Kevin from NYC here and ready to learn!

I have yet to shave with a str8 and an anticipating it like a kid on Christmas morning and the funny thing is that I have no idea why!
I've never seen anyone in my family shave with one or even talk about it so I am curious to the reason but I am pretty much obsessed at this point.
So before I get on anyone's nerves with too many questions let me apologize and save some time :)
At this point I have bought three ebay blades with good names, a kit of Norton stones to hone with, and a set of of SRD with the Bismarck blade including the video. That is my start.
In fact tonight is my first night to hit the hones so if anyone has any tips that maybe are not on the videos in this site and on youtube let me know.
That brings me to the Mentor thing as well.
This site is huge and takes a bit to get used to so I would sure appreciate a Mentor to get me through the beginning of not only this site but also the ins and outs of str8 shaving as well.
I have been chatting in the chatroom for a couple of weeks now and am starting to get to know the regulars but would like one person i could count on to answer things for me.
Thanks so much Lynn for making this site and I hope to be around to maybe mentor someone else one day. You never know.
Thanks for listening.
Kevin

Hey Kevin! Don't worry, we're all obsessive here. :)

First of all, I admire your ambition! But a few concerns...

If you have never before felt a shave-ready edge, how will you know when the edge is ready?

If you do not have a lot of experience with razors, how will you know how much to hone? Does it just need a touch-up, or does the bevel need to be entirely reset? And do you have the right stones?

Do you have a microscope? Would you know what you were looking for if you did? What if the blade is rusted? Or frowning? Or chipped? Do you feel confident in dealing with that?

Our great honemeisters on SRP can help you out, but a lot of this is stuff you have to just "know." And you get to know it by lots of experience with razors, and lots of practice.

I don't say this to discourage you at all, but rather, to encourage you to take your time. There is a lot to learn. Just shaving and stropping by itself is probably going to take you months to master. If you have the extra stress of trying to hone when you haven't even perfected maintaining an edge, it's going to make everything a lot more daunting, and it's probably going to frustrate you.

I'm still getting frustrated that after all this practice, my stropping still isn't perfectly consistent. I also misjudged what can be used for stropping material and wrecked my blade. I can't imagine how frustrated I'd be, or how many more mistakes I'd make, if I also was using a razor which my unacknowledged hands had attempted to hone.

My 2 cents would be this: Put the eBay razors and the hones away for now, and just focus on the shave-ready Bismarck and your stropping. The first time you shave, don't strop. If it came from SRD it should be totally shave ready when you get it.

That first shave will set the benchmark for what sharp means. From there, aim your stropping at keeping it that sharp for as long as you can.

And maybe in a while, it will get a little dull, and you'll need a finishing hone to just clean up the edge a little. Do that first.

Once you feel you can confidently maintain a properly beveled edge, then think about trying something more ambitious.

Not because you couldn't handle more if you tried, but because this is supposed to be enjoyable. And putting pressure on yourself, when you probably won't get it perfectly right the first time, is more stressful than it is fun. Not only that, but it's probably going to make the learning process MUCH slower, because you have so many unknown variables and so many chances for things to go wrong.

There's no hurry. Just take your time.

Hi there and welcome... where are you located?

Brooklyn to be exact. A far cry from your neck of the woods I imagine.

kevin007,

+++1 to MistressNomad's advice. Focus on your shaving and stropping initially. There's more than enough to learn there.

BTW...If you have a cell phone or digital camera of some kind the SRP members would love to see pics of your ebay acquisitions. They may even be able to assess the quality and/or amount of work that will be needed to make them shave ready.

Good luck and welcome to SRP.

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Originally Posted by kevin007

Brooklyn to be exact. A far cry from your neck of the woods I imagine.

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True, but we have other members in NY.. they will arrive shortly I am confident

The best part was they got better each time :)
First was the Torrey, good shape in general but a tad loose, frecle of rust near the pin, and a very little bit of pitting which all can be taken care of easily I would imagine after some research of how.
Second was my H. Boker Red Injun which is in better shape all around with a pretty nice blade. Sharper than the Torrey and a straight edge with is my favorite besides Spanish point.
And lastly, and by far my fav is the Genco Master Cutler which is basically like new and almost shave ready. It seems to me it was used a few times and instead of honing it they just but it on a shelf!
So the Cutler just needs a little honing and the other two a good buffing and honing and I am good to go.
I tried to hone the Boker and realized from the beginning that one side of the bevel is tiny and the other broader. I tried to even it up to no avail. Is it meant to be that way? a little like a Japanese blade but not totally. I have the links to the ebay ads where I bought them if you want to check them out. I would appreciate any advise you could give.
In fact I am in search of a Mentor...wink.

The Torrey Razor Co-Straight Razor - eBay (item 370312105242 end time Jan-03-10 08:37:45 PST)

vintage H. Boker & Co. Red Injun straight razor No. 101 - eBay (item 130357393058 end time Jan-14-10 12:26:30 PST)

GENCO MASTER CUTLER BRADFORD PA. STRAIGHT RAZOR ETCHED - eBay (item 280443707089 end time Jan-03-10 11:57:02 PST)

They were all around $30. How did I do?
I feel like the Cutler alone was worth it since it is like new.
But like I s aid, I am a newbie