Thread: New and ready to take the plunge

Hi everybody,

I'm new to straight razors and about to purchase my first. I'm glad that there is good advice and reviews on this site.
I don't think there is much to say - dry shaves have never worked for me, and I have a good electric razor that gives me a decent wet shave, and costs a fortune to replace the cartridges.

I'm also a knife nut and I'm not afraid to hone and strop - though I still don't have the super-duper fine hones SRs require.

Welcome, glad to have ya.
Knives and razors are two separate entities when it comes to honing, but some of us pick it up a little easier than others. You should add your location to your profile, there may be someone near by that can give you some one on one help. Its quite easy to screw up a razor, compared to a knife.

When you order your razor, you want to make sure that its been pro honed, this will show you what a true edge is like, and feels when shaving, and honing.
You might look into the buy, sell, trade section of the forum.
Lots of good deals from honest guys here, or look into Straight razor Designs/ Imperial Shave. Don Addleman is one of our founders of SRP, along with Lynn Abraham's.
If you buy from them, it'll come shave ready.

Have fun, and hope to hear about your decision.

Welcome to the forum

Before you make any purchases, read a lot of forum posts. There are a lot of folks who can provide excellent advice. Once you know enough to ask a specific question, ask and you will get a lot of good advice.

Just because you like knives and knife sharpening, do not count on your current knowledge and experience transferring to razors. It may be helpful, but you will need additional knowledge and skills.

One thing that you will hear from lots of folks on the forum is that you should purchase your first straight razor from someone who can hone the razor to a "shave ready" condition. Since there is no specific definition of "shave ready", there are a lot of razors for sale that claim to be shave ready but are not able to deliver a close, comfortable shave without additional honing.

You can purchase either a new or vintage razor, but be sure it comes from someone who knows how to hone it properly. If you buy one that is not shave ready, send it to someone who can hone it for you. As you read these forums, you will learn which vendors to trust and which to avoid.

Welcome to the forum! I see I've been beaten in the race to give you good advice, so just follow the tips that have already been provided. (The Buy/Sell/Trade area is a great place to pick up an inexpensive vintage razor (~$50) that should be shave ready unless otherwise noted. For strops, check out SRD as mentioned.)

Welcome to SRP, ask any questions as they come to you and please join in conversations. Hope this journey goes well for you, there is already lots of great advice above so enjoy

Hello, and welcome to the forum!!

Thanks everybody.

I didn't expect such a high dose of support right off the bat! So I forgot to write that I've been hanging on the IRC channel and been getting the same good input as all of you!

You can absolutely use news paper, denim is also a viable option. The palm of your hand will work but I dont recommend that for safety reasons.
News paper works well due to the abrasive nature in the ink of the print. You can make a hanging strop of news paper strips and it will help you learn to not use much pressure. Too much pressure and the paper will tear. Old jeans work well and should be easy to find cheap. I hope this helps

Also forgot to mention, I'd recommend a 3 inch wide leather strop. You can get one from SRD and its about the best value around. 3" is not necessary but very nice to have.

Originally Posted by ejmolitor37

Also forgot to mention, I'd recommend a 3 inch wide leather strop. You can get one from SRD and its about the best value around. 3" is not necessary but very nice to have.

That's the part I'm trying to understand!
What is it about a leather strop that makes it so desirable compared to a newspaper or balsa strop?
Better edge? Ease of use? Feeling like grandpa?

(Related question: why hanging strops vs bench strops?)