Hi, my name is Carl from South Australia

Hi everyone. I believe I may have found my new obsession to nurture. I'll add it to German Vintage cameras, Vintage cuff links, Vintage Fountain Pens, Vintage Tea Cups...... Just bought a really cool looking Vintage Burrell Razor (below, not my photo) that I should receive in a few weeks. While I sit reading `'The Art of the Straight Razor Shave' anticipating its arrival, what, may I ask, is your one piece of advice you would give; other than that one should try to ensure one doesn't disfigure one's self with one's new 'hobby'?

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Welcome Carl to SRP. Nice to see some more Aussies joining. One piece of advice from someone who is only relatively new to SR shaving would be is to start slowly with a razor that you know is shave ready. If you are buying a razor from eBay or something then chances are it will not be shave ready, this will make it difficult to establish if it's your technique that is giving you trouble or a blunt razor.
There is plenty of info here on the forum about anything you may have a question about.

Again welcome and enjoy.

What's this! A bloody Crow eater! Welcome Carl. Good to have another Aussie on board. We need to keep the Kiwi's at bay, not to mention the bloody Seppo's :).
Advice?! Like Stu (Str8Raz0r) has said above, just take it slow. I would say send it off to get honed. Onimaru55 is in Sydney and I can vouch for the stupidly sharp edge he can put on a razor. The other bit of advice would be to take the time to read the Wiki section. It has most of the answers to your possible questions. The rest is down to practice. I wish you many close shaves mate.


Mick

Thanks for the welcome, guys. The more videos I see of people shaving and honing and stropping the more and more nervous I get about putting one of these things anywhere NEAR my face. I certainly shall follow the advice of taking it slowly. Luckily I have a Van Dyke type thingy so don't need to worry about shaving my lip and chin and under my bottom lip. In fact, I'm rather taken aback by all the guys here who have beards; is this some sort of strategy to actually NOT embark on the madness of straight razor shaving to some degree? :-)

I think it'll be like an inch at a time for months...just a little tidying up so to speak...

Hello and welcome to the forum.

The beard is my excuse for having a straight :) gives better lines, dontcha know...
Get 'er honed up and go have some fun!

Yep, my goatee offers a few challenges that a clean shaved chinny chin chin doesn't. My moustache area doesn't sprout too much down the centre of the top lip, so I trim the stragglers off there. I also get into the two small gaps in the goatee under the bottom lip, to hook out the stragglers there too. Then of course as bharner said, easier to get the lines right...Straight or curved, but exceptionally good straight lines. It's only natural to be nervous about using a cut-throat the first time or two, but you'll get over that and see how easy it actually is to survive the shave. Just expect to have some crappy shaves to start with and don't throw away your regular razor for the time being. You'll need it for a few more months yet. Touch ups, finishing off etc. Take your time and enjoy.


Mick

Welcome aboard Carl. My one piece of advice would be on stropping. Below is part of the instructions I email with freshly honed razors

"If you don't have the experience & muscle memory to strop properly you will damage your edge & strop.
Practising on a single piece of newspaper, the width of your strop, held by a small bulldog clip, is good,. Too much pressure will make the paper slip from the clip. Also try using a butterknife or similar to develop manual dexterity. Actually, even a tooth brush will work. The motion is similar to twisting a volume knob but use your other fingers to assist.
Once you can comfortably flip the butterknife 180º back & forth try with your razor then finally move to your paper strop. If you feel you have it wired move to the leather but go slow. A little practice can save a lot in honing fees.... & leather "