Newbie with a Straight Edge

[steveclarkus]

I have several GD models and I think the 66 is the best shaver as well. I bought 6 directly from China to practice honing with and there is a variance. I had two out of the six that I had problems with. One wasn’t worth bothering with but I greatly improved my honing so it was worth the $24 investment. Work on honing and PIF the successes.

 

[havensole]

Just saw I can get a box of 6 from China for under $25 with free shipping. Looks like I'll have to order some once I get through the restoration projects.

 

[seattleshaver]

I found the best way to buy straight razors on Ebay, when first starting out, was to mainly stick with the "Buy Me Now" fixed price listings. It's either priced right or it's not. If you aren't looking for something fancy, you don't generally need to pay more than $20.

Once I learned what to buy, how to fix things, perfected my honing, etc. I sold everything I had and bought a few more attractive razors and then pretty much quit buying any more. When looking for fancier razors it's more likely that you will have to go to the auction listings.

 

[steveclarkus]

I found the best way to buy straight razors on Ebay, when first starting out, was to mainly stick with the "Buy Me Now" fixed price listings. It's either priced right or it's not. If you aren't looking for something fancy, you don't generally need to pay more than $20.

Once I learned what to buy, how to fix things, perfected my honing, etc. I sold everything I had and bought a few more attractive razors and then pretty much quit buying any more. When looking for fancier razors it's more likely that you will have to go to the auction listings.

Excellent advice. I’m in the process of doing that now. You can get very good razors fir little. Just remember to avoid the shiny stuff and that feeling of “I just gotta have that one”. Patience and persistence pays off in the end.

 

[seattleshaver]

Excellent advice. I’m in the process of doing that now. You can get very good razors fir little. Just remember to avoid the shiny stuff and that feeling of “I just gotta have that one”. Patience and persistence pays off in the end.

The "fancier" razors are usually in the auction listing but even that's not always the case. You can design your favorite "search" and "save" it. For "fix price" listing you can include in your saved "search" to list recently listed items first.

If you do this, it makes it easier to find something "good" before anyone else. In a fixed price listing at least if you see a good price you can get it immediately.

I have another saved list format for auctions and for those I have the listing as "auction ending soonest".

 

[steveclarkus]

Thanks, I wasn't aware of that feature. Good info.

 

[ezyrydr]

It also my be helpful to watch some videos on how to create a perfect lather. You would also be doing yourself some good as your learning with your dominant hand to learn with your other hand. It will make you a better straight shaver. Good luck and keep at it.

 

[havensole]

I've been wet shaving with a DE for a couple of years, so I am not new to lather. Not saying that I can't learn a thing or three still. I've found a comfortable place with my AoS soap and have had some pretty consistent shaves over the last few weeks. It just took a little time to find out what worked best for the SR vs. the DE.

I've been working on using my right hand more and more. I started using it from the get go, but I was nicking myself almost every time with that hand. I dropped back to just using my left while I worked on my technique. I'm back to using both hands now. I still feel a lot more comfortable using my left, but it is getting better. Luckily I've always been a bit ambidextrous since most left handed things suck or don't exist.

I've generally been shaving with the 66 over the last couple of weeks. For some reason my hand just gravitates to that razor more than the 1996. Went ahead and used the 1996 this morning and realized why. The 66 is just sharper. It feels a lot more comfortable in the hand too. All in all it was just a much rougher shave than what I've been getting with the 66. Looks like it needs to go back on the hone.

 

[alex2363]

Hi all. Newbie here. Just bought a Gold Dollar 1996 two weeks ago. I've done 4 shaves with it so far and am generally happy with it. I wish I would have done some better research before buying as I would have spent a little more to get something shave ready. I switched to a DE razor a few years ago and loved it much more than the electric or multi-blade ones I tried in the past. On a whim I decided to pick up the SE and give it a shot.

The first shave wasn't great. It felt rough, but the results were pretty good. Nicked myself pretty good on my upper lip, and I continue to struggle with getting that area "good." The second and third shaves were better as I think I got better with my lather and stropping. The fourth felt very similar to my first one. I've nicked myself at least once with each shave, which I attribute to bad technique more than anything. The really surprising thing is that I haven't had any razor burn yet, which is something I have always dealt with.

I am getting ready now to buy some lapping film to give that a shot at getting a better edge on the blade. The bevel tapers down toward the toe, so I know I'll need to reset it. I also need to sharpen my kitchen knives, so I don't mind learning a new skill. I am going to shave again in the morning with a different cream to see if that helps things, but also give me a better reference for when the blade is sharpened this weekend.

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