Newbie here and to straight razor shaving

Hello, I'd just like to introduce myself. I'm Rupert from the UK and, having stumbled upon the idea of shaving with a straight razor, fell in love with it and got sucked in!

So a couple of weeks ago I went to Taylor's and bought myself a new Dovo straight razor, strop and some of their shave cream. I'd just like to share my early thoughts.

Having read here and on other forums that most new razors don't come shave ready and need honing, I made sure to ask the salesman whether it did indeed require honing. He assured me it would be fine for at least a few months and, being Taylor's, I took his word for it. I've had a play around with the razor and, although the after the first couple of shaves my face was getting qutie sore, I seem to be getting the hang of it. At the moment, I'm not going further than the sides of my face and under my chin. The steep contours still scare me! The shaves are getting better as I'm less afraid to apply a little pressure to the blade, improving the angle and my lathering technique. The only thing I keep doing is accidently cutting my right ear as i catch it with the tip of the blade!



Three things that have struck me so far, the blade does seem sharp but I'm wondering whether it could be sharper. It doesn't seem to drag too badly, I think any discomfort is more down to my own inexperience. That said, the blade won't cut a hair that i rest on its edge!

I'm also a little worried about how I should be cleaning the the razor. After shaving i make sure it's properly dried but it's very difficult to get all the water out of the hinge and it is getting a little stiffer. I've also noticed a little rust forming around the hinge (but nothing anywhere near the edge of the blade). Sould I be oiling or greasing the blade at all? I've applied a very small amount of grease to the hinge today, just to keep any rust formation at bay. Also, I've noticed a minor imperfection towards the base of the blade. I imagine this is just due to my learning how to handle the thing properly. It's only really just visible and not really noticed until i drag the blade across my thumb nail. I'm sure it'll hone out.

Thirdly, I've really learned to realise how important lathering and preparing the face is! I'm using a Taylor shaving cream applied with a brush (not badger yet!). I now apply lather to my face before i get in the shower, leave it on during the shower then lather again as soon as i get out before actually shaving and that seems to work pretty well.


Well I hope this first post hasn't been too long and hopefully will get some good tips and feedback. I can't see this straight razor thing is easy but I'm certainly enjoying the whim and luxury of it!

Sounds like you are doing good. The way you describe the razor, it is sharp enough to get a shave with, yes, but could benefit with getting a good bit sharper. With the extensive beard prep you are doing, your bristles will be as soft as they are going to get, so that's a good way to give a sub par edge its best chance. Getting the blade sharper would be a good idea- have you considered getting an old razor from an antique shop (often in good condition save for a few blemishes which polish out, they are usually very cheap) to learn to hone with?

As to keeping the razor clean, put a little oil in the hinge, to keep damp out. Its hard to clean in there. If you see any rust appearing on an accessible part, clean it off with Autosol sooner rather than later, it will save you a lot of trouble. To dry the razor, rinse it after use with scalding hot water, then dry on a towel. Leave it out for a few minutes before putting it in its box, and the heat will drive off any remaining moisture. Don't worry about oiling the blade, unless you don't expect to use it again for a while. Oil just gets washed off when you shave with it.

Enjoy the shaves!

On my straights I actually use a q-tip with some rubbing alcohol to dry off the blade. Just don't get too much of that around the scales as it could mess up the finish. I need to go get a bottle of mineral oil, but I haven't had time.

Thanks for that. As I said, I used a little grease on the hinge so that should do the job for the moment. I've had a look for an antiques/junk shop that sells a straight razor but without luck. Any idea where I could find one in London? Failing that, I'll give e-bay a go!

Welcome to B&B!

Well I spend a little time reading through some of these DE related posts yesterday and decided to give that a go too so bought a cheapo DE razor (Gillette G1000? i think) from my local chemist and a pack of wilkinson sword blades (all they had).
Because I'm still not that comfortable with the straight razor, i tend to just use it for the easy areas on the right side of my face (right handed!) so I used the DE for the rest of my face instead of my Mach 3. I must say, I was very impressed at the results after two passes. In fact, two passes of the DE matched the result of two passes of the straight razor so my face even looks even! No nicks from the DE blade and just a minor one from the straight.
Are those wilkinson sword blades meant to be any good? Also, what's the differenec between different DE razors? Is it more related to the angle at which the razor presents the blade and how much of the blade is exposed?

Welcome to B&B. Great to have you with us.

rupert87 said:

... Also, what's the differenec between different DE razors? Is it more related to the angle at which the razor presents the blade and how much of the blade is exposed?

Click to expand...

That's pretty much it. The Razor is just a holder for the blade. Some are more aggressive than others.

