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Getting Started with a Straight

I've updated the wiki with a list of "shave ready" vendors:


Thanks for the update. As to the Hone-Meisters section, I see quite a few of our members in there that haven't been seen on the forum for several years.
 
Ad advantage of starting off with two Dovo Bismarks is that you know for sure that you have good razors and also you can compare your honing methods. Send it out or do it yourself, you can see the difference. Get different scales so you know which is which.

You can still buy a simple honing setup and still send them out. That's actually good for beginning, as you can compare your job to the pro honer's job.

For your own honing setup, while pasted balsa is very good, and I use it, a simple starter would be a 12,000 Naniwa (buy the thick one) and an Atoma 1200 diamond plate to lap it. Nothing else. Not yet, anyway.

Even if you buy the razor brand new, send it out to a pro recommended on this forum before you shave. Then you know you are starting off good, the bevel will be perfect, and any minor problems will have been discovered. And you only have to send it out once.

Once the pro has set you up, you can just maintain with your finishing naniwa. No need to start at the bottom and do progressions all the way up. That is only for when/if you really get curious about honing. Some dudes never do.

Just maintenance of the finish. Take out a razor from the box in your bedroom, use the atoma to lap the nainiwa, do a refreshing hone on the naniwa, and you're good for a month or two with just leather. Then oil it and put it away and take out Bismarck number two and repeat.

You can find on this forum tons of advice on how to use a naniwa and an atoma, so I won't repeat it here.

Have fun. You'll find this forum is a big part of the enjoyment. Good group of fellows.
 
Funny, I was just playing around making a serious inquiry at the Aust site last night trying to figure out whether the plastic scales were worth the cost saving. It is not. The shipping is the same to the US as it is to NZ so it's about 190 total with anything other than plastic. Plastic is only 30 cheaper, you save more getting a 5/8 over a 6/8 I think.
Aust makes a superb blade and mine arrived with a great, smooth, extremely sharp edge.
 
Aust makes a superb blade and mine arrived with a great, smooth, extremely sharp edge.
Thank you, I hear this often. It will probably be my second or third razor. I want one stainless for summer camping. Do you by chance have any experience with the Spanish point over the round point?
 

steveclarkus

Goose Poop Connoisseur
The awful truth is that if you are going to use straight razors, you are going to have to learn to hone before you shave - in the end, this is a quicker solution. In the meantime, you could get a Feather AC or such to begin to learn to shave while you are working with the honing.

The easiest and cheapest way to learn to hone is using film alone then balsa to begin with. The film will get you to a very good shaveable edge and shouldn’t take more than a week to accomplish that. The balsa is icing on the cake but minimally get the film.

I’ve been honing and straight shaving for more than four years and still use film and balsa. If you really enjoy honing, which I don’t, you can always get into stones. I have a set of Shaptons and they don’t do anything any better than film. I have no experience with natural stones so no advice there. Anyway, read the material mentioned by @Slash McCoy and follow the instructions exactly as written and you will get there quickly. I did. Once you learn to hone, the razor world is your oyster. You will be able to find good razors on eBay for good prices and not worry whether they are shave ready or not.
 
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The awful truth is that if you are going to use straight razors, you are going to have to learn to hone before you shave

Yes, I have come to accept this. :p

It isn't the bitter pill I thought it was, though. I don't need to spend thousands on stones, nor do I have to fret about the angle (as I do with knives) as much. And the ramp is actually flatter as you can get by on touchups (with pasted strops, for example) longer than I had originally thought, all the while actually learning the craft of honing. If all else fails, I am happy to pay someone who actually knows what they are doing until I do :)
 
Thank you, I hear this often. It will probably be my second or third razor. I want one stainless for summer camping. Do you by chance have any experience with the Spanish point over the round point?

Round points and Spanish points are both fine razor styles. My current favorite is the French point.

The Spanish point allows one to trim around the ears, mustache, and nostrils more easily. It also looks very cool. The Spanish point requires more care because that point can easily nick/slice when it's not used properly. You don't want to bump into things with that point. Keeping your skin taunt beyond the path of the razor is really important with the non-round point razors.

The round point's design makes it far more forgiving when you bump into non-shaveable parts of your face and neck. That round tip provides a bumper-like, non-cutting surface at the tip of the blade.

When I decided to pick up a straight razor again, the experienced users on this forum recommended I use round points as I reacquired my skills. I went from round, to barber, to spike, and then added French and Spanish points to the mix. I don't remember which of the last two came first. All of these shave well and are a pleasure to use.

