Thread: Please Help!!

I'm new here and new to straight razor shaving.

I purchased a razor from Vintage Straight Razors which was supposedly "shave ready". I haven't been able to tell if this is true or not. My "shave test" has been less than stellar, but I'm new to this, so it could conceivably be technique. I've looked up a few methods for testing the sharpness of my blade and it seems to fail all of them. I want to keep practicing, but I'm not sure I am getting any better if my razor needs to be honed. Should I buy a new razor (so I can keep practicing) and send this one to be honed? Where should I send it to get honed, since it doesn't seem to make sense to send it to the place that did a poor job in the first place!

Anyway, I am looking forward to getting the swing of this and fully enjoying my straight razor shaving experience.

Thanks!

t would be good to have more then one razor, however if you were not satisfied with the one you have go to a different dealer. I got mine from vantage blade LLC. Thay are a authorised dealer for dovo razors and Jim is a great guy and works with you to make sure you got what you need, plus all the razors thay sell are hand honed by the guy that put SRP together.

I wish I had found this site before buying that razor. I suppose there's no real rescue for the poor quality blade they sold me other than to buy a brand new razor from a better source. I'll check out Vintage Blades and see what I can find.

Lesson learned (the hard way...)

Wait a minute lets not jump straight to my razor is crap just yet.
Post up a few pics of your razor or tell us about it. Did you strop your razor? What did you do for shave prep? What Test did your razor Fail?
Details man we need details.

What razor did you buy? It might be a quality blade just that it needs to be honed or stropped? Someone here with more expertise will be around to help you more, but they will also want to know more about what razor you have.

I am in the same boat as you. I have used my razor for 5 shaves, and it almost seems to be losing it's edge. I know it's not since i had it honed professionally by the guys that run this sight. I believe some of my problems are due to my own lack of knowledge and experience, and Face preparation, shave cream or soap, and technique are all factors.

I have shaved my entire face minus the goatee, and the shave seems to leave me pokey. When i shaved my first two times I only cut my right side burn and cheek to the jaw line and i was super happy with the results. My conclusion is that i need to figure out in which direction my hairs grow and how best to cut them for the optimal shave results.

Best of luck and don't give up!

Unfortunately, it is one of the GB Buckingham & Sons razors. I didn't hone it because I don't have a stone and it was supposed to be "shave ready" so I didn't buy one. I stropped it at least 20 strokes before each shave (I've used it almost daily for just over a week.) My hair bounces off in the hanging hair test, I can't feel anything with the thumb tests and I've already described my shaving experience with the shave test. I finished my shave with my old disposable cartridge the other day and could actually feel my skin instead of stubble. I found a review on this site which essentially concludes that those razors are nice paper weights.

I'm not giving up, I just ordered a better quality blade from Vintage Blades.

Well, welcome, and I am glad you found the resources you needed to help you make an informed decision. Good luck, and don't hesitate to ask questions, the guys on here are great and will help you in anything regarding shaving and your straight razor!

Glad to hear that you are not giving up and that Jim was abial to help you out. I just sent a request to add you as a friend. you my have already tried you tube, I don't know but I can say the referent videos have helped me out a lot, I like geofatboy videos the most he seem to be very informarbel. Let me know how your new razor works out, with mine it seemed to git a little sharper after about a week of shaving and stepping. Good luck sorry for the spelling it was never a strong Pont in school

Where are you guys at. Maybe someone can give a little help one on one. We are like weeds, we are everwhere. I myself am in Dallas Georgia and willing to help out a new member. Just let us know. This is a most helpful and benevolent group.

Originally Posted by vaanesthesia

Unfortunately, it is one of the GB Buckingham & Sons razors. I didn't hone it because I don't have a stone and it was supposed to be "shave ready" so I didn't buy one. I stropped it at least 20 strokes before each shave (I've used it almost daily for just over a week.) My hair bounces off in the hanging hair test, I can't feel anything with the thumb tests and I've already described my shaving experience with the shave test. I finished my shave with my old disposable cartridge the other day and could actually feel my skin instead of stubble. I found a review on this site which essentially concludes that those razors are nice paper weights.

I'm not giving up, I just ordered a better quality blade from Vintage Blades.

Stropping 20 laps is unlikely to accomplish anything at all. My standard is 100 laps, sometimes more, but never fewer than 100.