Thread: horrible first straight razor shave experience

I decided i would try straight razor shaving.

However I do not make a lot of money. Buying a 100 straight razor to me seems insane. I bought a Gold Dollar off amazon for 20 dollars. I bought a strop. I already had 250/1000/6000 grit King stones i use for sharpening my knives.

The blade when it came felt a little sharp but i knew i could make it more sharp with the stones. So i went through the stones. It did feel sharper than factory. It shaves the hair on my arm off with no problem. Then i stropped it. I dont feel like i can sharpen it any more. The blade i bought is
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

A few days later here i am. I have cut the hell out of my face every time i try to shave. In addition to that it doesnt sppear to cut well. I always have to finish off with a mach 3 to get a baby smooth face.

I have watched a LOT of videos on how to sharpen and shave with a straight razor. I have a feeling that a lot of people are going to say buy a dovo for 100+ or get it professionally sharpened and that will fix it. For some reason i dont think that will.

I just dont know what else to do. 20 dollars for me is a lot to blow on a straight razor. Even if coughing up the money to have it professionally sharpened or get an expensive razor does fix it, I dont think i would be willing or able to front that money. To me its a gamble and not worth the risk.

What are the other options do i have?
How long did it take you to learn the proper technique to shave?

EDIT:
I feel like i can shave OK (OK being loosely) around everywhere except the chin. I have a hell of a time cutting anything around the chin. The sides of my face or throat i can watch the hair come off with the first stroke. However the chin with little pressure or even a lot of pressure, i just cannot get it to cut at all.

For twenty dollars you have to think about the steel and craftsmanship that you will be working with even buying a knife at twenty dollars and getting something of true quality is tough when it comes to steel. A production knife in s30v with a factory edge and a blade length of 3 inches is fifty dollars. Anyway Goodluck with your shave I have a dovo and love it.

Unfortunately I would say this is a case of "you get what you pay for". Also, consider how much you spend/year on those mach 3 cartridges. If you're like me, I was spending around $20-30/month, so dropping $100 on a decent straight was only a few months worth of what I'd be spending anyway. I'd also be willing to bet that you could spend around $50 on a decent shavette and get better results than that $20 straight.

Welcome to SRP.
Honing and shaving with a straight razor are two separate skills that both take time to develop. It took me several tries before I was able to produce a somewhat shave ready blade. $100 may sound like a lot, but you can use that $100 razor for the rest of your life and never pay for another cartridge. If my budget were that tight, I'd order a $17 Parker Shavette and a couple $1.99 packs of DE blades. That will get you the razor and over a month of blades. How much do you pay for a months worth of Mach3 cartridges? Where do you live? There may an SRP member near by that can help you out with your Gold Dollar razor.

How much do you pay for a months worth of Mach3 cartridges? Where do you live? There may an SRP member near by that can help you out with your Gold Dollar razor.

I dont really buy mach3 razors. I just use that as a term towards disposable razors, or like someone was going to "google" something even though google is just one search engine.

I normally dont even buy razors, but only acquire new ones through coupons in which i get them for free. At worst case scenario i will buy new razors once every year. I normally cringe my face when shaving as i often have dull disposable blades. That was what looked interesting about a straight razor is that i can re-sharpen it.

The only time i could fork over 100+ to a razor, is tax return time. That and if i knew i was going to switch to straight razor instead of disposables. From researching it looked like the main difference of an expensive straight razor to a cheap one was the amount of shaves between honing it. To whether you hone it ever other shave or every other 100th shave, sort of thing.


I live in Elmira NY. That would be awesome if someone could help me.

Given your budget, I'd be looking more at something like this:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...86DJSGQGA0R2DF

Shavettes (in my opinion) are tougher to use than actual straights, but if you don't have the money for a decent razor, plus a strop, they're a good option. I have the Parker and that plus a decent cream can get good shaves.

Actually, now that I'm thinking of it, I don't use my Parker since buying my Feather shavette. If you want to hit me up on a PM with your address, I'll mail you my Parker plus blades. I have a few different blade types (Windsor, Shark, and Feather). I won't be using it anymore so you're welcome to it if you want it. I probably have 100+ blades so if you can get the hang of using it, it should last you a very long time.

Hi and welcome. reading your post it sounds like you only went to a 6k stone. 8k is considered the starting point for shave ready. that bit of extra honing can make a huge difference in performance. Your best bet is to find someone local to meet with and to help you with honing. Gold Dollar razors are also known for having problems from factory that can need correcting to hone properly. You will also have a learning curve of a dozen shaves for reasonable and a 100 for good. Hope this helps a bit.

Major your a fine gentleman.. take the offer cause right now your going down the wrong road ,, first you bought a razor on the do not buy list ,, and by the way razors come up all the time in our classifieds that are shave ready ,, and as far as you getting yours there you just found out that honing a razor is easy... till it aint , you have to start out with a good blade that has been honed properly to learn without any more difficultys than it already is, read as much as you can about beginning in our library , o don't even know how to respond to not buying razors ,, but I,m sure you have your reasons good luck tc

Metulburr, I think I will state approximatively the same things, but with a different approach.

First I think I understand your situation. While it's true that today I live a very comfortable life, I have had my time where well, $2,50 was the price of a decent meal, more decent that I would be accostumed to.
For some, I do understand that $20 is a hefty price.

I can wonder, though, why would you, in the past, spend tens of $$ on stones, and not on a razor...

Anyway.

I understand also that you have developped your honing technique on knives.
I would forget it when it comes to razors. You don't need a knife to reach under your skin without cutting or putting it on fire.

My knives are sharp. My razors are razor sharp. That's not the same thing at all.
Besides, in other communities we would not advice to use the same stones for both.

A few days later here i am. I have cut the hell out of my face every time i try to shave. In addition to that it doesnt sppear to cut well.

Not "in addition" (emphasis mine), but "because"
The less efficient the razor, the more dangerous it is.

There are, or have been, indeed, some brands which were both cheap and efficient (wapi anyone ?).
Most of the time, a cheap razor just won't cut it. It's not only the piece of metal or the handle. There is a shitload of attention to details :
- The thermal treatment of said steel must be done correctly
- The geometry of the bevel must be "perfect"

It's not just honing, actually. And you can't have this level of precision with just $20 for a new piece.

I understand that you needed to save money, but for all intent and purpose, you just lost $20.

Now, there would be a strategy I would advise :
- Forget that $20 blade, best case scenario, you'd feel "meh" about it if lucky
- Please accept Major's offer, in the meantime it will help you
- Save twice the amount - for $40 I know for a fact you may find a seller for a second-hand blade, perfectly shave ready

Once you have your blade, it's for life. You won't have to buy another blade ever again.
Seen this way, $50 is not that bad an investment.

As I learnt along the way : when you are poor, you don't have the luxury not to buy quality