I assume this has been done before, but since everyone seems to say "start with a shave ready razor", how many of us actually did? My first real straight was a new one (not shave ready) and I learned to hone and shave at the same time (ouch)
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I assume this has been done before, but since everyone seems to say "start with a shave ready razor", how many of us actually did? My first real straight was a new one (not shave ready) and I learned to hone and shave at the same time (ouch)
I got my first razor from Trumpers, and I did ask if it was shave ready. They said they hone them all themselves to make sure they are ready to go. They werent kidding either, that thing was sharp!
Its good to start with a shave ready razor, as this means you can start using it right away and it also gives a benchmark when you start honing yourself.
But if you learnt both at the same time, then well done..! :)
I started with a shavette, and just ordered a best quality set from SRD, which comes shave ready.
Eventually I'd like to learn how to hone, but first I'd really like to get consistent BBS shaves.
Thats awesome that you learned both at the same time. Was it difficult?
Well it would certainly have been a quicker process if I had a shave ready razor. I did have a benchmark of what a sharp blade should shave like as I had a cheap handle that used 1/2 a double edge blade.Quote:
Originally Posted by freyguy
I learned how to straight shave on disposables straight blades. I quickly learned that I need some good straight shaving soaps and a good performing badger brush. After that, I moved up the learning curve with authority.
Then came fixed razors, stropping, light honing, and stone honing, which was another big step in straight shaving.
The Good News; SRP Wiki and SRP members do an outstanding job guiding you along.
Pabster
Absolutely!! This is an incredibly usefull resource. It's like having hundreds of barber grandfathers at your sideQuote:
Originally Posted by Pabster
I learned how to shave from a number of sources, starting with talks with my father. I have never bought a shave ready razor so I started honing my own. In this regard, I did have the advantage of prior experience with other edged tools, and I don't find razor honing different in principle from putting a good edge on any tool.
My learning curve has been slow going and tough as I had to take this journey on the cheap. Basically I learned which were the good and bad razors, what to look for when buying, how to make scales, clean up & polish blades (still working on that one) how to shave, make lather, honing all at the same time. Been a lot of fun but have had some bad moments too, but that's to be expected when taking on that much at one time. I'm still here with only minor cuts and best of all....no scars!
In the mid 1980s I had a friend who owned and operated a barber shop that was a sort of hangout for a group of us. I began collecting straight razors and picking the brain of the 70 year old barber who worked for my friend. I learned to shave and hone after a fashion but gave it up shortly thereafter.
Coming back to it 25 years later I learned to shave from this wonderful forum and to hone from up close and personal tutoring by TheTopher and from telephone conversations with both Lynn and with Randydance. The SRP Wiki tutorials and the videos as well as a lot of practice. Truth is I am still learning most times I lay steel to stone.
Yeah I'm in a similar position. I figured I'll give the soap which comes with the set a try before I make any other purchases.Quote:
Originally Posted by Pabster
Is there a way to test products out. I've browsed prices, and with some of the balms and creams costing $50 and more, it seems like a lot of money just to see if you like it.
I learned to shave with decidedly unshave ready straight razors. I didn't know it at the time though. Just bought the razor from a bro-in-law, and sharpened it on a barbers hone that my wife just happened to have sitting in a kitchen drawer. It was sharp, I thought. But, on retrospect, no where near!
The bad part of that approach is obvious and doesn't need to be stated. The good is that it forced me to learn slices and scythes and the like. That knowledge has been invaluable. So, based on my vast experience I can definitely tell newbies...
DON'T do it that way! :)
I foolishly bought a Boker off Ebay before knowing what I was doing. Thankfully it was in good enough condition to be honed. Hi_bud_gl honed it up and I shaved for the first time with that.
My first two razors were from my late grandfather. As a kid i saw him shaving and sharpening them quite often. When i decided to try shaving with them, they were almost shave ready. I was already familiar with sharpening knives and tools, but i had to learn how to sharpen razors before i could get ok shave. I think it took few months.
FWIW, my first straight razor experience was with one I had just purchased from a local barbers supply shop sometime in the mid 1960's. I watched my grandfather shave with his and thought it looked like something I ought to try. It worked fine out of the box, or so I remember.
:beer2:
My barber taught me, she had a lot of fun with that!:)
Here's a post from October 14, 2009:
http://straightrazorpalace.com/images/icons/icon1.gif Was SRP a signifcant factor in your taking up the SR?
Was this site a substantial factor in your decision to take up straight razor shaving? Clearly there are many factors that affect our predisposition to do something like this. My guess is, that for many or most of us, this site and its resources pushed us over the edge (happily so in my case).
If no, were you already SR shaving?
I presume Lynn will be happy to see how this site has influenced this band of brothers (and sisters)!
