Hello from Sunny Cleveland, Ohio

Hi everyone! I've been trolling around the forums for a while now... toying with the idea of learning to shave with a straight razor. I was so irritated with the cheap, disposable razors and electric shaver that last year, I just stopped shaving. My wife put up with the beard for about a year... but she put her foot down a couple weeks ago :-). I told her that if she wanted me to shave, she had to buy me a straight razor. My new Dovo 6/8 half-hollow should arrive later today and tomorrow morning I'll give this a first shot. Big thanks to everyone who has posted 'beginner' articles in the wiki!

Welcome to SRP MarcR!
I wish you the best of luck on your venture in to this straight razor world:)

I hope she got you a shave ready razor! If not, you'll find out where to get it honed in the classifieds.

Any questions, feel free to ask. Lots of people on here who will help out as best as they can!

I got it from Vintage Blades, which I think was listed in the wiki as selling shave-ready razors. I had been doing some research here since early last year, so I had at least some idea of what was good and what was not worth the money (or my face's skin).

Great, then you should be all set mate:)

Question about the strop... I have an Illinois 127, which has two surfaces, one leather and the other linen. When using the linen, should I rotate the strop and use the back side (which has a gold logo on it), or should I used the inner side of the linen (facing the underside of the leather)?

Use the back side.
the sides facing each other aren't used

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Originally Posted by Birnando

Use the back side.
the sides facing each other aren't used

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Okay, good. That's what I thought, but didn't want to assume (since I have no idea what I'm doing). I find it strange that many men in my generation were never taught how to shave properly (even with a disposable), so I'm glad that there are guys out there willing to help. Hopefully, I can master this skill and then pass it on to my son some day. He's only 2 months right now, so I have a while to practice :-).

heh, yes, then you should have ample time to learn this sport before teching him.
Congrats on the newborn:)

Check out the videos in the bottom of this wiki article. Great stuff!

Welcome. Hope you enjoy the forums as much as the rest of us.

Michael

First shave this morning. Stuck to the sideburn area on my dominant hand side, like Lynn recommended. I had some trouble getting the Williams shave soap to lather properly... probably too much water in the lather bowl. Anyways, no cuts yet and I didn't experience any tugging or pulling; quite comfortable. Looking forward to adding some more of the dominant hand side tomorrow morning. Very enjoyable so far!

Doesn't really get scary until you put that blade in your non-dominate hand and bring it up to your face lol. Good luck on the rest of your upcoming shaves. Im originally from willoughby (right outside cleveland)

-dan-

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Originally Posted by sinnfein

Doesn't really get scary until you put that blade in your non-dominate hand and bring it up to your face lol. Good luck on the rest of your upcoming shaves. Im originally from willoughby (right outside cleveland)

-dan-

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I started the non-dominant side today... and had my first nick. So far, I'm already getting a closer shave than the disposable junk I was used to. I watched a few more stropping videos, so I feel like that's getting better. Making lather was easier this morning too.

Dan, I've been to Willoughby quite a few times... my wife went to high school near there as well. Glad to hear there are more Ohioans on here!

I've had two or three full-face shaves at this point, but I'm having real trouble getting all the parts of my neck. My Adam's apple creates a concave area on each side of it. I just can't figure out how to stretch the skin to make that part flat... any tips?

Welcome! Glad you're working it out. First you might want to try a different soap Williams is been around forever but there are many options out there for about the same money that will work better. I too struggled with certain areas of my neck and as time went on I got more comfortable trying different angles. I still think about angles for a better shave all the time especially when I'm driving. Just give it time and be patient, everybody has their own specific challenges and has to work them out. One thing I have done is bought a smaller barber style razor to get in some of the tight spots and it works very well.