Thread: Loving the straight razor

MickR, thanks for the smile
Yeah, well I did cheat a bit and shaved a few bold patches on my legs first, but pretty well jumped right in. It kind of went like this:
1. google lots
2. youtube lots
3. buy some decent steel Preferably old)
4. cut a 2' long, 3" wide bit of 8oz leather and add a buckle cut out of an op shop belt to mount it to something solid
5. glue another piece of veg tanned leather to a flat board so I can annoy the wife and strop while watching tv
6. head down to a tile shop, ask for a bit of polished tile/ stone and get them to cut it for free
7. watch more videos on honing with film
8. buy all the grades of honing film available from a jewellery/ gem polishing store
9. carefully hone the 3 razors as best I can
10. strop on the leather (no compound yet)
11. try the hanging hair test, swear, strop, try again, strop, try again, hone back to film3, then film1, strop, try again, swear, strop, try again, "oh yeah...", show the extremely disinterested wife, be laughed at...
12. look at razor, look at hairy leg, ... yeah, why not ..., gee that bald patch looks funny ...
13. try the 1/4" off the leg test- it almost works- kind of grabs them, but obviously not as sharp as it should be
14. think what the hell, and head to the mirror
15. have a shower, sqeeze some of the highly hyped Proroso (green) into a ceramic bowl which has been sitting filled with hot water along with the brush while showering
16. stand in front of the mirror for 10 minutes in complete fear
17. delicately shave my cheeks and neck WTG
18. get completely addicted and really annoy the wife buy buying more stuff
19. Discover cheap indian creams and faulding shave cream that the missus loves the scent of and all is forgiven

All in all it has been an awesome eperience, and hopefully I will get that BBS shave soon.

Thanks heaps for the warm welcome
5.

Originally Posted by parsec

18. get completely addicted and really annoy the wife buy buying more stuff

Personally i never understood that, because women traditionally buy every beauty product under the sun.
Surely they would understand why anyone would spend a little in order to look their best?

Btw m8, welcome to SRP.

Cheers,
Paul

Parsec, I a similar thing except when I first had a go, I didn't have the benefit of google, youtube or SRP. Internet was around, but not in common household use...And I was living on an island at the time too .

So my method was:

1. Buy razor, put strop on back order

2. Believe advice given about razor being ready to shve with and strop not required just yet anyway.

3. Spend two weeks trying to shave (in the shower using a bar of soap just like I usually did with the cartridge razor) and persisting through razor rash, pulling and tugging, nicks and cuts.

4. Give up until I get strop.

5. Get strop and proptly start nicking it with bad stropping techniques

6. Have another go to find it just as bad as before.

7. Decide the razor needs a bit of a sharpen up and whip put my pocketknife sharpening stone.

8. Hone razor and try again after fresh stropping (and more nicks added to strop).

9. Shaving now next to useless. Figure it's just bad technique, and persist for a while longer.

10. Give up and put razor away in the bottom of my backpack where it travelled with me for the next several years.

11. Eventually drag it back out some time after settling down and start to wonder if it could have gotten magically sharp again.

12. Try it out...Again and again...Every so often over the next few years. Finally put some effort into expanding my knowledge of cut-throat razors and their maintenance.

13. Buy better hones than I've ever owned before and decide to hone this razor, to destruction if needs be!

14. Finally get my first, albeit rough, shave. It's enough to light the fire again and my journey began in earnest.


See what I'm talking about now. Aussies are like the proverbial bull at a gate. Too thick headed listen to sensible advice that doesn't sit well with their own ideas, and go at something until they can do it, having relied on nobody but themselves, until they finally figure it out. Learning as much as possible all at once, never mind that it would be easier if they stuck to one lesson at a time....Well, that's just my thoughts on the subject, but I'm biased .


Mick

Mick, its all about being resourceful, Australia was built on it by the pioneers of our great land.
Remember, Aussies can fix anything with a piece of wire

~Paul

Lets not start knocking a good bit of fencing wire mate. I use the stuff for everything .


Mick

Originally Posted by MickR

Lets not start knocking a good bit of fencing wire mate. I use the stuff for everything .


Mick

I've read a good many of your posts Mick, I wouldn't doubt it in a minute.
You sound like a True blue Dinky-di Aussie to me

And 'parsec', you've gotta be a fan of Star Wars with a nickname like that?

~Paul