Beginning the journey

[riFph]

After getting interested in straight razor shaving after watching Sweeney Todd I started reading all about how great they are to shave with. Fast forward 3ish years and I still interested but since then have read a lot about wet shaving and finally decided to get a safety razor and try it out. Based on the little I knew about safety razors I decided to go with what I thought was the cool one, which was only the one with 2 doors that open at the top. I ended up buying a lot off of ebay

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=170974232233

and since have learned it's a Gillette Super Shaver. Based on this site I also ordered a sampler pack of razors from West Coast Shaving. All will be delivered to my work on Saturday which means I may have to come in on Sunday and pick them up. Looking forward to cleaning and polishing it up and trying it out.

One thing I can't find an answer to to is when it's time to change a brush. Since the one in the auction looks nothing like what all new ones look like I assume it will not be the best but I was looking for what people look for to decide it's time. Not sure if I will buy a new know or just pick up a cheap brush from CVS.

One on the guys I work with started straight razor shaving a while ago, although he shaves before showering and uses a can of foam, maybe in a while I can convince him to change.

riFph

 

[celestino]

Welcome to the forum!
The brush you won on the auction will probably not be very good. i would recommend a new one.
Good luck on your journey.

 

[JayEddie]

Welcome to Badger & Blade! You can restore that brush as well. There is a whole forum for it. Even if you don't want to do it yourself, there are a bunch of guys who would love to have that handle to restore.

 

[riFph]

I have no problem doing it myself but if I am going to change the not I'm not going to half *** it, the decision is more do I got as cheap as I can to get a working new brush for a while, or do I go all out and order a badger knot now.

 

[AjaxLepinski]

Without getting too existential...
A brush will last as long as you like it.
If it has enough hairs and you like the feel of the bristles, it's a good brush.
I had a cheap brush, that I bought at the local CVS, that lasted for 8 years but, it began losing hair immediately and continued losing hair for the 8 years that I used it.
Then, I bought a Rooney 3/3 and I realized what I was missing. However, until I bought the Rooney, I thought my cheapo, CVS brush was a great!

 

[Niles]

Welcome to B&B.

 

[dpmtherrien]

Welcome to the group.

 

[sopipari]

Welcome aboard, I think you will like that razor. I got one recently and quite enjoy it.

 

[john shea]

Welcome. The TTO Gillette flair tip should give good shaves, clean it up and give it a try. I still use my local pharmacy $ 9 VDH Deluxe (white handle) boar bristle brush as well as my more costly Simpson and TGN badger knot brushes, the VDH Deluxe boar brush will do the job at low cost. VDH soap is good and also available at low cost from many pharmacies. If you have a Bath and Body Works nearby, the Bigelow shaving cream (ProRaso) that is sold in green $ 5 and $ 10 tubes is excellant. Avoiding RAD and BAD which can empty your wallet, excellant wet shaves can be had at very low cost, even using only the wet shaving supplies available from local retail sources.

When I started shaving, almost everyone used a DE and inexpensive supplies from local grocery stores and pharmacies. No one thought of shaving as recreation. We now have wide selections of top notch shaving products and information made available through the internet which is wonderful.

 

[NickCutlip]

Welcome to the forum !!

 

[tider]

Welcome to B&B

 

[Badgerfat]

Welcome to BnB. As already stated, that brush can be restored with a silvertip knot! I would like to mention, after you clean the SS up, dip it in some barbicide for about 15 minutes. You want a great shave, not staff infection LOL. Those Gems you got are well worth trying also. Don't be scared of them, IMO I think they are better than alot of King Gillettes empire And it looks like a Valet in there too. That might be a little more difficult to get started with, as the blades are a little harder to locate.

 

[Marco]

Welcome to B&B Sir and, of course, enjoy the journey!

 

[riFph]

I work with musical instruments so sanitizing and polishing are right up my alley. I plan to dump them all in an industrial ultra-sonic, and a minute in a low grade acid. I will also be polishing them up as much as I can. I'm hoping I can impress a few friends and get them interested in trying a wet shave, "I just happen to have a few awesome razors you can try."

 

[mistercitizen]

Welcome!

Ben

 

[riFph]

Drove an hour to work today to check the mail, waited for 2 hours and still don't have the razors. A bit disappointed as is was supposed to be delivered today. So I'm home with some new blades and a tube of Erasmic creme, a brush I picked up from CVS and dreams of shaving.

And as the begining of GAS (Gear Acquisition Syndrome, the sax player term) I found the creme I HAVE to buy! My name is J.M. Frazier and I just learned there is a very respected creme with my name ALL over it, J.M. Fraser's shaving creme. So as soon as West coast Shaving (I like them since its where I bought my blades from and they're close) has it in stock I will buy a jar. I know this is an absolutely shallow reason but it's happening!

 

[chado006]

Welcome to B&B. Looks like you got a good deal on the Gillette and two Gems. Enjoy!

 

[riFph]

Finally got them today! Spent 15 min cleaning and polishing, cam out pretty good. It is a B2, 1956. Very excited to try it out later.

 

[riFph]

Two days ago when I didn't have the razors yet I decided to at least try out the cream and brush. Everything went awesome. Best shave ever with the Mach 5. This morning I was super excited to try out the Gillette saftey razor and tried the feather blades. I didn't go as I hoped. A little bit of burn and cut my neck in a couple places. After 3 passes with cream i still had a 5oclock shadow. I will do a bit more reading and watching videos today to try for a better tomorrow.

 

[JayEddie]

I would say look toward blade angle. It's a bit of an adjustment of handle angle from that of the typical cartridge razor. You want the blade to be at a 30 degree angle from your face.