Thread: Hello from Canada

Greetings everyone. Happy to be here. I’ve recently taken a liking to straight razors but I don’t know where to start. Is EBay a good or bad place to look? I’ve heard all sorts of stories. I would appreciate some advise and possibly where to look. Thanks and looking forward to hearing from you all.

Welcome to the forum!

Step one: Under the SRP logo in the top left corner of the screen you are reading this in, you'll see a row of buttons of which one is marked "Library". Lots of useful information there, including good choices for your first razor, where to buy and so on.

Step two: Hit the Buy/Sell/Trade button and see what members here have for sale. Most often, they will be truly shave ready, and sometimes can be had for not that much money. Buying from sources such as Ebay or local antique stores *can* be good, but often you end up with something that is not even worth the work to restore, if you don't know what to look for and sometimes even the guys who DO know what to look for end up with something not worth their time, never mind their money.

Step three: My personal view, go with vintage inexpensive razors to start and get two shave ready ones at that. If one gets dinged, damaged or just plain dull (it can happen in the blink of an eye), you have razor #2 to keep you going until the first one has been honed up again. Vintage razors will shave you every bit as good as a brand new custom razor, only without the *bling*. My most cherished razor is a 1950s vintage, seen better days, some wear and tear, 5/8" Clauss that I bought for $20 in a local antique shop. It took me forever to teach myself how to hone, but once I got it shaving, it's been my favourite razor ever since. I have a custom made for me razor that cost 15 times that and it was made to my order and I'm super pleased with it, but I still like my little ol' Clauss best.

If you continue down the path, you will amass plenty of stuff and have a wonderful time doing it. If you decide it's not for you, those first vintage razors purchased in our forum can likely be sold again with little financial penalty.

Regards

Christian

Welcome to the forum.

Christian has already given you some great advice. The most important thing is to ensure that your razor(s) is(are) shave ready and even though an ebay listing may say shave ready it may well not be. Once you have experience you can look on ebay but for your first one you could be disappointed.

I would heed Christian's advice, but if you truly want a new razor look on Straight Razor Designs, when they say shave ready they mean it.

Good luck with your journey, expect some disappointing shaves at the start but stick with it and you will be rewarded!

Welcome to the forum. I can add anything useful to the excellent advice the 2 previous posters given. Depending where in Canada you are there may be a member nearby who could mentor you one on one. That is a really good idea to ease and shorten the learning curve. If you feel like trying that, you could add your location to your profile. Take it slow and easy.

Bob

Great info given so far.
One thing i will add is this type of shaving takes time to learn. Read in the library about beginners straight razor shaving. You will find that after 100 shaves you will think you got it figured. Then at 200 shaves you will realize you didnt know much of anything at 100. The first year is full of good and bad but after that first year you will be not wanting to pick up any other type of razor again.

Good luck. Ask questions, enjoy the ride and welcome to SRP!

Welcome to SRP!!!

As you've seen, some great folks and info here.
Can't add much to what's been said, except......

Enjoy and have fun!!!!!!

Hello and welcome to SRP.
Enjoy your time here on the forum and have fun.

Pete <:-}

From Canada you say. You must know Bob from Ontario. . .
There are quite a few Canadians here, and there are a couple of online shops in the east that are a good place to get goods. Classic Edge has a true shave ready razors and good service.
The BST is often a great place to shop.

Thank you so much for all the great advise and your warm welcomes. I'm going to spend the next few days going through all the info in the library. Then look at the buy and sell section and take the plunge with a couple of good vintage razors. I'm excited to get started. Cheers

Welcome to the forum...I worked at an office in Markham many years ago, for me, up on Esna Park area...lots of fun restaurants around that area....as mentioned, check out the B/S/T area for a sure fire way to get a great straight....and read, read, read.