Thread: My first razor

So thanks to my hair cutting guy being a flak I stopped into a barbershop. With that came my first straight razor shave. Man I tell you what, like my first woman and my first car I remember my first straight razor shave. Now thanks to many hours or research and eBay I am the proud owner of a CARL SCHLIEPER Solingen pre 1945 new never used razor. I was after a vintage c-mon but when I clicked on this one it called my name, plus, I had instant gratification because the auction was ending in 3 minutes. It was a exciting bidding war but own it I must. Now for the newbie question part of my post. Basically – what now? Did I get a decent razor ($132.50)? I hear it takes a few razors for find the “keeper” - rounded end pointed end longer shorter soap preferences, brush preferences, stones strops. I feel like I started with the seat now need a hoarse and cart and advice. Any help is appreciated.

Would you post some pictures?

Welcome to SRP. A good place to start is the Beginners Guide in our wiki.

Straight Razor Place Wiki:Books/Beginners Guide - Straight Razor Place Wiki

It will answer a lot of your questions. I doubt if you're razor is shave ready, if not, you'll need to get it honed. You can find someone to do the work in Member Services.

Member Services - Straight Razor Place Classifieds

Good luck with putting together your kit. If you need more help, let us know.

Thank you for the reply. i will read the articals mentioned and do some study before posting questions. thank you for poiting me in the right direction.

Congrats on your razor. Pictures would really help out in answering your "is it worth it" type thoughts. I have never heard of that maker, but I'm sure that there are plenty of makers out there that I have not heard of. Long story short, if you are happy, it was worth it. I'll try to give some of MY personal perspective, so please take it for what it's worth.

Again, these are my thoughts only, not meant to evaluate whether or not you made a good move.

There are very few razors I would buy on ebay for 100+. If I were to go that high, it would be for something extremely special that I had been specifically hunting for a while, and it would have to be from one of about three or so ebay sellers I trust to sell great razors. If it were not a case like that, I'd probably only use that kind of $ to get a new razor along with a professional honing, and maybe a new strop.

When RAD kicks in, I'd suggest testing the waters of the classifieds for a while, you will find really great shavers there at great prices... also you'd know you are buying from people that use them and know what to look for in a razor.

Anyway, when you get some pics, we'd love to see them. I would really suggest sending it out to one of our honemeisters here to put a worthy edge on your new prize.

Cheers

as soon as the razor comes i will get some pictures. thank you for your replies. pictures soon.