Thread: What got you guys into straight razor shaving?

Nice. Keeping it alive and you can pass it on.

That's a cool story ness. I too have an heirloom razor from my Dad. I use it on his birthday and on Father's Day.

Was working as a farmhand at the time. (17yrs. old) was remodeling the farmhands house, when I found 3 straights. Two were junk, the other a 4/8 Torrey that I'd cleaned up enough and honed for use. A scary first shave, for sure. Shook like a dog crapping broken glass.

Years later when internet became available, I was looking at restored razors, and decided to do mine...destroyed it.! Had to find another...fast, only way I knew to shave.! A search found SRD/ Straight razor designs, in my back yard of Medina, Ohio. 1/2 Hr drive I was buying a Dovo 6/8, and a Boker 4/8. I'd talked with the owner about how I destroyed my first one in attempt to restore it. He directed me to SRP. Guys here helped me out tremendously, along with the info from the library, I've got a large array of restored razors of all shapes, years, and grinds, Stones, Strops, Brushes, Mugs, Soaps, ect.

From there and willingness to help others in their quest for better shaves, here I sit as a mentor for this forum.

For me, it was 2012, I was watching skyfall and drinkin rye.

This scene inspired me, and a drunken ebay purchase later, had my first Boker enroute.
Met a few gents at a shave GTG.
The rest, the hundreds of razors, stones and strops later, still enjoy the ancient, simple zen moments with the man in the mirror.

Originally Posted by MikeB52

For me, it was 2012, I was watching skyfall and drinkin rye.

This scene inspired me, and a drunken ebay purchase later, had my first Boker enroute.
Met a few gents at a shave GTG.
The rest, the hundreds of razors, stones and strops later, still enjoy the ancient, simple zen moments with the man in the mirror.

I love the zen moment with the man in the mirror quote!!! How cool man !!

We both started with Dovo, lol. For me it was a rabbit hole. Had been using cartridge razors for over a decade, then all of a sudden I realized the quality dropped dramatically. I never imagined I would see rusted and most importantly rolled edge blades on a cartridge just after maybe 4 shaves. So I turned to DE but still not 100% happy with them. So I looked for SR. The very first one was a Dovo Astrale. Weirdly enough, it came shave ready, not as good as I can get it now but still far better than those disposables. Don't take me wrong, I'm not saying your Dovo was an exception but rather surprised how Dovo managed to get mine shave ready. I wish I had to hone it in the first place as the fact it came shave ready actually covered up the utterly bad ground: edge was warped, spine was uneven. So I did not even noticed those serious problems until 3, 4 months later and the return window closed. Now I have two sets of Naniwa, 1 set of King, 1 set of Shapton Pro, 4 diamond plate, 3 sets of diamond pastes, 1 diamond emulsion, 1 sets of diamond powder, 7 strops and quite a few JNATs and CNATs. Unlike you, I did not know this forum until I almost got out of the rabbit hole. The only good thing was that I was already good enough on knife sharpening, so it did not take me long to ramp up on razor honing.

But still I have to say that I chose at least hard mode if not hell mode to begin with. I thought I only needed a touch-up, then I realized I had to set the bevel first. To set the bevel, I realized I had to fix the spine first. After fixed the spine, I realized the edge was warped to one side... Still I managed to get it shave ready again.

I grew up watching gunsmoke. I was always a little scared thinking the guy was going to kill the guy. then I got a little older and I had an uncle who was a barber. when I would be waiting for my haircut he would be shaving people with a straight razor and I saw that it wasn't attempted murder but actually something people paid for. I never thought anything about it again

when I began shaving I used a disposable razor with no shaving cream and I did that until I was current LOL. about 5 years ago when I was 52 I came into a nursing home because I have multiple sclerosis and I didn't want to inconvenience my kids. it was out of pure boredom and chance that I got into straight razors. I saw a barber stroping on an old episode of rawhide or the rifleman, something. and I went to look up strops once I figured out what they were. I got on eBay and found one from duke City vintage shaving that looked like what I saw in my head from my past.

I started speaking with the guy and it was just too expensive for me , knowing nothing about them. Mike Slater is his name, he asked me what I could afford? I couldn't actually afford anything but I told him a price more than half what he was asking for his. he sent me an offer for the price I told him I could pay. so I bought it. I didn't even have a razor yet. but I was going to get one. I've actually got around 70 of them now. I'm learning to restore them and it gives me something to do

the more I learned, the more I wanted. I eventually ended up with everything I need to restore them from my nursing home room. without power tools LOL there is a lot of sanding and physical, manual labor.

Originally Posted by hairy

I grew up watching gunsmoke. I was always a little scared thinking the guy was going to kill the guy. then I got a little older and I had an uncle who was a barber. when I would be waiting for my haircut he would be shaving people with a straight razor and I saw that it wasn't attempted murder but actually something people paid for. I never thought anything about it again

when I began shaving I used a disposable razor with no shaving cream and I did that until I was current LOL. about 5 years ago when I was 52 I came into a nursing home because I have multiple sclerosis and I didn't want to inconvenience my kids. it was out of pure boredom and chance that I got into straight razors. I saw a barber stroping on an old episode of rawhide or the rifleman, something. and I went to look up strops once I figured out what they were. I got on eBay and found one from duke City vintage shaving that looked like what I saw in my head from my past.

I started speaking with the guy and it was just too expensive for me , knowing nothing about them. Mike Slater is his name, he asked me what I could afford? I couldn't actually afford anything but I told him a price more than half what he was asking for his. he sent me an offer for the price I told him I could pay. so I bought it. I didn't even have a razor yet. but I was going to get one. I've actually got around 70 of them now. I'm learning to restore them and it gives me something to do

the more I learned, the more I wanted. I eventually ended up with everything I need to restore them from my nursing home room. without power tools LOL there is a lot of sanding and physical, manual labor.

How cool man!!

When I was a kid, the only exposure I had to straight razors was when I watched old movies and TV shows. That sparked my curiosity. The first time I handled a razor in real life was when I was searching for something in the bathroom cabinet one day. Then I accidentally found my Dad's old straight razor. It was completely rusted and beyond saving. In retrospect, I'm lucky I didn't slice my fingers open that day because it was sitting in the bottom of this deep basket and I was searching it blind

I think I was in my mid 20's got my first straight didn't have a clue how to sharpen it or even what stones to use. Before that I was a cartridge banger not liking spending all that dollar on them so got given a electric one (utter crap when I think back) upgraded that but was still a crappy shave really, never close and got irritation from all the multiple passes needed. Thought I'd get a straight again already had loads of stones from my bushcrafting, managed to finally get a edge on one and the rest is history.

I love it because it's a time in the days I shave that is mine, I love it because you are forced in a indirect way to your fullest concentration and in today world it's helpful for my mind, I love it becuase it's about the only pampering I ever get,lol.. And I'm also a self confessed sharp object lover..

I only wish I started earlier