First time, expectations

[Hecklor Koch]

I am fairly new to the shave world (safety razors), and by an itch and what I perceived to be a good deal I purchased two straight razors. So I have allot of questions that there might be a sticky for or what ever.

1) I purchased two vintage razors what should I do to get them shave ready?
2) I know old straight razors needed a strop. I do not own one. Before I go out and buy one is there a way to know if this type of shaving is preferred or liked?
3) how do you sharped or strop?
4) How long does it take to safely shave with a straight razor?
5) We don't value straight razors please read the TOU

 

[ScottChapin]

That’s a mouthful. I’ll take the time question.

It takes me 15-16 minutes for a tripple pass shave including pre and post shave. My passes are about 2 minutes and 20 seconds apiece.

Your time would depend on how demanding you are of a perfect shave and pampering with pre and post.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[atbat82]

Though I've never done it, there's a process called "Palm Stropping", I think it's mostly done on Kamisori blades, but I guess it could work on a straight razor too. 1) Be Careful 2) Spine first so you're moving away from the cutting edge.

I'm in no way affiliated with this site, but when I was first starting, I bought the "poor man's strop" from Whipped Dog: Strops | WhippedDog - https://www.whippeddog.com/strops It worked fine, just make sure to use an X-Stroke so you're stropping the full length of the blade.

This is a pretty good discussion of how to strop:

The keys are to keep the strop taught, but not too tight. Keep the spine on the leather at all times. Keep the spine first so you're moving away from the cutting edge. And, take your time. You'll see a lot of guys on youtube that strop very quickly. That will come with experience (I hope, I'm still slow). At first, go slow and focus on technique. Going fast doesn't help the edge at all, but can dramatically increase mistakes, including slicing your stop (ask me how I know...)

My straight razor shaves take 10-15 minutes depending on how much time I have and how clean I want to be. I could probably do one faster, but I don't like to rush with a razor on my throat When you're first starting out, take your time. Go slow, use very little pressure, and pay attention to blade angle.

As for your last question: You're going to love it. Don't worry about selling, just stick with it.

 

[Hecklor Koch]

So in one of my purchases I got a Valet AutoStrop Razor and in there is a folded up strop. Would this be a good strop for any straight razor?

looks like this

Restoring a Valet Auto Strop Razor

Hey everyone, first post and glad to be here. I recently inherited an old Valet Auto Strop razor; my mom found it with my father's things when she was doing some cleaning (he passed away long ago). It's in pretty sad condition, and I intend to restore it and give it a try. Having never used a...

www.badgerandblade.com

 

[atbat82]

It would depend a lot on the condition. Sometimes if they're folded up too long they develop creases or cracks. If there are no creases or cracks, I see no reason it wouldn't work. You're really, at a basic level, looking for a strip of clean, flat leather.

 

[kingfisher]

I am fairly new to the shave world (safety razors), and by an itch and what I perceived to be a good deal I purchased two straight razors. So I have allot of questions that there might be a sticky for or what ever.

1) I purchased two vintage razors what should I do to get them shave ready?
2) I know old straight razors needed a strop. I do not own one. Before I go out and buy one is there a way to know if this type of shaving is preferred or liked?
3) how do you sharped or strop?
4) How long does it take to safely shave with a straight razor?
5) We don't value straight razors please read the TOU

1) To get them truly shave ready, they will need to be honed by somebody who knows what they are doing, and then they will have to be stropped.
2) You can't really straight razor shave without a strop. People say old newspaper folded up will work, in a pinch, but I don't think it's that feasible for a newbie. Buy a cheap paddle strop.
3) Sharpening a straight razor is too large a topic and probably shouldn't be attempted by someone just starting out. Learn to shave with one first, learn to sharpen one (if you want to) later.
Stropping is done by moving the razor along a leather surface lightly, spine leading, then flipping the razor and doing the same thing the other way. There are a million YouTube videos that explain and demonstrate the process
4) Others have answered this question as though you want to know how long each shave takes. I think you are asking how many days/weeks/months of practice it will take before you can shave with a straight razor. My answer is that it depends on how quickly you pick up on it. Weeks, at least. Some say 100 shaves. For me, it was more than that. So MONTHS is a better answer, in my opinion. And "safety" is not the issue. You can be safe pretty much right off the bat, but gaining FACILITY in shaving with a straight razor takes TIME


If you really want to find out if straight razor shaving is even remotely in your wheelhouse before you spend money sending razors out to be honed and buying a strop, you could buy a shavette and get started with open blade shaving. If you hate everything about open blade shaving, you probably shouldn't spend a lot of money on honing straight razors and on buying a strop.