Thread: Hello, from a New Straight-Shaver

Hello everyone.

I have migrated here from Badger and Blade. I don't know why I have, I just have. I thought I'd like to see what this place has to offer.

A bit of background on little old me...

I am twenty three. I started shaving regularly in January this year, when I was still twenty-two. I started with double-edged razors and continued like that for eight months until mid-August.

Straight razors have fascinated me for YEARS. I just think they're so cool. But then, I think a lot of old things are cool. I've got about three dozen fountain pens, three pocket watches, hundreds of classic jazz recordings on my computer, hundreds of old time radio shows, dozens of hardcover books...It was only a matter of time before I started getting interested in shaving the old-fashioned way.

Anyway...Over the last three years or so, I'd done a lot of reading about straight-razor shaving, but I never took the plunge. I didn't know where to look, what to buy or how to start. I'm not really great at buying online, and I don't like doing that anyway.

That all changed in August. Well...some of it did. After reading probably all published literature on the subject of straight-razors, I felt confident enough to give it a shot. While at the local flea-market, I purchased an old Aesculap surgical-grade stainless steel (incl. scales) straight-razor. 4/8 hollow-ground with round-point. It was $35.

I took it home and started honing. I'd never honed a razor before in my life. But I had seen dozens of videos on honing and reckoned I got the hang of it. I did, but not quite. It took me about two days of trial and error, combined with stropping on an old belt, for me to figure out whether I had gotten the razor sharp. I also did a couple of test-shaves.

End of the first week, I had...

- Given myself razor-burn.
- Given myself less razor-burn.
- Let my skin heal.
- Had my first half-promising shave.

During all this time, I kept honing and stropping the everloving...yeah...out of that razor. Before the end of the week, the razor was shave-ready, but my technique required its own kind of honing. It took me until week 2 or 3 before I started getting really good shaves.

Fast forward two months and I'm still shaving with a straight-razor every morning. My darling beloved double-edge razor is confined to its steel razor-case on my vanity unit. My skills in stropping (on a paddle strop, this time) and honing, and most importantly...shaving...have improved significantly and I almost never cut myself and I get excellent shaves every morning.

Yes, it may take a bit longer and concentration might be higher, but the end result is worth it. I haven't told my dad that I shave like this yet. He'd freak out. He found my razor in the bathroom and I told him it was for...ehm...'display purposes'. If he knew the truth, he'd probably freak out from worry and panic.

But for me, I'm sold. I'm getting amazing shaves and I love straight-razor shaving now. The only problem is...now I think it would be ten different kinds of awesome to own a seven-piece razor set, like they used to do back in the good old days...and I can't possibly afford one!

I'd like to see you get a seven day set past your old man and try to fob it off as a 'display purpose only' line.

Welcome to SRP Shangas. Now we just need to refine your technique and iron out any bad habits before they start...


Mick

Oh I shan't do that. I'll tell him it was a flea-market find (which, with my luck, it probably will be) and that, having acquired the pinnacle of gentlemen's shaving utensils, it will be my intention to use it.

Welcome to SRP, we have a great wiki that should answer any questions you may have, but don't be afraid to ask questions, the members have 100's of years of combined straight razor expierience and are happy to help.

Nice introduction! Welcome to the forum, and good luck with your straight shaves in the future.

Thanks for the replies, everyone. I fear another hobby coming on. First it was books, then it was fountain pens (still ongoing), then it was vintage jazz and radio (still ongoing), then pocket-watches (hopefully ceasing!) and now straight-razor shaving! Anyway, after two months of doing this, here's all the stuff I've accumulated...



My scuttle and brush. Scuttle is English-made, early 20th century. Brush is Windsor, badger-hair. I would be LOST without my shaving-scuttle. Almost literally. I can't whip up lather to save my life. Without this one essential shaving-tool, I'd be completely hopeless at doing it and would have to resort to fire-extinguisher foam. With a scuttle, though, I can produce wonderful lather. The lather may not look particularly thick there, but it's all hidden inside the bristles of the brush. If I applied that to my face, I'd have enough lather to shave a mammoth.



