Thread: Hello all !

My friends call me Jee and I have always been into vintage products. Have you seen the movie "Midnight in Paris" ? I like to think of myself as sort of similar to Owen Wilson's character in the sense that I idealize past things and way of life, in certain matters (watches, books, tea, shaving, dressing).

Anyway.

This led me to acquire a straight razor, recently, after having considered the possibility for years.

When I received it, I realized it didn't cut hair at all. "No worries", I thought, since it came with a silicone sharpening stone. I did a few laps on it and stropped a bit after having watched youtube tutorials. I went up to the mirror and started shaving...

Now, people, you have to understand that I am used to taking a fair amount of pain and I initially thought that all the pulling and scrapping was natural. My face burnt for the following day and I had to use ViteminE cream for three days straight to prevent my skin from drying too much.

I came to the conclusion my razor was not shave-ready.

I also realized that honing and sharpening the razor was not as easy as I would have thought it was and so I started looking for services which brought me to this website.

I am pleased to join your community and hope you guys will welcome me amongst you all ! And if you happen to know any honer/sharpener around Montreal, let me know.

Welcome aboard! I too consider myself an "old soul" with a love of vintage things. I started with a str8 razor in January of 2012. Haven't used anything since. Stay patient, get that razor honed, and enjoy yourself. I have found great pleasure making a daily "chore" into something VERY enjoyable.

Welcome, check the vendors corners and classifieds for honing services. Lots of guys from Canada are members here and provide services as well. Good luck!

I suspect that it takes a certain personality to gravitate toward a hobby like this. After all, a really good shave can be had with a DE too. And you'll save yourself the trouble of having to hone and strop. But there's a level of gratification of doing things from the ground level up. And, of course, there is the appreciation of equipment and the skills needed to make it work. Its not for everyone I'm sure.