Hi, I too am new to Straight Razor Shaving and probably only a month or two ahead of you. I had a terrible problem with a new Dovo Razor that was supposed to be shave ready but was in fact blunt. To be honest until you have tried one that really is 'Shave Ready' and is confirmed to be so by someone who is experienced enough to know what ‘Shave Ready’ is, it is very difficult to judge it one way or the other. It strikes me you already know that the razor you have is not sharp enough. This is from all the experiences you have had with shaving all your adult life. In the end I was very lucky and had help from a friend who sorted me out. My suggestion to you is to send the razor off and have it honed by a member of this group and then at least you will have an even chance of success.

I now have two straight razors a Dovo and a Maestro Livi both of which are very shave ready and will cut a hair without any problem. I am only now getting to the stage where I feel comfortable with a Straight razor but I can assure you once you have drunk from the devils goblet there is no going back.

Good luck

Welcome Rupert, I think you should avoid gettting any water into the hinge pin area. There is really no reason to get water anywhere on the razor except the blade (assuming you're drying your hands). Its very difficult to clean that area. I just keep my thumb and forefinger over the shank while rinsing to prevent water form moving up there. Good luck and enjoy.

Jordan

You can try to keep wet out of the hinge, yes, but it does get in there from time to time, so a little oil is a wise precaution. I was thinking maybe a heavier grease in the hinge would be better, as it would not need replenishing as often as a light oil. Thing is, I'm not a mechanic, so I don't know the first thing about grease. Any suggestions? I'm thinking if it was warmed, it would get runny, so there would be no trouble running a drop of it in there.

Well, if you want one that will stick in there, use Remington gun oil.

Just my 2 cents:

My first straight razor was purchased shave ready on a straight razor shaving forum, so I got a good benchmark razor. Then I bought a 6/8 German Hoppe straight razor a while back, and even though it was sharp, it wasn't really shave ready. Compared to the first one, it pulled on my beard and gave me a lot of skin irritation.

What I did to make it shave ready was to paste a paddle strop with a mild abrasive paste and use that to sharpen the razor. It may not be as fast as honing, but it sure is a lot cheaper and for a beginner it seems to be a better way. If I can do it, anyone can.

The "hanging hair test" is disputed as a method of judging a razor's edge. The only real way of judging whether the edge is keen enough to shave with is to try shaving with it. It should cut through the beard effortlessly, and provided you don't put pressure on the razor against your skin it is my experience that it should give you next to no irritation.

Cheers!

Thanks. I still think I'd rather get my razor honed by someone who knows what their doing in the first instance just so I have that benchmark. When you're sharpening on a pasted strop, should the strokes be blade first as when honing or black back as when stropping?

Also, on a side note, the measurement "6/8" AIUI, this is a measure of the width of the blade(?). How do I know what it is on my razor since it doesn't seem to be marked on the box?

Hi again Rupert,

A book I was recomended when I started was Sharp Practice by Anders Larsen it is available from Amazon uk for only £6.50. It is a super little book and full of helpfull tips and advice. It is also a good read as it goes into the history of shaving. Give it a go.

Also I can recommend the Lynn Abrams "World of Straight Razor Shaving" DVD available from classicshaving.com for $19.99 + P+P it has all the information you need contained within it.

Quote - "The World of Straight Razor Shaving is eight sections of 3 1/2 hours of great straight razor information including hones and honing, strops and stropping, shaving demo (hot towel), an intro to mugs, soaps and brushes, eBay buying, cleaning razors, minor restoration including a dremel demo, great resources including books, what to look for in buying a razor, eBay questions, great razors including part of Lynn's collection and a whole bunch of good information".

Good Luck

rupert87 said:

Thanks. I still think I'd rather get my razor honed by someone who knows what their doing in the first instance just so I have that benchmark. When you're sharpening on a pasted strop, should the strokes be blade first as when honing or black back as when stropping?

Also, on a side note, the measurement "6/8" AIUI, this is a measure of the width of the blade(?). How do I know what it is on my razor since it doesn't seem to be marked on the box?

Click to expand...

Yes, if you can afford to have it honed professionally, you will get a benchmark for what to aim for when you need to resharpen the razor later on (which you will have to do sometime in the future at any rate).

When sharpening on a pasted strop you do the strokes with the spine (i.e. back of the blade) leading, just as you would normally strop the blade.

The 6/8 measurement is the width of the blade measured from the spine to the edge, in 8ths of an inch. So 8/8 would be an inch wide, 4/8 is half an inch, etc. Took me a while to find that out when I was new to straights too.

Cheers!