My Aesculap 4/8 hollow-ground razor with my GENS Solingen paddle-strop (another essential. That old belt was getting tiresome...fast!). I would like a hanging-strop, but I don't really have anywhere to hang it.



My other razor, a Double Crown extra hollow-ground 6/8. Made in Solingen. Scales are celluloid faux-ivory. I alternate each day between the two of these. I have a DE razor as well, but that's been...demoted...to a travel-razor.



Probably of no interest here, but my safety-razor setup. The razor case is solid steel with gold-plate or gold-fill around the outside and is not original to the razor. I found it at a flea-market and bought it because I reckoned it matched the razor. The inside was shot to pieces, so my father and I refurbished it and reshaped the razor-rest so that I would have a small slot at the back to put the razor-blades.

Hi and Welcome, I enjoyed your story. We do have a section for DE's, Safety Razors...
Sounds like you've really come a long way in a few months. That's awesome, IMO, the best way to learn your face, what works, what doesn't, even honing...Congratulations...
I think you'll find a few of us here that like "old time" stuff too...

Rich

Aww c'mon! I wanted to see the pocket watches too! I love pocket watches and would have one but for the fact that they don't usually make them as weather proof as a wristwatch. Important features to have as a motorcyclist.

I'll also assume you're a pipe smoker too!


Mick

Hello Richard,

Yes, this was a complete adventure. I'd never shaved with a straight before then, and I was diving in head-first. Never had any outside help (by that I mean, having someone say, do the honing for me, etc) and I must say, the results have been wonderful.

Hello Mick,

I do apologise for the lack of horological eye-candy. Here we are, then...

I took these photos as 'sets' with my watches and a small selection of my fountain pens:



My antique set. Everything here is at least 90 years old. Clipless black rubber fountain pen is a Conklin Crescent-Filler, ca. 1914. The dip-pen is probably around the same time. The black rubber pen with the gold clip is a Mabie-Todd Swan, ca. 1900. The pocket-watch is a Waltham M1895 made in 1899. 14s, 7j, stem-wind & set. Case is 14kt gold-filled marked for 5 years.



My gold set. Everything here is at least 10kt gold-filled. All three fountain pens are made by the Wahl fountain pen company and date to the mid 1920s. The pocket-watch is my 1957 Ball-Record railroad pocket-watch. 16s, 21j, lever-set, stem-wind, eight adjustments, micrometric regulator *deep breath* twenty-four hour dial, shockproof, and very accurate. This watch isn't just a railroad model, it was actually used on the Canadian Pacific Railroad, so that's pretty cool.



Another photo of the same watch. I broke my watch-chain a few months ago, so I decided to get out some pliers and jiggle stuff around a bit, and made a rather nice Double Albert chain out of it. The gold pen on the end of the chain is the same one in the photo above.



My last pocket-watch, a 1918 Elgin. 16s, 15j, stem-wind, stem-set. Very good timekeeper.

Every pen and every watch in those photos have been restored to working order, and yes, they do get used...they are not museum-pieces. I wear the railroad watch with the gold pen almost every day.

--- --- --- ---

And sorry to disappoint you, Mick, but no, I'm not a pipe-smoker. I'm an asthmatic, so smoking would be quite unwise.

Ah well, if you've never relaxed with a nice pipe filled with a sweet smelling aromatic, feet up, enjoying the view of rolling paddocks from your front verandah, you'll never know what it is you've missed I suppose.

Great watches too. I do so wish they'd make a modern one that was motorcyclist proof though. I only wear a wrist watch rarely as I'm not one to wear much if any jewellery, and watches are just a functional item of jewellery. A pocket watch has the class to make them worthwhile though.


Mick