First post while eagerly awaiting the mail order.

Hey peops. So I just registered, because I'm sure I'll have loads of questions once my straight edge arrives.

I did a lot of research when I wanted to order my first razor, and I constructed an elaborate shopping list, but it turned out that I didn't have the money for it at the time.
Now (½ year later), I was up for the challenge again, but my brain almost exploded the last time I planned the buy, so to make it easy I just went with the starter kit from TI. Was that a bad decision?

I live in Copenhagen and I actually managed to find a honemeister here in Denmark, someone called Maxim Enevoldsen. Owner of "Japanese Natural Stones". He does it for around 150 DKK (25$). Here is the link if anyone is interested. It's in danish though.

I must say, the whole honing business turns me off a bit. Some day I might acquire my own stones. I presume that would be easier than having to send the razor by snailmail every so often.
Am I however right in thinking that the razor included in the starting kit won't need honing very often?
I think it has a ‘Carbonsong’ C135 steel blade.

My skin is very sensitive. I use a cartridge shaver with 5 blades (gilette fusion), and I can't use it more than every 3-4 days without razor rash, and the occasional razor bump on my neck. So we'll see if the straight edge helps.
Anyways. The kit should be arriving any day now, so I'm looking very much forward to post updates.

- Kieselmayer

Thiers Issard makes great razors. Btw, you might find someone on SRP in your area to hone your razors. Generally, members do not recommend honing your own razors until you get a good idea of what shave ready is. So send it out. TI razors can make good razors out of the box but you might as well get the extra special treatment for it. Good luck and welcome.

I recieved it today and did a test shave. It was okay for 1st time. I didn't shave everything because it's darn difficult.

The razor I received does a okay job of shaving, but it doesn't pass the hanging hair test. I think I will have to get it honed.
Oh and btw. What is the Alum block for?

Nevermind. Found this :)
Alum block - what is and how to use an alum block UK

Yeah, don't even mess w/ HHT. A razor could pass it off a 600 grit stone, and you wouldn't want to shave off that trust me. Unless the place you got it from says it was honed professionally, it won't be actually "good shave ready" until Maxim gets a hold of it; then it will be like night and day. The first 4-5 shaves won't be that great anyway b/c you are still learning how to hold the razor, how to follow your faces contours (remember, no swivel divel, pitching, yawing, or whatever they use to describe the gillette heads now, so you gotta use technique), and how to cut your hair and not your face. Each shave gets better little by little, and will take a little less time each shave as well. Good luck and welcome to SRP

Welcome to SRP :)

You are correct in thinking that you should hold off on honing especially since you have a person you can send it to ( maxim). Remember that beard prep, shaving technique & stropping just before shaving are very important skills to achieve a irritation free shave.

Here is list of SRP members with a location of Denmark in their profile.....

http://straightrazorpalace.com/membe...sername&order=

and Copenhagen...

http://straightrazorpalace.com/membe...sername&order=

Maxim is not in the lists because he spelled it Danmark, not Denmark.

Hope this helps :)

So I just tried to shave one more time, and I'm now completely sure that my razor needs additional honing.
The razor was basically pulling hair out, even though I kept a 30 degrees angle, or less.
I afterwards had to go crazy with the Alum block. My face is a mess . :D
The razor does cut hair on my forearm, but not without some pulling and needing to repeat strokes.

I did however manage to vastly improve my lathering skills. Water is hard here, but with some work, i made a good thick lather. yippyayey.
Now I'll send my razor off to Maxim. I hope it helps.

Oh the wait is going to kill you - you need to buy a "back-up" razor lol!! :)

Congrats on getting started and welcome to SRP.

BTW, that is a very nice starter kit. :)

One odd thing though.
The starter kit came with a travel strop. It has brown leather on one side, but I can't figure out what's on the other side. It seems to be a rougher kind of leather, but it feels synthetic and rubber-ish. Here is a picture with the two different sides.

Attachment 112326

The starter kit also included a thiers issars paste.. is it supposed to go on the weird rubberish side? Am I even supposed to use the weird side?

Just leave the paste alone until you find out if it is intended for leather conditioning or if it has an abrasive in it.

The "rubber" side is probably intended for use prior to using the leather side. Its function is most likely the same as a "linen".
But verify it all first.

Hope this helps :)

The paste is a white paste from TI, which I believe is intended for canvas, and it seems weird that it would be included in this otherwise nice beginners kit, when the strop doesn't have a canvas side.

Anywhoo, the razor has now been honed. I tried it this morning and it worked okay. I didn't completely mess up my face, and I did sorta shave the entire face. The chin seems weird though. I'm still suspecting the razor to not be sharp enough.
Am I supposed to feel a significant amount of resistance when shaving the thicker hairs? When I come to the chin, it's really rough to shave through. It also seems like the razor is skipping on top of most hairs, because after several strokes, there were still a lot of stubs left

The chin is usually the most difficult area to master. You will feel more resistance on the chin because there is more hair density and of the coarser kind. I suggest you take shorter confident strokes and make sure your angle is correct, beginners often have the tendency to lay the razor flat on the chin. If you sent your razor to a reputable honemeister then it is likely your technique that needs work. Lastly, prep is extremely important, a hot shower, a pre shave and a good thick lather will surely make those hairs softer.

Yyyes! I just had my 3rd or 4th shave (loosing track here), and it was successful. You were correct about the angle. I gave it a little more angle and confidence and suddenly magic happened. I was even able to do a little ATG and XTG on the chin without the skin going crazy. I think this might be because the skin is getting a bit used to straight shaving.
Sure I got 2 nics, but that was because of sloppiness. Looks like this straight razor shaving stuff might work for me. Can't wait to see how it will be after a few months of practicing.

So I'm getting increasingly suspicious of my stropping.
I'm just doing about 10-20 strokes on the still-mysterious "rubbery" side, and then 40 on the leather.
No paste, no nothing... would you think this is sufficient?