I'm a newbie all over again.

[Kyle]

Men, I am starting to become very curious about straight razors. I know practically nothing about them and am hoping that you good fellows can help me out by answering a few questions.

1. Why (other than for my insatiable curiosity) should I try a straight?
2. How difficult is it to learn blade sharpening and maintenance?
3. What are some advisable set-ups for beginners (feather?, etc)?

 

[Scotto]

Kyle, you might want to search a bit for threads about my trials and tribulations trying a str8. In the end, it wasn't for me.

But, being a glutton for punishment, I have a Feather str8 on its way to me. Stay tuned!

 

[Austin]

Kyle, I have not used a straight. I was curious for a time but got over it. I don't think it about it anymore.

 

[HeadandFaceShaver]

Go for it. If it was a piece of cake it wouldn't be any fun. In fact, you will probably enjoy it even more because it took more work to get the hang of it. Same theory that applied to Marine boot camp... we became very loyal to the corps mainly because it was such a difficult initiation process.
I'm not by any means an expert, but with the exception of some areas of my neck and can get a decent shave with one. I wouldn't start out with a feather, but thats just me. I think most of the enjoyment is learning about the tools of the trade. Classic shaving is one stop shopping. I picked up a strop (in retrospect I would have gotten an extra wide one, trust me, it makes stropping a lot easier). There is also a guy on ebay that makes beautiful looking new strops for reasonable prices.
Razor wise, I dunno. Some say carbon steel is best others say stainless is best (everyone is an expert!). They say stainless stays sharp longer but is harder to sharpen. I have only have carbon steel blades. Because getting the blade sharp is the hardest part of the learning curve (in my experience) I like the carbon ones, but once again have never had a stainless. On that note, I bought this stuff called "Tuff glide" which is a lubricant developed by the military. This stuff repels rust. I always use it after a shave or hone and never have to worry about rust (the enemy of the straight).
BTW, razor wise, if you go new on the razor the two reputable ones are Dovo and Theirs Issard. I have a dovo that works well, they are also cheaper. I also have a new "Timor" which is also made by dovo and is very affordable. I haven't had as much luck buying razors off of ebay but many get great deals there; the few I have bought have broken quickly.
Honing! The chocie is between buying a new Norton 4000/8000 grit water hone which might set you back $80! I did this and regret it. The used barber style hones I have heard work just or good or better if you get a good one. The other option is to buy a paddle strop with diamond pastes and strop your razor to sharpness. Whatever you choose, best of luck!

 

[rtaylor61]

Men, I am starting to become very curious about straight razors. I know practically nothing about them and am hoping that you good fellows can help me out by answering a few questions.

1. Why (other than for my insatiable curiosity) should I try a straight?
2. How difficult is it to learn blade sharpening and maintenance?
3. What are some advisable set-ups for beginners (feather?, etc)?

Kyle,

It's like all of the other aspects of shaving. I'll field the questions in order:

1. Once you want to know, you "gotta" know.
2. It depends on the time and effort you want to put into it. I still only strop razors, but I have everything I need to hone, and that day will be coming.
3. Using a Feather and using a straight are similar, but not the same. A straight will never be as sharp as a Feather. Ever. But the techniques are almost identical. Chris Moss who wrote the guide to straight razor shaving over at SMF uses a Feather almost exclusively. I used a Feather for most of a week, but didn't get the hang of it before I had to return it.

If you want to jump in, visit SRP and pick up a shave ready straight from one of the honemeisters there. Plan to spend around $35-60 bucks. And you'll need a strop. Check here or at SRP with Tony Miller for a quality strop.

Joel and Rik will probably chime in on this. I enjoy using a straight for the same reason I enjoy using a shaving brush. The ceremony of it all. It's time spent on me. And in today's world, most of us don't spend much, if any, time on ourselves.

Randy

 

[ouch]

Men, I am starting to become very curious about straight razors. I know practically nothing about them and am hoping that you good fellows can help me out by answering a few questions.

