Thread: Greetings from upstate NY

Hello everyone,
I just found this community in hopes that I will find helpful advice and/or information from the experienced straight razor shavers out there. I am looking to get started using a straight razor. It seems to be the general consensus that I should look for an already honed, shave ready razor, and worry about getting a hone and learning that process at a later time.

Does anyone have any recommendations as to razors to buy? or is anyone in the Troy/Albany NY area looking to sell a razor for a reasonable price? I am not looking for anything fancy that will break the bank, as my budget is fairly limited. I imagine that I would also need a strop. Any recommendations as to an inexpensive one that will still get the job done?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks

Welcome to B&B! SRP. I grew up in that area, but haven't lived there for about a decade. As far as knowledge, I read in the Times-Union online a few months ago about a barber that works downtown that sounds like he would be a good source of info. Best of luck, keep us posted!

Edit: Welcome to SRP... I shouldn't post that late at night anymore.

Welcome to B&B!

Hey, Man, that's that OTHER forum.We're SRP! Welcome aboard.

Thanks for all the advice and welcoming. I like that idea of picking up a few razors to start with and a hone to practice with. If I do this, what would you recommend as a good beginners hone?

As far as the brush goes, I have a Tweezerman coming from Amazon soon as well as the Proraso eucalyptus and menthol soap.

Greetings!!

Normally it is recommended that you wait on the honing until you know how to straight shave. Picking up honing and shaving at the same time is a bit of information overload, and you won't know if any problems are from the honing or the shaving technique.

But if you purchase a shave ready razor, or have one pro-honed, then there is no reason not to learn both as I am.

Which hone you use will depend on what you want to do with them, and your budget. Simple touch-ups? Make shave ready from antique store find?

My interest was to be able to do it all from bevel set to shave ready. I have the Norton 220/1k, 4/8k, a shapton glass 16k, and chromium Oxide pasted strop. I also have an Illinois 827 Russian leather/linen strop.

You can do touch ups with just a $10 swaty though.

Originally Posted by morque

Hello everyone,
I just found this community in hopes that I will find helpful advice and/or information from the experienced straight razor shavers out there. I am looking to get started using a straight razor. It seems to be the general consensus that I should look for an already honed, shave ready razor, and worry about getting a hone and learning that process at a later time.

Does anyone have any recommendations as to razors to buy? or is anyone in the Troy/Albany NY area looking to sell a razor for a reasonable price? I am not looking for anything fancy that will break the bank, as my budget is fairly limited. I imagine that I would also need a strop. Any recommendations as to an inexpensive one that will still get the job done?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks

Welcome! I lived in Delmar from '94 - '98

Welcome aboard! I'm new myself, and am waiting for tomorrow's delivery of my Norton 4000/8000. I got my razor from my barber it's a WESTER BROTHERS ANCHOR BRAND MADE IN GERMANY and has MANGANESE STEEL which makes me a wee bit nervous. Manganese is a hardener, and I wonder if the dang thing will be too hard for me novice endeavors. From what I gather New York (Upstate/Central/Western) had a few razor manufacturers.