Thread: Hiya from NY

I think I'll study the wiki thoroughly, study the wet shaving guides on the various sites, scour YouTube (until the info is hammered into my mind) and invest in Lynn's DVD now that I've read about the info it contains.

Do you think this old Simmons 4/8 from RE would be good for a first straight razor if I had them do their honing? I generally trust any product made in Germany because of the dedication to quality, but better to ask first.

Razor Emporium | A gentleman’s source for his vintage shaving needs.

(If that's a good razor then no one swipe it, please.)

As for a strop, I was looking at the 2 1/2" vegan strop from Heirloom Razor Strop Co. Durable and travel are always key selling points. Is it a good strop? Is there any benefit to picking the linen option for the 2nd component over the cotton option? Are there other good vegan strops?

Originally Posted by anthogia

Welcome to srp from a fellow nyer! I just got some great tabac from Pasteurs yesterday - great store!

I saw it at the UES store, but I couldn't find it anywhere in the wet shaving canyon at the 34th street one. Must have been high up on the shelves!

What makes them tougher to strop? Also, what width of strop would you recommend for those bad boys?

I think it's the lack of blade width keeping the blade flat. Wider blades are just easier to keep flat and to keep from rolling or twisting in your hand.

With my narrower blades I have to conciously keep them in contact and flat on the strop and make sure they don't roll. With wider ones that's just automatic and I don't think about it at all.

So in the end, you just strop them more slowly and carefully. That's all.

Any decent strop at all would work for you really. Just know that you'll probably end up nicking your first one at some point. The width never really made a difference to me. With a 3" you don't need to do an X stroke, with narrower stops you do. But it's not like learning the X stroke is very hard.

Originally Posted by maddafinga

I think it's the lack of blade width keeping the blade flat. Wider blades are just easier to keep flat and to keep from rolling or twisting in your hand.

With my narrower blades I have to conciously keep them in contact and flat on the strop and make sure they don't roll. With wider ones that's just automatic and I don't think about it at all.

So in the end, you just strop them more slowly and carefully. That's all.

Any decent strop at all would work for you really. Just know that you'll probably end up nicking your first one at some point. The width never really made a difference to me. With a 3" you don't need to do an X stroke, with narrower stops you do. But it's not like learning the X stroke is very hard.

Maybe I should get a Dovo Best from SRD so that I can also learn how to strop a fuller blade (want to see if I can convince my pops to switch to an SR, but he'd want me to strop it).

Hmmm, do you think if I took the blade out of the Shavette it might be good practice for getting the motions of stropping a narrower razor down? It wouldn't chop the strop then. Then again I have no idea of how the Shavette's weight compares to those small blades. I tried air-stropping it a few times and there was definitely some blade-rolling going on that I wouldn't want to have happen to a proper straight on a proper strop.

Well I kind of want to go with the vegan ones for durability's sake and they only come in 2-inch and 2,5-inch models. Thankfully they also come with that practice strop for a little extra so I can nick that fellow up.

I understand that a lot of people use a butter knife as an analog for practicing stropping.

I've never used a vegan strop so I'm not sure what they're made of or how well they work. I'd be interested to find out. I do know that leather is extremely durable. Do you know what the vegan ones are made from?

Originally Posted by maddafinga

I understand that a lot of people use a butter knife as an analog for practicing stropping.

I've never used a vegan strop so I'm not sure what they're made of or how well they work. I'd be interested to find out. I do know that leather is extremely durable. Do you know what the vegan ones are made from?

Ah, that makes sense. I'll try that.

I'm not entirely sure as it doesn't say on the product page: 2 1/2" Heirloom Artisan Synthetic Vegan Friendly Strop - The Well Shaved Gentleman The Heirloom Razor Strop Company. I believe that the owner, Tony Miller, is a member on this site though (or maybe on ShaveDen or B&B). Aye, leather is durable, but I've had cases where I've had various leather items become rather moldy as a result of the humidity and heat in the places I work. There are some other less important factors as well.

If it's Tony Miller, then it'll be fine.

You're a field palentologist?

Unfortunately he just sold out of them and is sick for the time being.

Goodness, no, archaeologist.

You should have used Dr. Jones, or Indy as your screen name!

Eh, I like trowels more than whips.

If I wanted to post a question about the best way to transport several straights in luggage which section of the forum would that go by the way?

Look up the alembicase.