Thread: Greetings from Northern California

Hello everyone. I'm new to the world of straight razors and their proper use. I've always had an affinity for knives, and decided I'd like to learn to properly shave with a straight razor. Current plans are to get an inexpensive medium quality strop and practice my technique with butter knives and work my way to sharper objects (hopefully practicing the right way), get a razor to learn with, and then figure out whatever else I need to learn from there. Any information or sources of which you folks are willing to share is greatly appreciated.

Hello and welcome to SRP! Check out the WIKI here, there's a wealth of info in there. And if there's any questions you can't find answers to...ask away...someone will be more than willing to help

Awesome information, Bladerunner. I have an Heirloom Latigo strop I picked up a couple years back with the intention for using for my knives, but I've kept it laid out in a drawer, periodically throwing on a little leather dressing to keep it pristine. Thankfully, I know good leather care due to my background with whip cracking, which was part of why when I was reading up on stropping, I was kind of surprised there's suggestion of using Neatsfoot oil. I use a beeswax based dressing intead, as neatsfoot actually breaks down the leather fibers, which is horrible for the braiding of a whip. Plans on a strop are to pick one up from http://www.classicshaving.com to practice with until I get the technique well enough to use my nice one.

Again, you've given me a great number more things to look into. Thank you very much for the information. I'll be sure to sift through all of it so I can make educated decisions when it comes to straight razor use.

You are welcome...you have also given me some useful info on leather care . I was planning on getting some neatsfoot oil, but thanks to you, I will probably opt for the beeswax oil...any particular kind/brand...any links to the kind you recommend?

Keep us posted as to your progress with straight shaving. You are in for a fun time.

Originally Posted by Skypage

Awesome information, Bladerunner. I have an Heirloom Latigo strop I picked up a couple years back with the intention for using for my knives, but I've kept it laid out in a drawer, periodically throwing on a little leather dressing to keep it pristine. Thankfully, I know good leather care due to my background with whip cracking, which was part of why when I was reading up on stropping, I was kind of surprised there's suggestion of using Neatsfoot oil. I use a beeswax based dressing intead, as neatsfoot actually breaks down the leather fibers, which is horrible for the braiding of a whip. Plans on a strop are to pick one up from http://www.classicshaving.com to practice with until I get the technique well enough to use my nice one.

Again, you've given me a great number more things to look into. Thank you very much for the information. I'll be sure to sift through all of it so I can make educated decisions when it comes to straight razor use.

Welcome aboard! Looks like all the relevant points have been covered. All I can say is take your time and enjoy your new obsession.

@BladeRunner:

Yeah, I did my research on whip care before I got into the art. If you don't mind the dressing darkening the leather color, this Dubbin dressing works nice. It's a paste like form, and putting it on when the leather's warm makes it easier to work. (Also softens the hand wonderfully). I got mine here:
Dubbin 125g
Though I've yet to go through my first tin of it, so I've not done research to see if there's better prices out there.

My personal favorite dressing I've gotten was from Peter Jack out of New Zealand. The guy makes great whips, too. His line of stuff he sells is here:
Market Place
Scroll to near the bottom to get to the list of beeswax dressings and conditioners. I personally used the soft beeswax dressing on my stockwhips I got from him.

I've always found that certain groups can give great recommendations on certain things. You want a good lighter, you go to a smoke shop. You want to find an awesome eraser, talk to an artist. With my whip artistry, I've learned lots about leather care and some fun stuff about the physics of whip wielding.

Come to think of it, I don't know what's customary to use on a razor to prevent oxidation, though I'm currently thinking that the lube I use on my 1911 would work great.

Thanks for the recommendations. I will definitely be looking into it. I assume that the Beeswax dressing can also be used on strops.

As for prevention of blade oxidation, what I do is to wipe the blade down real dry after a shave and if I won't be using the razor for some time, coat it with a generous coating of mineral oil (you can pick it up at any Pharmacy) and store it in a case where I also have silica gel packets. Also, I never keep my brushes or razors in the shave den where it is mostly humid.

Hope this helps.

Originally Posted by Skypage

@BladeRunner:

Yeah, I did my research on whip care before I got into the art. If you don't mind the dressing darkening the leather color, this Dubbin dressing works nice. It's a paste like form, and putting it on when the leather's warm makes it easier to work. (Also softens the hand wonderfully). I got mine here:
Dubbin 125g
Though I've yet to go through my first tin of it, so I've not done research to see if there's better prices out there.

My personal favorite dressing I've gotten was from Peter Jack out of New Zealand. The guy makes great whips, too. His line of stuff he sells is here:
Market Place
Scroll to near the bottom to get to the list of beeswax dressings and conditioners. I personally used the soft beeswax dressing on my stockwhips I got from him.

I've always found that certain groups can give great recommendations on certain things. You want a good lighter, you go to a smoke shop. You want to find an awesome eraser, talk to an artist. With my whip artistry, I've learned lots about leather care and some fun stuff about the physics of whip wielding.

Come to think of it, I don't know what's customary to use on a razor to prevent oxidation, though I'm currently thinking that the lube I use on my 1911 would work great.