Thread: Hey y'all.

Hello all,
My name is James and I am an alcoho.. I mean... a daily shaver.

My job demands that I shave daily, and I used to hate the routine of it. About 3 years ago my other boss (wife) got tired of my daily whining and got me a Christmas gift of a Merkur double edge safety razor, hard milled soap (Taylor of Old Bond Street), preshave, aftershave, and a silvertip badger brush. Since then shaving has been my Zen routine every morning. The old electric unit, cartridge shaving utensil and canned foam haven't been touched since.

Now, with the natural progression of things, I want to start using a straight razor. I don't yet have a blade, strop, or an idea of where to start. Budget is a concern. I do not have any friends or family (that I know of) who use a straight razor to mentor or teach me.

Can this be started for under $100? I am very mechanically oriented and the prospect of honing does not bother me. I have a lot of experience with stones and polishing/honing from custom gunsmithing, though my stones are not adequate for this style of work because of size, grit and shape.

Thanks all,
ChuMP

I would suggest getting with an experienced shaver and learning what they have and why.

Here is link to find people in your area. NAM is fair sized place.

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

Hah, I guess so. North America is pretty big. Wasn't trying to be a smarta**. I am just not in the habit of advertising my personal info on the web. I am in Jacksonville North Carolina.

Originally Posted by chuMP

Hah, I guess so. North America is pretty big. Wasn't trying to be a smarta**. I am just not in the habit of advertising my personal info on the web. I am in Jacksonville North Carolina.

No worries man. If you're cool with a vintage razor, which can actually make it more fun, you can easily get started with some good gear for less than $100. All you really need is a razor and a strop. Some of the senior folks here are in the business of restoring old razors and post them up in the buy/sell/trade section. Another place to shop for a good, shave ready vintage is whipped dog.

watch that first SR step chuMP, its a looong one. =]

if you dont mind paying for postage id be happy to loan you one of my razors so you can test and see if SR is for you without spending any bank. i have plenty - vintage sheffield or solingen mostly - from wedge to full hollow.

just lemme know if interested.

Buy/Sell/Trade section for buying used goods, and the Library section on this board has a lot of helpful information on what to look for when starting out. Straight Razor Designs have beginner kits and they hand hone each and every razor they sell, should you decide you want new (and everything they sell, even the cheapest stuff, is good stuff).

sloanwinters has made you a very nice offer, and as you would be getting a honed, stropped and ready to go blade to try, what's not to like. And always, when you are new at this, shave first with a freshly honed razor before stropping. It is very easy to roll and or damage an edge with improper stropping technique and if you strop before your first shave with an edge, you have no idea where the fault lies. If you don't strop and your first shave is great, then you strop and the second shave is not so great.... you know what happened!

My only other piece of advice is to make sure you start with 2 razors.... If one razor goes dull, gets dinged on the sink corner, falls on the floor or gets hit by a meteor crashing through the roof of your house... you'll always have that second razor to tie you over until the first one gets honed, repaired etc.

Even though I've been at this game for a while, and like you, I had to shave for public work, I always carried an extra known good razor with me into the bathroom whenever I'm doing a first shave after a honing. It doesn't happen very often, but it does happen that what I thought was good and ready, wasn't.... it's awfully nice to have that second razor there so you can just pick it up and keep on shaving in full comfort.

Bottom line, you have to be clean shaven, but I don't think anyone will reach over a rub your face to see just how smooth it is.... a little bit of the pricklies will not *show* to anyone else... I did't get great shaves to start... they were good, but not great. And that was good enough for me....

Wishing you all the best in your journey into this madness known as straight razor shaving.....


Regards

Christian aka

Kaptain "Remember, Chicks dig scars and keep a recent photo of yourself for the surgeon... just in case" Zero