Shaving with straight razor?? Newbie Help

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Lefty said:
That might be a helpful tip. Thanks Jonesy! I have to be honest, I currently don't use after shave, just a glycerin based hand cream. If I go with anything else, my face turns to sandpaper.
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for what is worth I do not prep other than lathering and I rarely use after shaves and no irritations, good shaves come with experience.
 
mainaman said:
John thatis what I started with, but IMHO the 6/8 Best quality is a better shaver than the 5/8 version.
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How so? Someone else mentioned it too. How would a bigger blade make a better shaver?
 
Ok i have spoken with Butch about getting into straight razors...But i have some dummy newb questions...
1: What does the 5/8, 6/8 and 8/8 mean?
2: What specialized equipment is required to sharpen/maintain?
3: Who here can fix me if i carve a cheek bone off?

I have looked pretty seriously into this, as i have a few antique Sheffield razors that a friend found at a garage sale for $.50 each.
 
tk59 said:
How so? Someone else mentioned it too. How would a bigger blade make a better shaver?
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it just is, could be the geometry of the blade. I have honed multiple of each and found that I like the edges o nthe 6/8 much better than the 5/8
 
Mike Davis said:
Ok i have spoken with Butch about getting into straight razors...But i have some dummy newb questions...
1: What does the 5/8, 6/8 and 8/8 mean?
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Width of the blade in inches - 5/8", 6/8" and 8/8" (one inch).

2: What specialized equipment is required to sharpen/maintain?
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- Strop (usually a hanging, unpasted leather one).
- A stone (hone) of at least 8k or higher grit. The Norton 4k/8k combo is very popular.


3: Who here can fix me if i carve a cheek bone off?
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Not likely to happen, unless you are shaving during an earthquake.

I have looked pretty seriously into this, as i have a few antique Sheffield razors that a friend found at a garage sale for $.50 each.
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Go look at the SRP wiki on honing. http://straightrazorplace.com/srpwiki/index.php/Category:Honing

When you're starting out, you may want to pay someone to hone one razor so you have a reference edge for the rest of them.
 
the ease o Shaving wigh different size razors come down to smaller razors are harder to get a feel for angle and the big boys can be a bit harder to get at some places
 
l r harner said:
the ease o Shaving wigh different size razors come down to smaller razors are harder to get a feel for angle and the big boys can be a bit harder to get at some places
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yep true that.
My sweet spot is 6/8 or 13/16, 5/8 is good too but a tad smaller than what I like, 7/8 also works but is a tad bigger for under the nose.
 
I know Butch has made razors from both 52100 and CPM154, and has probably used other steels. Hart Steel makes theirs from O1. Charlie Lewis has made some in CPM154, 1084, 1095 and O1. Mastro Livi made some in ATS 34. Most makers just say "high carbon steel" or, as SeanRogerPierce said, "Silver Steel". Dovo, Henkels and some other makers have made Inox razors, but have not disclosed what stainless is used.
 
A couple of my best shaving razors are made of "Silver Steel" Its quite a broad term though, but I believe the good stuff was the sheffield stock, about 1.1%C a 0.4% chromium 0.4 manganese. Its widely available to me here in the uk but its hard to get a reliably good batch. Its not as pure as the japanese steels though sulphur wise. I would like to try some white or blue in a razor and silver steel if I could find some old sheffield stock.
Some of the sheffield made razors were really quite soft, maybe 58hrc. I'm pretty sure they didn't have less bushy beards back then.:laugh: They still give a great shave but I find I like to strop them in between passes. I'm sure its one of those things where steel choice is secondary to knowing its limitations and ht.
Some other best shavers are just named "cast steel" so who knows what they put in there, bit of cast iron for carbon, iron ore, contents of the scrap bin:D, basically wootz, seems to work though.
 
oivind_dahle said:
Is this totally stupid??

http://www.classicshaving.com/catalog/item/522940/286100.htm

Remember:

Im not even sure if Im comfortable with shaving this way. If I like it I might go for a full set with strop and things.
Any comments please

Cons and pros also :)
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not stupid but also not like a straight razor. I think you should start with basic strop and razor (Dovo) kit and go from there.
You can also get a cheaper razor from the classifieds of SRP, or Badger and blade.
 
let me see if i can find a blade that didnt make the cut and a spare handle. if i can i might be able to send it out for you to give a shave or 3 a try
 
Thanks for info and thanks for offer l r harner, but I cannot accept that. Its most gentle gesture, but I will think about this shaving idea to over xmas.

Im so unsure that if I invest like 250-300 dollar into this (tax and shipping) it will be used as much as I imagine now...
 
oivind_dahle said:
Thanks for info and thanks for offer l r harner, but I cannot accept that. Its most gentle gesture, but I will think about this shaving idea to over xmas.

