Thread: A Big hello from South Yorkshire, England

Hi there

I would like to take this opportunity to indroduce myself to you all. My name is Pete I live near Sheffield in England and I am a Newbie. I've allways had a fascination for the straight razor since I owned one 34 years ago at the tender age of eighteen. I bought it from a flea market and actually attempted to shave with it with disasterous results, nearly cutting the end of my chin off. The things you do when your a kid hey!

I like things old and practicle and I collect many things. Living near to where many of the Sheffield based razors were made I'm obviously biased when looking to collect, having said that I have just bought a very nice US "Banty" which I intend to use for shaving when I have learned how to do so. I am astounded at the wealth of knowledge you guys have on this site and the material available vast and detailed, it's like being back at School.

I have a hell of a lot to learn so any information/help anyone wants to give feel free to do so, especially when it comes to selecting hones and honing.

Best wishes to you all Pete



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Hey Pete,

A warm welcome from West Yorkshire to you! SRP is a wonderful resource when it comes to straight razors and I'm sure you'll find all the info you need to get started here.

I would have a read through the wiki pages and beginners section at first if I were you, as straights can be quite different to cartridge and DE razors. There are also a lot of very informative videos on YouTube to look at shaving techniques - a quick search will provide you with loads.....

What is your current set-up? Do you have a brush and soap/cream or do you use the canned 'goo'? To me, the prep is as important as the actual shave when it comes to straights.

The other thing is to have a shave-ready razor, I wouldn't attempt honing just yet if you're only starting off as it is a somewhat complex endeavour if you don't know what a shave ready razor should be like.

I'm sure there are several members here that can hone your razor for you but two UK websites actually provide this service for a fee - strop-shop.co.uk (Neil Miller, the owner, is a member here) and theinvisibleedge.co.uk. They will provide you with a truly shave-ready razor.

Finally, you might also want to get a strop. Again no need for an expensive one at first - you can find reasonably priced ones on the above websites.

Anyhow, welcome again and have fun!

Cheers,

Ash

Hi Ash,

thanks for the reply, don't have any set up brush/ cream etc only a shave ready razor on its way, not going to shave with it straight away either, I need to trawl through just about everything before I start. Interesting note about the 2 sites you posted where I can get a razor profeesionally honed in the uk I'll be looking into that. Thanks again

Best wishes

Pete