Thread: First straight on its way

My AD kicked in this week so I decided to finally get my first straight. I won this one from the bay and talking with the seller made me feel a bit better about the purchase because he recommended this forum to learn from it comes shave ready so now all I have to do is get a strop any recommendations?

Nice looking razor! Have fun.

SRD makes nice strops that are worth the price. A 3" is the easiest for me to strop on but a 2" or 2 1/2" is just as effective. If you take it slow and wait for the speed to come you can get away without having to ruin one as you learn how to use it.

I have an old leather tool belt I'm wondering if that would work.
As much as I want to buy a nice strop I don't want to spend more than 30 for now

Duck, 'grats on choosing quality.

I've had a D.Peres - only one, but it was a superb shaver.

All may go as planned & you'll be deep in the learning curve. You'll sometimes hear of people buying blades that were 'shave ready', only to find peoples definition of ready can vary widely. The edge may not feel very sharp or smooth for a couple of reasons - some of which can be your own doing. I'm somewhat known for having had a rough ride learning how to strop. Some of my strops survived just so they could one day exact revenge. Its nice to have a non-sharp razor on which to practice stropping until the muscles involved are up to speed on the moves. I'm assuming you've watch AFDavis' killer vid on stropping where he details the all-important 'flip' at the end of the stroke. That accounted for 4/5 of my strop fatalities. The honorable Sixgunner has more than a few threads worth repeated reading.

Should ebay 'shave ready' not satisfy - get it to a pro. Don't languish & be frustrated. There's no substitute for good love on the rocks. Many others could do the service, but I suggest pro so it limits the number a possible variables (even if only in your confidence) about what goes into making a magnificent shave happen. There's a learning curve. New Guys are hard on edges - just part of the learning curve. Don't worry about it. It'll be good to have a 2nd blade - doesn't have to be fancy or expensive to use while one is out being honed.

On the strop - two approaches: cheap and cheaply replaceable leather. Even if you are way better at it than I was - it'll get some scars. To clarify - I was lousy at stropping. So buy cheap/used till you get the drill down - or buy something w/ 'Chicago screws' that allow you to unscrew & replace components. The SRD strops all did this, last time I looked.

If I were to get diahrea(sp) of the keyboard, I'd suggest an alternate perspective on men using tools. In most everything involving tools, we grasp a tool, set it to some material and apply force. We look at the material for how it was affected, make adjustments, apply force again. This will be more tactile than your likely used to. When someone talks about a 'feel' for using a tool, they usually mean subtle motions & resistance you feel in your hand from the tool. Here, the primary feel is your face - not your hand, though the hand can inform some. Smooth gliding across your face - all is good. Some grab and scrape feel - caution, go slow, likely reduce your blade angle.

New guys long for the holy grail of baby butt smooth. I would suggest it will be less colorful (bloody) if you let that grail take time in coming. Enjoy your shaves. They don't have to be perfect. Your former method was far from perfect also. Mine was actually more bloody. Just simply getting a comfortable shave will improve your skills whether or not you try to improve. Skill happens & needn't be dramatic.

It sounds like the best shaves of your life are coming soon.

Nothing to add, other than take pinklather's advice.

Good luck and enjoy.

Originally Posted by pinklather

Duck, 'grats on choosing quality.

I've had a D.Peres - only one, but it was a superb shaver.

All may go as planned & you'll be deep in the learning curve. You'll sometimes hear of people buying blades that were 'shave ready', only to find peoples definition of ready can vary widely. The edge may not feel very sharp or smooth for a couple of reasons - some of which can be your own doing. I'm somewhat known for having had a rough ride learning how to strop. Some of my strops survived just so they could one day exact revenge. Its nice to have a non-sharp razor on which to practice stropping until the muscles involved are up to speed on the moves. I'm assuming you've watch AFDavis' killer vid on stropping where he details the all-important 'flip' at the end of the stroke. That accounted for 4/5 of my strop fatalities. The honorable Sixgunner has more than a few threads worth repeated reading.

Should ebay 'shave ready' not satisfy - get it to a pro. Don't languish & be frustrated. There's no substitute for good love on the rocks. Many others could do the service, but I suggest pro so it limits the number a possible variables (even if only in your confidence) about what goes into making a magnificent shave happen. There's a learning curve. New Guys are hard on edges - just part of the learning curve. Don't worry about it. It'll be good to have a 2nd blade - doesn't have to be fancy or expensive to use while one is out being honed.

On the strop - two approaches: cheap and cheaply replaceable leather. Even if you are way better at it than I was - it'll get some scars. To clarify - I was lousy at stropping. So buy cheap/used till you get the drill down - or buy something w/ 'Chicago screws' that allow you to unscrew & replace components. The SRD strops all did this, last time I looked.

If I were to get diahrea(sp) of the keyboard, I'd suggest an alternate perspective on men using tools. In most everything involving tools, we grasp a tool, set it to some material and apply force. We look at the material for how it was affected, make adjustments, apply force again. This will be more tactile than your likely used to. When someone talks about a 'feel' for using a tool, they usually mean subtle motions & resistance you feel in your hand from the tool. Here, the primary feel is your face - not your hand, though the hand can inform some. Smooth gliding across your face - all is good. Some grab and scrape feel - caution, go slow, likely reduce your blade angle.

New guys long for the holy grail of baby butt smooth. I would suggest it will be less colorful (bloody) if you let that grail take time in coming. Enjoy your shaves. They don't have to be perfect. Your former method was far from perfect also. Mine was actually more bloody. Just simply getting a comfortable shave will improve your skills whether or not you try to improve. Skill happens & needn't be dramatic.

It sounds like the best shaves of your life are coming soon.

Thanks, all this info is why I'm here to learn from the seasoned shavers

That's a nice blade !!....Just be wary of the point, it can cause a "nice slice" on the face of a new guy.

Nice razor. Don't use a old tool belt. It is likely contaminated and will harm the edge and probably not up to the task to start with. The strop is a very important part of sr shaving and although you can buy cheap make sure it is decent quality. Good luck

Originally Posted by eddy79

Nice razor. Don't use a old tool belt. It is likely contaminated and will harm the edge and probably not up to the task to start with. The strop is a very important part of sr shaving and although you can buy cheap make sure it is decent quality. Good luck

I looked around and I found a user from reddit that was selling a lightly used strop for a price I couldn't refuse. It was made by another forum member there so it should be plenty good to learn on. It should get to me before or at the same time as the straight so that's awesome as well