Thread: Retake on straight razors after a 5+ years break!

Greetings from Finland! I would call myself a returning member, since I joined straight razor place around 2005 and continued to play with razors until 2006 or so. Something just happened back then and I lost the sparkle for 5 good years. My username at that time was monco, but I forgot the password, email account, etc. and couldn't bring the old profile back to life.

The very first razor I bought in 2005 was some budget-razor called Nippes-Solingen (the only new straight razor I was able to find in Finland at the time, and there still doesn't seem to be many available). They still seem to have it: Top-Kosmetiikka - Kosmetiikkaa ja tarvikkeita naiselle sekä miehelle (the item with a price tag of 45 euro). Here's another picture: Solingen Germany Professional Barber Razor Black 25 By Nippes Free Shipping, some information: http://straightrazorpalace.com/razor...-solingen.html, and a recommendation: don't buy, I never had any luck with it. The unfortune I had with the razor made me look for more (any!) information and I soon found SRP (or was it other way around, can't remember...)

Frustrated with the Nippes-Solingen, I first bought a Norton 4/8k. I couldn't get the razor anywhere (but didn't completely ruin it, either), so I finally bought couple of shave-ready razors from SRP members, namely a Dubl Duck (don't remember which exactly; I later sold it back to the guy I bought it from, as he requested it), Genco Expert 6/8, old H. Hobson wedge, and a Packard 5/8 (this was actually a freebie from SRP). Genco is well known to you all, I think, but the Packard looks like this: FANCY VICTORIAN STRAIGHT RAZOR W/BOX - PACKARD (06/01/2010). And here's how I got it: Yahoo! Groups. All of the razors, being honed by SRP members, were shave-ready and easily passed my amateurish HHT-attempts. I also had hanging strop that came with the Nippes-Solingen razor (unbranded, but it looks exactly like Dovo, save the missing Dovo carving on the leather!) and an unbranded but again quite nice badger brush.

So, the year was something like 2006. I shaved with my shave-ready razors and Col. Conk and Tabac soaps for some weeks. Don't know why I stopped, but I think I never got really impressive results. I now know that at least my technique was still bit off, and so were the prepping and lathering skills. I would say my shaves were perhaps not bad, but not very special either.

It was some months ago that I took a look at my razor collection again and thought I should give it another try. I concentrated on Packard and Genco. I knew that my poor technique and the fact that I had played around with them etc. had dulled the razors to a point where they would not pass HHT. I tried to shave with them but felt that they were pulling. So I took my Norton 4/8k and started honing the Packard. Couldn't get pass cutting arm/leg hair. The razor was sharp and the edge was apparently in nice condition but it wouldn't cut arm hair effortlessly mid-air, wouldn't pass HHT in any level, would pull when I tried to shave with it. I tried lapping the Norton, different honing strokes like circles, x-pattern, one hand, two hands, going slow and easy, etc. I was afraid of putting too much wear to the razor (in the end I estimate I gave the Packard at least a total of 100 strokes on 4k and 8k). However, the razor didn't seem to get more dull. It just didn't get any more sharp, either. I repeated the attempt with Genco, this time giving only some 20-40 laps in 8k with a very light pressure, again getting nowhere.

I started looking for alternatives to get the razors back in business and started reading SRP forums carefully. I ordered Dovo green, red and black pastes and bought some balsa wood from a hobby store. I pasted the balsa with Dovo green (yes, I should perhaps have started with red or even black) and gave both razors some 10-20 laps. And voila! Both razors started snapping hairs like crazy! I was at least somewhere around HHT-3 with both Packard and Genco. I finished the razors with Dovo red and black and finally stropped them but it didn't seem to make any difference in HHT-scale.

I also ordered a Vulfix 404 mixed boar and badger brush and some Tabac soap and started shaving. It has been two weeks now without touching my Mach3 and the shaves are starting to get better and better. Earlier I've only been looking at the sharpness of the blade but in this couple of weeks I've noticed how big difference it makes to prep the beard carefully: I use either sauna, hot shower, or at least a hot towel applied twice. Also, whenever I get bad lather (usually too dry, occasionally too wet), I get extremely bad shaves, razor burn, even small nicks. With good lather (now that my lathering skills are getting better), I end the shaves with a perfect feeling with no razor burn or irritation in sight. The angle of the blade certainly is an important matter as well. When I started my angle was noticeably bigger, and I'm slowly getting it closer to correct. There's still lots to learn, I'm sure, but a one-pass WTG shave takes only 10 minutes and I get good results. The whole shaving ritual takes some 20-30 minutes, but it's well worth it.

Where to go from here? Well, I'm looking forward to visit Europe in summer: Germany, Holland, France, Spain, you name it. What to do there? To buy razors and stuff, of course (can't find anything here in Finland)! I have things like Coticules, La Troja, Tabac, etc. in my mind!

I would like to say thanks to all of you in SRP for the most valuable help and information I have received. It feels great to be back!

Well let me be the first to say welcome back.
I would dare say a few name and faces have changed but the shave says it all.

Regards
Pat

Thanks,

I enjoyed reading your life history of shaving. Very good.

Best of luck with your European shopping spree this summer. Do not forget to top up the credit card