Im so unsure that if I invest like 250-300 dollar into this (tax and shipping) it will be used as much as I imagine now...
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Have you gotten Lynn's DVD yet?

Straight shaving is a lifestyle change and should be thought about before diving in. I'm glad I jumped in though :p as I figured if I stuck with it long enough it would grow on me. Once I had the honing down and was able to maintain my own blades I knew I was not going back to other shaving systems.

Not that my wife needs the finacial work up on all my hobbies (I bet she would love it though) but I worked out how much I spent in a year on dispoasble shaving systems and how much waste was produced because of them. All AD's removed, lol, shaving with a straight is a heck of alot cheaper in the long run. One year of not buying disposable junk paid for all my gear needed for a few razors stones and all. This equipment will last years, heck I'm using mostly 150+ year old razors that produce no new trash for the landfills. And for the past 2 years I have bought nothing shave related at all (to broke :p) and could go on for years still.
 
Oivind, you could easily get the cost to about 100 getting a razor and strop from whippeddog and a brush and soap from the pharmacy. Nothing to fancy - Nothing to expensive, but well worth it.
 
I use a Butcher Special that I got from the classifieds on the SRP, an Omega brush from thge grocery store, and soap from Walgreens. I have a large variety of stones, but now I mostly use a Shobudani Asaga and a translucent hard arky, stripped on a paddle strop that I found at a flea market. The combo works fine for me, the razor came "shave ready" but it shaves better now than when I got it. The razor was 40 bucks, the brush and soap wasn't much, the stop was 15, the rest I already had. Before I got the paddle I used the same strop that I used for knives, it worked fine but lived in the wrong room! You really don't have to spend a lot to get going!
 
The idea of shaving with straights sounds awesome and a Dave says it is ubermanliness. The thing is, I barely have time to sharpen my work knives, I have very little free time. Does straight shaving take up a lot of time? Do the blades need much maintenance? In the UK it seems very popular, it is way easier to find razor strops hones and all that than it is for knives
 
stevenStefano said:
The idea of shaving with straights sounds awesome and a Dave says it is ubermanliness. The thing is, I barely have time to sharpen my work knives, I have very little free time. Does straight shaving take up a lot of time? Do the blades need much maintenance? In the UK it seems very popular, it is way easier to find razor strops hones and all that than it is for knives
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I think it will all depend on where you initially get your razor from, and the whiskers on your face.

If you get it from a good source, a touch up with some CO or diamond will be all you need in a couple of months. (you will be stropping before you use the razor every time however) and it is a longer shaving method then goop in a can and a mach 3, so you will need to take that into account for use every day.
 
As jm2hill said it takes longer than a Mach 3 but it does not have to take alot longer. I can shave in about 4-5 minutes. Some guys on the razor forums report up to 45 minutes to shave but I think there is a line between taking your time and just messing around in the bathroom.
 
since im a dirty knife maker and shower at night i hope out the shower and lather up then shave while my skins soft from the shower most the time its a matter of under 5 min and im finished that said i been doing it over 3 years now when i first started it was maybe twice thsat
 
I beleive that a forum member Dwarfen chef has videoes on you tube as hi is much into it.

I bought from a retiring barber adn he sold be his 3 sets for a song as I was his regular customer. AS i am hardly a hairy guy, rarely used it back then. Even since I got into sharpening abt 7 yrs ago..and dicovered the naniwa 10k stones adn stropping on newspaper, didnt have any problem maintaining it. OUt of carelessness, it rusts as I tend to leave it in the toilet and failed to wipe it dry. I didnt appreciate the stones and leather strop that I bought in NY 20 yrs ago.

From the hairy critters, I heard that you will seriously save money as Gillette shavers adn foams are expensive. The best brushes are made of badgers hair ( silver tip) retailing abt usd40 and its large brush.


You can buy used reconditioned ones via Etsy.com cheaply to play with it. ( usd 30) and some vintage ones WHen you like it after got the hang of it . then its time to get a nice keepsake like form Devin or from Will C.. damascus type.. to keep for a lifetime....

I certainly had fun with it till today.. Its the full ritual when you are in the mood.. lathering of the soap, adn having a nice really clean shave and washing the brushes , wiping the soap bowl and cleaning and wiping the straight razor dry for the next shave...

have fun...
 
When I started using a straight I researched it on SRP and was a little put off by all the falderal involved. Then I thought about the generations of men who did this as a matter of course every day and got a lot more casual and faster. I put some water on the cake of soap, swirl the wet brush on it for a bit, then work up a lather with the brush on my face. I do some stropping and then whack off the whiskers. It takes a few minutes longer than a Mach whatever, butt not THAT much longer.
Or you can screw around with it for half an hour, if you want.
 
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