1. Why (other than for my insatiable curiosity) should I try a straight?
2. How difficult is it to learn blade sharpening and maintenance?
3. What are some advisable set-ups for beginners (feather?, etc)?

1. Because you're a man, and you won't be satisfied until you make this process as difficult as possible.
2. That depends. How much experience do you have sharpening knives? In theory, honing a razor should be much easier, but we all know about theory and reality. (I have a great filthy joke about that.) I have a ton of japanese water stones, and that made my life much easier.
3. An advisable set-up is a straight that has already been made shave ready by a master. Hell, some of the guys on straightrazorplace may give you one for the asking. Ebay is a crapshoot for razors, but has some very reputable guys- altima55 comes to mind. The only other essential is a good strop- Randy's suggestion of Tony Miller can't be beat.

In short, you want to do this because you can do this, and the fact that other guys have done so will eat at you until you can't take it any more. Face it, Kyle, it's either a straight razor or becoming a serial killer.

 

[joel]

Men, I am starting to become very curious about straight razors. I know practically nothing about them and am hoping that you good fellows can help me out by answering a few questions.

1. Why (other than for my insatiable curiosity) should I try a straight?
2. How difficult is it to learn blade sharpening and maintenance?
3. What are some advisable set-ups for beginners (feather?, etc)?

Might want to check this post on DE's VS Straights which might give you a little more info. Honestly.... just ask Ron about his 4 pass system - as if you use that, you can't get a whole lot better witha straight razor.

 

[Kyle]

Speaking of, where does Ron keep that tutorial hidden?

 

[KUJO]

Speaking of, where does Ron keep that tutorial hidden?

Here

 

[rtaylor61]

Here

I think this should be a "sticky"!

Randy

 

[KUJO]

I think this should be a "sticky"!

Randy

Here Here

 

[Rik]

Men, I am starting to become very curious about straight razors. I know practically nothing about them and am hoping that you good fellows can help me out by answering a few questions.

1. Why (other than for my insatiable curiosity) should I try a straight?
2. How difficult is it to learn blade sharpening and maintenance?
3. What are some advisable set-ups for beginners (feather?, etc)?

Greetings Kyle,

1. For me it takes me back to another era. I personally like the thought of shaving with a beautiful instrument that I've honed myself. There's also the history. My razors range from new-old-stock to one that was created in the late 1700s. Joel is correct that using a straight will not give you a better shave than a DE and proper form. I use a straight daily for my evening shaves and have yet to produce better results (baby smooth with very little irritation) than my slant bar. I strongly recommend against using a feather as your first straight - it is just too sharp. If you do decide to go that route, take advantage of the safety blades.

2. Maintenance (stropping) is not difficult to learn - especially with a bench-top strop. Honing (sharpening) does take practice. It's a balance between time and money. Investing in a dissecting microscope enables you to see immediate results of different honing techniques and will greatly reduce the learning curve. Another factor is your general experience with creating an edge. My years of sharpening fine woodworking chisels and planes also reduced the learning curve for honing str8s. When you decide to jump into honing a str8 pick up some junkers from eBay to practice on.

3. Randy is correct that you should check out SRP for a shave ready razor and proper technique. The other tool that will give you an advantage is a Leather Flatbed Hone.

 

[rtaylor61]

Rik,

Thanks for reminding me about the Leather Flatbed Hone. Completely slipped my mind.

Kyle, check out the Tony Miller link in my earlier post. He is having a clearance on some of his "second" strops. I've got one and had to look for the flaw. This is a good way to pick up a strop that, should you nick it up and ruin it, still gives you a quality strop for under $20 bucks (some as low as $7.95). Tell Tony I sent ya!

Randy (and no, I don't get any discounts or pay back for recommending Tony, just impressed with a guy who is proud of what he puts his name on.)

 

[roughrider]

The advice here is dead-on as usual. If you're curious, by all means try it. Take your time with it and enjoy it as you learn the process. The first straight razor I tried was the Feather. I didn't get no cuts but I got some irritation. I did pretty good considerin' I've never used a straigt before. Lynn Abrams video helped some. Watch it and pay attention to his technique.