The poll results were Yes 84; No 58
My first shave was with a shave ready Boker I purchased from a member while I learned to hone of some ebay razors I had purchased for that reason. Looking back, the only thing I could have done different was to learn to strop with a butter knife and a belt or something, it would have saved me from tearing up my first stropp.
I started with two shave ready Wacker razors. I never believed they were shave ready, but they were. The problem was their size, and the fact that we did not have the Wiki at the time. Both problems solved now.
i started off with a zeepk and i honed it up then tried to shave with it after that i saw that i neded a good razor so i got a dovo off ebay and i had beter luck with it that was in 07 and have been shaving with a straight ever sence and loving it.
I came here first and bought three vintage razors - one from X, one from Lynn, and one from Joe Chandler. They were all shave ready (thank gawd!) and I was off and running. Learning to hone was/is another story :banghead: :)
Jordan
I bought a Straight that was suppose to be shave ready and it wasn't so I had to learn how to hone. Not that it bothered me a lot because I truly think there are no advantages in starting with a shave ready razor and that is because when you strop you will dull it and you don't really know how a razor should feel because you can't get the angles right when starting. So, I believe one should learn how to hone and when one thinks he knows how to do it, (by getting decent shaves), then buy a shave ready razor from a reliable source to compare.:shrug: Of course that's my way of seeing things!
(I know it wasn't shave ready because I did prep properly, use to do it for DE, and I used it without stropping because the guy that sold it to me said he had already done that and no matter how I tried it just didn't shave properly. Also it didn't cut my arm air)
Well, it was before this site existed. Just on a lark I bought a TI and some soap and thought I would just shave afterall how difficult could it be? I have the scars to prove that. Basically I just stumbled along by myself.
You guys don't know how lucky you are having this site.
I'm using a shavette, so the only way I can identify shave readiness at this point is by putting in a new blade. How would you recommend a newb determine a shave ready blade from something that's not quite there.Quote:
Originally Posted by yoshida
I just ordered a shave ready Dovo from SRD, and figure that with that I would get a feel for a what shave ready really is.
I sure do know just how lucky I am having found this site to learn how to str8 shave. However there are times I wonder if I should quit coming here and reading posts, everytime I do I find there is something else I "should" buy.:)Quote:
Originally Posted by thebigspendur
I had wanted to try a str8 for years but had never gotten around to it, then when I finally got so sick of paying for cartridges that I just couldnt take it any more, I googled straight shaving and guess which site popped up. The rest is history, still just recent history but I am getting there. I followed most of the advice such as starting with a shave ready razor, but went for the whole shebang right from the start(except for my go-tee). Even though I joke about always finding something else to buy when coming here, it was only because of this wonderful site that I knew what to buy to start and how to use it, well knew the theory of how to use it, the empirical knowledge took some time. Thanks SRP and all you fine people here.
Ladies and gentlemen:
I had wanted to shave with a straight razor way back in my twenties. A few years ago I finally made the move.
At the time I shaved with a double edge razor. A friend had used a Feather straight razor with replaceable blades for a short time and given it up. I borrowed the razor from him and began, using two hands from the first day. By then I had done extensive research on straight razor shaving.
About a week or so later I ordered a real straight razor. Several more followed. Unfortunately, with major problems with my hands, I gave up the straight razor for a time until my hands healed somewhat.
I have stayed with the straight razor since then, and plan to do so for as long as my hands hold out.
Regards,
Obie
Shavette and a lot of knicks. Recently I've been using a NOS filli #10 with the small 3/8 blade but after touching it up with a barbers hone it shaves pretty decent. I've said before that I just jumped in. Also that I had come across SRP as well as B&B multiple times but originally kept thinking "forums are for nerds" (this has to do with my supervisor at work). So here I am and happy about it. Could have saved some time and headaches if I had just come here first. Oh well.
watching old movies and staring a lot in the mirror. Was already a wet shaver. I think I watched the angle of a BIC disposable and tried to match that.
I bought my first from The Invisible Edge, a Wapi in Violet scales. Very sharp, and still mirrored finished. I taught myself and chatted here for advice, and watched lots of youtube videos.
