Thread: Blasphemy

Lately we have welcomed many new shavers into our midst here and this site is growing by leaps and bounds and thats a great thing and I give all of you a collective welcome.

But that's not the purpose of this post. Typically the usual newbe post goes something like " I've read everything there is to read about straight shaving in the world and I have 200 posts here and I'm getting ready for my first shave and I just got my maestro razor honed by lynn which passes every test known to man and my simpson's brush and my trumpers cream and my fancy oils and aftershaves and I soak my face in the shower and I steamed a cloth in the microwave and my face looks like a cooked chicken and I shaved this morning and my face is now all nicked up and red like a beet and irritated. Do you think I should send it back to lynn for more sharpening"?

And what do we all tell him? yea send it back its not sharp enough or maybe your face wasn't cooked enough. Or maybe get a pasted strop and start stroping away.

So whats my point here. I think all will agree that when it comes down to the nitty gritty of it there are really only two factors in being a successful shaver. 1-of course having a quality sharp razor but equally important is having the skill and experience to use it and it doesn't come easy or quickly.

Certainly everone here enjoys quality products but really all that fancy smelling stuff is mostly window dressing, something we use because it makes us feel good.

I would venture a guess and here I call the shavers who have been doing this for many years that they could shave with a straight using NOTHING but hot water period and get a great comfortable shave. What do you think?

I would like to see the experienced people here stress the experience and patience over the hardware and technical stuff a little more. Everyone's comments are welcome.

I agree completely. I think skill and patience will win out in the end and make us ALL experts!

I agree with you. I'm sure my great-grandfather wasn't browsing the net, soaking in all the possible info he could get off the forums and spending the contemporary equivalent of $500 on his equipment. A regular razor, a leather strop, an easily available hone, a brush made of hair belonging to an animal that could be easily hunted down near his village and some soap made of ashes and the lard of the pig he slaughtered that fall were enough. Moonshine was the only aftershave he ever needed. And his research was his own experience and a couple of lessons he got from his dad. Which brings me to another point. How did the ancient Romans shave before the iron age? I don't know if their bronze blades could pass the hanging hair test lol.

You make a good point. I still have tons to learn about honing. Stropping, I believe I have that down. I think that it's possible that too many beginners get their razor and start stropping like Lynn in his video...and ruin the edge. I'm glad I started with a paddle strop from Tony. I don't see how you can "strop at the speed of light" with a paddle strop. I had to focus on technique and properly turning the razor. For anyone who starts out with a shave ready razor and gets only one or two good shaves before it falls apart, I believe the improper stropping is the key.

Randy

Good point, in fact I do shave with just hot water...LOL. I think we need a primer page like over at SMF. What drives me nuts the most is the guy who buys all that stuff and says .... "and now I've just stropped it backwards and for some reason it won't shave" ...

...on the other hand if someone buys all the best equipment, I am surprised but not feeling really critical, they just sense, like most guys, that they can buy there way to an easier learning curve.

But if I'm guilty of said action I'll try and correct from here . . .

I started shaving with a shavette, used that for a couple months until I was confortable using one of the razors I got from Lynn. That way all I had to do was concentrate on learning to shave, not worry about maintenance on my razor, or if it was sharp enough. The shavette was a lot less forgiving, but I learned, after 3 or 4 cuts.

I agree 100%. I started with the cheapest Illinois hanging strop, a narrow TI paddle with 2 pastes, a $54 Dovo, Grandpa's mug and a Burma Shave brush.

I nicked myself like crazy but kept going. After 2 months of daily practice the nicks stopped and I got nice shaves. Then I treated myself to, well, another $54 Dovo. You can do this with the basics. An inexpensive razor, a basic strop and a basic mug and brush. You can send your razor out for sharpening and never need to buy a hone or pasted strop.

The extras can make things easier as you learn to shave or after you learn to shave. A top quality brush, or strop, or creme adds to the experience but is not the factor that will make or break a shave. There are quite a few guys here that post regularly that use an old restored ebay special razor, a thrift store belt for a strop and a $27 Arkansas stone. Maybe not the best choices to use but they learned how to use it properly and get as good iof a shave as the rest of us.

Nice equipment can add to the experience but does not give you experience. Part of the idea behind my starter kits was to give the minimum equipment needed, at the lowest cost to get you started. Many beginners ask for upgrades to the kit but in all honesty I would start with the basics and go from there.

Being guys though I guess many of us go for the flash. we like technical stuff and quickly become equipment freaks. Oddly my shavette kit was a flop. A Shavette, a mug and a brush. The absolute basics to get going to see if you like the concept of a straight without all the extras.......most guys e-mailed and wanted to add, well,.... the extras <g>.

My advice....buy basic, learn to use it, THEN, go out and treat yourself as a reward for learning.

Tony

Interesting post and thread. Keep in mind that a lot of new people have left and would leave if not for the help of the folks on this forum. Experience and patience and practice are always going to be essential, but there are times when people are not stropping properly, shaving with too steep an angle, etc. I have seen folks completely dull a freshly honed razor with a single stropping. I have seen people have better luck with the Norton and the Coticule and some with pastes. Personally, I will always prefer the hanging strop. I don't use the linen much. I really don't like the thin paddle strops compared to a wider loom type strop. When it comes to razors, bottom line Dovo's will never be as nice as some of the older German's, British, French or Swedish razors. The experiences shared regarding great razors by the membership here is very beneficial to the new person. So is just reading the information in the links and files. Before this forum, there really was not much available for a new person to learn. So now that it's here and now that we have such a great membership, we should utilize all the help folks are willing to give, all the technology available and all the encouragement for patience and practice we can give. Just my 2 cents. Lynn

PS......shaving with just hot water really does work. I still like the lather better, but we have had several members who were firmly committed to just water.....lol. Have fun. Lynn

Lynn,
I think wider is better too when it comes to strops. I used only a 2 1/2" till I tried the 3" and now it is my favorite and it seems my customers as well.

For the ultimate edge I do think stones will do it but require much more commitment both in investment of money and time. There is satisfaction in doing the entire process on stones (and I am saying they with 4 razors at Lynn's now <g>) but beginners seem to do better with abrasive pastes at least at first. Most of the group seems pretty well rounded and using a variety of methods and equipment. I have a few top end things and a few basics too. I use stones when I have time, pastes when I want fast results. Part of the fun is trying things too. While I am a dedicated straight user I am having fun with some DE razors too although evey time I use one I do feel like I cheated <g>.

The best advice I can think of is to carefully read all the posts by both beginner and pro, stop to think about what was said and why, then apply what sounds good and practice until you see some results but do try to develop a plan that works for you even if it does not always follow convention.

I think about the posts by AF Davis. A year ago he was asking questions and trying all the known methods in honing. Now he posts regularly on the subject and has developed a model that works very well for him but is a bit different than many here use. I think at one point he even mentioned taking time away from all the posting to find what woprked for him. Joe Lerch too takes a scientific approach to all this and once learning basics and asking questions has developed a succesful approach as well, again different than what was just handed to him. Asking, research and thought lead to success here.

Tony Miller