Remember: YMMV and all of the above comments are IMHO!
 

steveclarkus

Goose Poop Connoisseur
Yes, I have come to accept this. :p

It isn't the bitter pill I thought it was, though. I don't need to spend thousands on stones, nor do I have to fret about the angle (as I do with knives) as much. And the ramp is actually flatter as you can get by on touchups (with pasted strops, for example) longer than I had originally thought, all the while actually learning the craft of honing. If all else fails, I am happy to pay someone who actually knows what they are doing until I do :)
Don’t worry. It won’t take as long as you might think. And yes, much easier than sharpening a knife.
 
Round points and Spanish points are both fine razor styles. My current favorite is the French point.

The Spanish point allows one to trim around the ears, mustache, and nostrils more easily. It also looks very cool. The Spanish point requires more care because that point can easily nick/slice when it's not used properly. You don't want to bump into things with that point. Keeping your skin taunt beyond the path of the razor is really important with the non-round point razors.

The round point's design makes it far more forgiving when you bump into non-shaveable parts of your face and neck. That round tip provides a bumper-like, non-cutting surface at the tip of the blade.

When I decided to pick up a straight razor again, the experienced users on this forum recommended I use round points as I reacquired my skills. I went from round, to barber, to spike, and then added French and Spanish points to the mix. I don't remember which of the last two came first. All of these shave well and are a pleasure to use.

Remember: YMMV and all of the above comments are IMHO!
Thanks again! My current razor has a hybrid sort of round point with a straight blade edge with no curvature into the round edge. I don't really like the look of the German round points is why I am asking, especially if I get an Aust. I think the Spanish is safer than the American point, I might be wrong? I shave S to N along my sideburn area so the blade is pointing up and I find it very easy to tell where the edge is. Is there any protrusions on the point of the Spanish or is it simply the point where the edge transitions into the the unsharpened part that is considered dangerous?

Edit: apologies, I think I hijacked this thread. 😬
 
I'm going the American/square point; but I'll mute the point for the first couple of shaves, until I learn my way around my face.
It's not nearly as dangerous as I have heard, I think you have to have the blade in motion to puncture skin. Mine definitely has a point at the transition and laying it on my neck and tilting inward I can feel it poke, but it doesn't magically go into skin like I thought it might. I just lift and reposition before committing and make the stroke. You might want to just try laying the blade on your skin in different areas without actually shaving before having the toe neutered. :)
 
I don't like stabby points and tend to mute the more extreme examples. I personally have not noticed any difficulty reaching anywhere I need to with round points but I don't shave inside my nostrils or inside my ears and I have no beard or mustache to trim, so my mileage may be varying :) For me it's an aesthetic point (heh) and rounds are just another flavor in the smörgåsbord of tasty options. I think my personal favorites are the french and the muted square points common on Japanese razors. I don't do the barber two-handed thing, so the barber's notch gets style points but no practicality points from me.
 
Thanks again! My current razor has a hybrid sort of round point with a straight blade edge with no curvature into the round edge. I don't really like the look of the German round points is why I am asking, especially if I get an Aust. I think the Spanish is safer than the American point, I might be wrong? I shave S to N along my sideburn area so the blade is pointing up and I find it very easy to tell where the edge is. Is there any protrusions on the point of the Spanish or is it simply the point where the edge transitions into the the unsharpened part that is considered dangerous?

Edit: apologies, I think I hijacked this thread. 😬
All straight razors will produce copious amounts of the precious red stuff when they are not handled properly. Any razor with a point that is sharpened to its outermost edge will cut what it is bumped into. In my experience, the square point is the one that drew the most of my red stuff.
 
I'm going the American/square point; but I'll mute the point for the first couple of shaves, until I learn my way around my face.
After looking at option and budget, it looks like my second razor will be an Aust too! In contrast to yours I am going with the round point, but am going to ask that the heel and toe are as pointy as possible. I see that the American point you selected has the edge set back just a little bit from the end, very similar to AC blades. I personally think that is safe enough, but obviously you will have to decide. I am still on the fence about size, I am afraid a 5/8 is going to be disappointing and actually too nimble. Just some thoughts. Hope I am not ruining your thread. :001_smile
 

rbscebu

Girls call me Makaluod
After looking at option and budget, it looks like my second razor will be an Aust too! In contrast to yours I am going with the round point, but am going to ask that the heel and toe are as pointy as possible. I see that the American point you selected has the edge set back just a little bit from the end, very similar to AC blades. I personally think that is safe enough, but obviously you will have to decide. I am still on the fence about size, I am afraid a 5/8 is going to be disappointing and actually too nimble. Just some thoughts. Hope I am not ruining your thread. :001_smile
If within your budget, a Ralf Aust is a good choice. Just remember that Ralf measures his razor sizes from the top of the spine wear, not the top of the spine. My 6/8 RA is actually a 7/8. I expect that his 5/8 are actually a 6/8.
 
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