Cheers
David
I am a novice with a straight and only have two shaves under my belt so far. Both have been really nice shaves with no nicks or burn. While waiting for my straight to arrive I just read everything I could find on str8t shaving and watched a lot of videos. So far, no problems. I find that it isn't really such a mysterious undertaking as a lot of folks seem to envision it.
i was doing some ironwork on a gate when the owner gave a box of junk, ammo, gun cleaning kit and a razor. that razor sat in my shop for years untill i stumbled across it one day and thought ,maybe ill clean this up. it was more rust than razor but in the end it looked ok. then i wondered if you could realy shave with this thing? so i put it to the stones and got it ...well better than knife sharp but nowheres near shave ready and gave her a dance ...no joy so i started looking for tips to straight razor shaving and honing and found this place. after much trial and more err i got her up and running.. later i got a dovo from lynn and found i didnt do so badly, his was sharper for sure but both would give a good shave. anyway i have never looked back i make knifes so this is a natural for me to cut off my beard with a knife
I never used a shavette but I suppose they should feel very similar and you can test with a new blade the same way. If you ordered from SRD it should be shave ready. A way to see if a razor is shave ready is try to cut arm or leg hair with the razor away from the skin and repeat with all edge length (cut, move the blade, cut - don't go cutting sideways), hair should pop off easily, but most people would tell you that the only shave ready test is shaving and I tend to agree, but even before it is shave ready it has to cut hair. I get a lot more info from making a thumbpad test but you first need some feeling for it, try it on your shavette (first watch a video of someone doing it and be carefull). Good Luck.Quote:
Originally Posted by freyguy
I actually practiced for a while using one of those old wooden rulers that have the metal strip embedded in the edge. The metal edge gives some audiable and tactile feedback so you can get a feel for whisker direction, and handling a razor.
It's not perfect, but I felt I got some confidence in going to the str8.
Nothing worse that taking some surical sharp steel to your skin for the very first time you ever handled the razor!:)
Hello. I messed about with straight razors years ago without much of a clue about what to do, with mixed results. With the exception of that, I've always used a DE, which definitely teaches you a sensible approach to shaving, especially an aggressive razor like the Aristocrat Jr. which I used exclusively for years.
Now I've returned to using a straight: here's how it happened. I bought myself a couple of vintage Sheffield razors which were just too gorgeous to pass up, and spent a couple of months contemplating them. I then decided to hone them, and one (a Fenton 6/8) came sharp without much trouble, but the other (Butler 5/8) refused to co-operate (I now believe that it had been honed previously with tape on the spine). I stropped the sharp one on a homemade paddle loaded with jeweller's rouge and sent the other to Neil Miller for a complete refurb. By the time it came back I'd managed a few creditable shaves, thoroughly enjoying the process. Neil also sent me three sample strops which have improved matters a good deal: both razors cut hanging hairs easily and I'm as clean shaven as I ever have been. The next steps are to commission another razor as a stopgap and send the Fenton off to Neil for a polish, acquire a better hone ... and so on. I feel like I've learnt a lot already about a subject which is going to continue to give me a great deal of satisfaction for a long time.
Thanks for the advice. I've seen some youtube videos on the thumb pad test, but I'm not quite ready for that. I wouldn't know what to feel for. However, I accidentally performed the thumb pad test on my first few blade replacements without knowing it.Quote:
Originally Posted by yoshida
I was installing the new blade, and found it hadn't seated itself quite right, so under estimating how sharp the blade was, I used the pad of my thumb to push down on the blade to seat it. I have three cuts on one thumb because of this. I suppose the blades were shave ready.
In hind sight, I get a pretty good laugh about it
Been wetshaving with a DE for over a year with good results and father suggested I get a str8. Looked around this site and after months of lurking and reading bought a 6/8 (more like 13/16) Dovo "Best Quality" from sebell. Watched Lynn's DVD and with all the reading learning from the mistakes of others the first shave was pretty darn smooth. Did the whole face (bristles here and there and difficult spots). Walked to work in a chilling, windy cold with tiny ice crystals whipping into my face to provide further exfoliation and face looked razor burned for about two hours then magically recovered.
A few months later got Norton synthetic water stones and Spyderco synthetic sapphire stones and a lapping stone. Honed up a small 4/8th, a 5/8th W&B wedge and a 11/16 Dubl Duck "Dwarf" without a real problem (4/8th's edge collapsed twice but shaved o.k. immediately after honing). I'd done plenty of freehand sharpening of various cutlery for a few years and had a delicate, soft touch.
I can honestly say that for the first two years I'd owned a str8 that I spent more time honing straights than actually shaving with them!
Started with a Fromm Hairshaper about five years ago, bought my first two vintage straights about two years ago, which lead me to the shave forums. Learned pretty much by trial and error.
goshawk
I learned with a new, professionally honed razor. The razor was fine, but my techniques lacked. Lots of cuts at first. I haven't had any problems for a long time. However, three weeks ago I cut the last joint of the middle finger, left hand off with a table saw. Besides making me a handicapped driver here in the mean traffic of Atlanta, :) it's put a temporaty halt to my straight shaving. :( Although I have a good DE, you don't appreciate a straight shave until you can't get one. Soon I'll be able to hold a razor with my left hand and will be back in action.