New member and new to straight razors
Hey everybody. I found this great site and decided to join and hopefully be able to learn the art of using straight razors with all that it implies. I hope that beyond learning I will also be able to make some friends who share this common life style if I can express it as such.
I am really a novice with all this, but have been interested in straight razors for a couple of years; however it's been on my mind for longer than this. For the last year I have been practicing with a Dovo Shavette, and requested a straight razor and accessories for last Xmas, which I got (joy). Even if I asked for a brand new Dovo Solinger razor to start me up, my wife, getting genuinely interested in all this, decided that I would be happier with an antique Bengalle wedge razor because she thought it would fit my beard type better. Neither of us realized at first how much more difficult it would be to hone this razor properly. I have been trying since Xmas to achieve this feat.
For now my accessories consist of a Norton 4000/8000 waterstone, an Illinois Razor Strop 827 (Leather and canvas), strop dressing, badger brush and some excellent shaving soap (lathe?). Not much but a start. I just ordered a Norton Prep stone to try to hone using sully (is that the right term?) since I have been honing for ever and some way to make it faster will be welcome. I also ordered some Chromium Oxyde bar and another compound to improve the strop. I am learning techniques off the internet and progress slowly. I am planning on getting a hollow razor to see the difference but all this is expensive and I have to take my time, and learn.
Last night I had my first, quite uncomfortable shave with my Wedge razor. It felt like victory nonetheless. Hopefully, I will soon get a much better shave.
So this is my story for now. Please be patient with the novice I am, and I will try to keep my questions the least stupid possible.
See you guys on the forum.