 

[Kyle]

Thank you, gentlemen, for your many great responses. I believe that this is something I MUST eventually try. Since I was a child, I have been fascinated with the straight. It is what I thought I would initially transition to (from the M3) but due to the complexity of the additional tasks involved in wet shaving (lather making, etc), I opted to go the DE route.

I am in no hurry to make the leap into a straight and plan on thoroughly researching the topic before doing so. Any and all suggestions of good readings, sites, links, etc. would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks again, men. I am always amazed at the depth of your knowledge and the helpful manner in which you all share it.

 

[Scotto]

Kyle,

I have a 4-sided paddle strop from Tony Miller that you can have, gratis, if you decide to take the plunge.

 

[Kyle]

Very kind of you, Scotto. I will make the plunge, it is just a matter of "when".

 

[ouch]

Nothin' like the present!

 

[Scootch]

Men, I am starting to become very curious about straight razors. I know practically nothing about them and am hoping that you good fellows can help me out by answering a few questions.

1. Why (other than for my insatiable curiosity) should I try a straight?
2. How difficult is it to learn blade sharpening and maintenance?
3. What are some advisable set-ups for beginners (feather?, etc)?

I am by no means an expert, I've only been using a straight for two or three months now and I'm still getting the hang of it, but I am quite happy with it. But here's my two cents anyway.

1 - There are many reasons but here's my top three. 1, Ultimately it's cheapest: once you've paid the initial overhead for blade, strop and hone you'll never have to buy hardware again (of course you will anyway, cuz you're a man and always need more manly things.) 2, It's more environmentally friendly: no cartidges or blades to throw out as they get dull. 3, It's macho and appeals to our testosterone addled libidos: to quote James Whittall at MenEssentials, "Absolutely nothing is more masculine than a shave tool that can take your head clean off."

2 - It takes some getting used to. Once my Dovo got dull I ended up using my old Mach3 for a couple weeks while I practiced honing the straight. I didn't want to damage it by being too aggressive so I went in small steps day by day testing it along the way. I've read that many manufacturers actually sharpen it at a steeper angle than the spine would give just to sharpen it fast: this got me thinking about geometry and I figured if that's true then there'd be some metal to wear down just shy of the edge when sharpening at the angle proscribed by the spine before the grinding actually reaches the edge. So, I went out on a limb and used some moderate pressure (they suggest very light pressure) on a 220 grit stone for 10 minutes then polished the edge on finer stones and it finally came out sharp. Maybe I just got lucky, maybe my 'light pressure' was way too light, dunno yet. But I can say honing it takes some practice. The suggestion of getting cheapies of eBay to practice with is a really good idea.

3 - Like stated above, Dovo and Theirs-Issard are the premium brands. But if you're not sure you'll stick with it you may want to getting a cheapy off eBay to see if straight shaving is for you then move up if you like it. You'll definitely want a good strop - second hand is risky since you don't know what kind of pastes the previous owner used, you may end up using a strop with a course sharpening paste on it as your everyday strop. You'll want a good sharpening stone, I'm using Norton combination stones, a 220/1000 and a 4000/8000 - since getting them I've read mixed reviews on the effectiveness of Norton stones. Perhaps that's why I've had problems sharpening but I rather think it's just inexperience. Some people forgo the stones and use three or four strops with different grit sharpening pastes. I went with a stone since one combo stone is cheaper than one strop (though that depends on where you shop, shaving shops seem to apply a big markup on stones but a local hardware store sells them for less than half the price.)

Here's some sites I found helpful when I got started:
http://www.knifecenter.com/knifecenter/sharpen/instrazor.html
http://www.classicshaving.com/page/page/590351.htm
http://www.classicshaving.com/page/page/590351.htm
http://www.motherearthnews.com/top_articles/1972_March_April/How_To_Use_A_Straight_Razor
http://209.35.185.42/ShopSite/Razor_Knife_Sharpening_Stropes.html

Hope this helps. cheers.

 

[roughrider]

Kyle, if you do take the plunge. Be sure to pick up some used straights off of eBay to practice on learn your technique.