Aloha all,
Basically the straight-razor endeavor is something I've been trying to get around to for many years. Started shaving at age 12 in 1979 with a 1977 Atra that I still have and use. Some may have noticed that ebay is about the only place left to get Atra Plus blades anymore, as these ridiculous 4 and 5-blade astronomically-expensive "disposable blades" for the newer razors have gotten completely out of hand in terms of price and design. I've always liked the Atra Plus blades more than any other design since, due to the wider lubricating strip and the way the strip itself help keeps the blade at a better angle. Since I have about 3 years left of Active Duty Navy to go before I retire, I intend to stock up on Atra Plus blades for use underway and when I'm in a hurry, but as I have always valued the less-tangible benefits of old-world skills - not the least of which is reduced dependence on such corporate consumable products - I intend to develop my straight-razor shaving skill.
I read quite a bit here prior to joining and buying my first razor, which is a Dovo Ebony Stainless 5/8" Inox. I got it in a set from SRD with a 2" Black Latigo Leather/Matched Webbing Strop and Lynn Abram's informative "World of Straight Razor DVD".
So, TODAY was my first shave, too, and no, I didn't follow his advice about not doing a complete shave because I'm hard-headed that way. Hey, but I still have both of my ears, and in fact, did not cut myself at all. I got some bad abrasions in the hollows of my neck on each side, but that's probably less about the razor and more about how to contort myself to flatten those areas out. I'm using a thick Navy-issue white coffee cup (nearly unbreakable - I've seen these roll down the decks with a 20-degree angle on a submarine without breaking), and an old cake of shaving soap that I can't even remember the brand of that I bought 15 years ago at some drugstore.
Somehow, I got a burr on the blade in all this. Don't know if I wacked it on something or just caught the blade on the strop; I'm not real good at stropping just yet. I caught myself turning it over like a knife instead of rolling it on the spine.
Hence, my next purchase from SRD:
SRD Blade Protectant Oil
SRD Vetiver scent 100% Pure Essential Oils shaving soap
Taylor of Old Bond Street Jermyn Street Aftershave Cream
Taylor of Old Bond Street Pre-Shave Oil
Norton WaterStone 3 Piece Set:
-220/1000 combo
-4000/8000 combo
-flattening stone
Shapton Ceramic On Tempered Glass 16000 Grit
I figure I'll give all this a shot on the next try and see how much better it goes. I intend to follow Lynn Abram's pyramid sharpening method and start with maybe 3 passes on the 4000 to see how it knocks off the burr and how much of a chunk is gone out of the blade before I decide how much it's going to take to pass the thumbnail test. :borg:
