Thread: Hello from Scotland

Hi my name's Mark and I'm from north-east rural Scotland, I'm 41 years old happily married father of two.

My interest in straight-razor shaving has been piqued recently by two gifts of old straight razors; one that belonged to my great-grandfather that my grandfather also used and one that belonged to my wife's father (all these gents now sadly passed). Whilst these razors are sharp I don't believe they are any use for shaving without considerable work so I'm looking to get 'tooled-up' for straight razor shaving and at some point in the future maybe get my 'heirlooms' such as they are refurbished so I can shave with them.

Anyway am looking for a point of contact / mentor to help me along...

Many thanks.

Hi Mark,

Welcome to the site!

I'm down in London and you're welcome to PM me with any questions you might have, I'm always happy to help.

In the UK one of the best places to get a shave ready blade is theinvisibleedge.co.uk, run by Steve Dempster.

I've had a couple of blades from him and they've both been great. He sells both DOVO and TI blades, plus strops and a whole host of other things. All you need to get started is a shave ready blade, a strop, a brush and some soap or cream.

Check out the wiki links in my sig line as well, they'll be really helpful! There's also a razorcon on 16th July down in London if you fancy the trip. It should be a great day and there will be honing, restoration and shaving demos. Hopefully see you there!

Good luck and keep us posted!

Many thanks was thinking of buying the following described as shave ready on page 4 of the classifieds: 5/8 Wostenholm Original Pipe Razor. Wedge. Muted square point. Gold filled impresses scales. Avg. or slightly less wear. Pivot is tight, 'closes centered into straight scales.

I tried the link to above site but it didn't work. Am already using DE razors so have brush cream etc are the strops on ebay any good to get me started? At what point would I need a honing stone and what should i look for / avoid when obtaining one via ebay.

sorry found that site now will check it out

that site is great will just stick with it seems the sensible thing to do many thanks

Welcome Mark to SRP. I am sure you will find as much help here as the rest of did/do. I am jealous of your heirlooms, I think it would be something pretty special to be shaving with the same razor as my grandfather/father.

I have family all over Scotland and love the history and culture that it brings. Here in North America we get all worked up about a 120 year old building yet over there that is everywhere.

Well anyway good luck and again welcome to SRP

Marka7763,

Please also have a peek at www.strop-shop.co.uk - hand made straight razor strops, razor pouches, shaving accessories, vintage razors, razor honing and restoration

Mr Neil Millers work is exceptional

Have fun !

Best regards

Russ

Welcome to SRP!

Good to have you here. Welcome to SRP!