Thread: What Do You Have In The Mail Right Now?

All this talk of Mdc and I come to post and what did I get...Mdc. Seems everyone is on the wagon. I've only used a sample sent by Ed Hewitt but quickly realized I'd be ordering as money came available. A little(lot) of my chrissy cash well spent

This is my new Joseph Turner wedge. Lots of hone wear, but the there isn't too much corrosion and the scales are intact

Ok my Saponificio Varesino 70th Anniversary soap and aftershave arrived.
Its great, Check your inbox. waiting for a couple of folks to respond.Giving samples to others
Because thats how we roll.

Just put an order in to SRD for a Ralf Aust 5/8" razor & 3" Premium IV English Bridle. Very excited to try these out. Im still very new to SR shaving and wanted to treat myself to something nice for a christmas present to me. From what I hear the Ralf is a very nice razor and I know coming from SRD it will have a very nice edge.

A new Boker Silver Steel 6/8 razor with white scales and a Semogue #830 boar bristle brush, both from from SRD.

The Boker will be the FIRST new straight razor I owned in 45 years of straight shaving. Also my FIRST professionally honed razor. The Semogue will be replacing my old brush of 45 years too. I guess old habits die hard with me.

I'm just starting out with SR's.. This is my 'buy in'.

I am patiently awaiting the arrival of these products.

Patiently awaiting..

Dovo Silver Steel Ebony 5/8 SR (From SRD) - to look at and never shave with, seriously. I wanted a blade to compare to my own work
T. Hess Vintage SR (From WD) - to actually shave with and practice blade maintenance
T. Miller Strop - also to look at and never use
Fromm Strop - to practice on and eventually move to the TM Strop
Garos 3" Paddle Strop - To use with the T. Hess razor for shaving until i get the strop technique down with my cheap Gold Dollar
Sheps 100% Pure Neatsfoot Oil - for the Fromm Strop only
CrOx Paste - going to use after the Norton 8k on the linen side of the Fromm strop and Paddle (i will never paste the TM strop ever ever)
Norton 4k/8k stone - because i'm a sharpening addict, and knives just don't cut it anymore (pun slightly intended)
Omega 636 brush & Drip Stand
Taconic Shave Soap (good reviews and they are local..NY!!)
Shavex Alum Block
Floid Pre-shave Oil
Hand Thrown Lather Bowl (From West Coast SS)
Penhaligon's Bayolea Moustache Wax - for my large beard
Jewelers Loupe
1 Partridge with Pear tree

Ahh.. it feels good to confess I plan on moving up to the higher end items after i get some skills with the lower end stuff. Gotta spill a little blood first but hopefully not too much.

MW76, welcome to SRP. That is quite a beginner's list. Let me suggest this: Stick with learning your beard pattern, develop good lather, develop good stropping and shaving technique first before delving in to any kind of honing other than simple blade touch up. Knife sharpening and razor honing are as different as how the Earth is habitable and Mars isn't. Unless you are among the 1% of people that can hone by nature or instinct it is a path of much frustration and steel loss till you are successful.

If you must attempt honing a razor get busy reading in the honing sections of the forum. There you will find the combined experience of quite a number of honers that learned by both the hard and instinctive methods. Believe me, sharpening a knife is child's play compared to the finesse and specifics of honing a razor.

Yes, I know, I'm inflating the market and the piece is not in its best shape, but I can't resist the spirits (Jar, 2 cashew fruits cut in large pieces, Russian Standard & ice), and it's the sole item I bought to myself for Xmas.

Originally Posted by Razorfeld

MW76, welcome to SRP. That is quite a beginner's list. Let me suggest this: Stick with learning your beard pattern, develop good lather, develop good stropping and shaving technique first before delving in to any kind of honing other than simple blade touch up. Knife sharpening and razor honing are as different as how the Earth is habitable and Mars isn't. Unless you are among the 1% of people that can hone by nature or instinct it is a path of much frustration and steel loss till you are successful.

If you must attempt honing a razor get busy reading in the honing sections of the forum. There you will find the combined experience of quite a number of honers that learned by both the hard and instinctive methods. Believe me, sharpening a knife is child's play compared to the finesse and specifics of honing a razor.

Thanks for the advice.

I realized right away that honing a razor is an a very technical process. It is what piqued my interest initially.

My shaving razors are being handled by professionals and will hopefully only need to see a strop for a while.

Originally Posted by MW76

I'm just starting out with SR's.. This is my 'buy in'.

I am patiently awaiting the arrival of these products.

Patiently awaiting..

Dovo Silver Steel Ebony 5/8 SR (From SRD) - to look at and never shave with, seriously. I wanted a blade to compare to my own work
T. Hess Vintage SR (From WD) - to actually shave with and practice blade maintenance
T. Miller Strop - also to look at and never use
Fromm Strop - to practice on and eventually move to the TM Strop
Garos 3" Paddle Strop - To use with the T. Hess razor for shaving until i get the strop technique down with my cheap Gold Dollar
Sheps 100% Pure Neatsfoot Oil - for the Fromm Strop only
CrOx Paste - going to use after the Norton 8k on the linen side of the Fromm strop and Paddle (i will never paste the TM strop ever ever)
Norton 4k/8k stone - because i'm a sharpening addict, and knives just don't cut it anymore (pun slightly intended)
Omega 636 brush & Drip Stand
Taconic Shave Soap (good reviews and they are local..NY!!)
Shavex Alum Block
Floid Pre-shave Oil
Hand Thrown Lather Bowl (From West Coast SS)
Penhaligon's Bayolea Moustache Wax - for my large beard
Jewelers Loupe
1 Partridge with Pear tree

Ahh.. it feels good to confess I plan on moving up to the higher end items after i get some skills with the lower end stuff. Gotta spill a little blood first but hopefully not too much.

I'd echo Razorfelds thoughts and stick to learning the fundamentals first - always important to thoroughly learn and master the basics.

In terms of stropping - grab a butter knife and practice stropping with it on your "practice" strop...speed kills, slow and steady, and ensure the spine is always on the strop and you flip at the end of each stroke without lifting the spine off the strop.

Lose the neatsfoot oil for the strop - it will ruin it. The best treatment is to rub with the palm of your hand daily. If a strop is particularly dry, the treatment recommended to me was Fromm's Strop Conditioner.

When you get 100 shaves in, you'll have a basic understanding at that point of what a "shave ready" edge feels like, so when you begin to hone, you'll actually know what you're attempting to achieve.

Great first setup, and remember, every step is fun, enjoy the journey.....