide. Honing is an essential skill and, unless you want to spend the money to have your razor honed by someone else every time, the sooner you learn the better. There is a steep learning curve and you will make errors, but if you go slow you will progress.

Just look for honing directions on this site (especially those from professional barber manuals) and start practicing. Your razor would benefit from a more advance technique of honing at the point and heel, but your edge doesn't look so bad that it wouldn't shave well as is with regular honing and stropping.

Whatever you decide to do, good luck!