I first started DE shaving a few months back. Someone told me it was cheaper and was going to be closer shave. Cheaper is an understatement. (I've saved probably 100 dollars so far) but to the fun stuff.
Straights always were "Cool" to me since I saw them In a movie when I was young. I always wanted to get a straight shave from a professional but never found anyone around who did them. So when someone turned me on to B&B I started looking at straights and dove right in. I picked up 2 razors at a local shop none of which were shave ready. First was a GD #66 which was sharp at one point and fixed to shave with. ( i did the research and noticed a bit of hone ware and a bevel on it) and a razor which had a lot of rust on it but was still in decent shape which I decided I would try to restore. Looking into it now I see that someone took a sander of some type to it and went a little to aggressive on the tang and took off a lot of the information on it. all i can read is alfr ST one one side and AN on the other side. I'm assuming it the AN is part of German or Germany. So I purchased a Geneva Pyramid 23 (which was labeled as a Diamond) from a member here and dove right into straight shaving.
I got my strop made locally by a Saddle repair shop in town. Did the research on how to strop and how to shave with a straight and put razor to skin. Every day I love it more and more and Can't wait to shave with it. I first started trying to do a full face shave with a straight and failed but learned what was going to take effort. It now drives me to do it more and read about it when I'm not doing anything. Now I catch my self lurking the BTS/Hobby shop thread and looking for more straights/ a hone to learn on. I found one the other day a Kit from Gamma which was 2 straights and a hone. Now its time to dive into a whole new ball park of learning to hone and picking up lapping films at first.
I think a lot of what pulls me to straight shaving is watching people shave with the face erasers at the gym every day, the art and skill it takes to use a straight blade and the history behind it all. I mean who doesn't want to do something that used to be done in the past? Hell I've worked on airplanes made in the 1960's, Used tools made in the 1950s and shot guns older then both of them. To me each straight is a part of history and has a small story behind it. Like the Geneva Pyramid I have. It was made about 3 hours from my home town in one of the largest Producers of Straights in the US.
I guess I just wanted to share what got me Started in the world of straights
Straights always were "Cool" to me since I saw them In a movie when I was young. I always wanted to get a straight shave from a professional but never found anyone around who did them. So when someone turned me on to B&B I started looking at straights and dove right in. I picked up 2 razors at a local shop none of which were shave ready. First was a GD #66 which was sharp at one point and fixed to shave with. ( i did the research and noticed a bit of hone ware and a bevel on it) and a razor which had a lot of rust on it but was still in decent shape which I decided I would try to restore. Looking into it now I see that someone took a sander of some type to it and went a little to aggressive on the tang and took off a lot of the information on it. all i can read is alfr ST one one side and AN on the other side. I'm assuming it the AN is part of German or Germany. So I purchased a Geneva Pyramid 23 (which was labeled as a Diamond) from a member here and dove right into straight shaving.
I got my strop made locally by a Saddle repair shop in town. Did the research on how to strop and how to shave with a straight and put razor to skin. Every day I love it more and more and Can't wait to shave with it. I first started trying to do a full face shave with a straight and failed but learned what was going to take effort. It now drives me to do it more and read about it when I'm not doing anything. Now I catch my self lurking the BTS/Hobby shop thread and looking for more straights/ a hone to learn on. I found one the other day a Kit from Gamma which was 2 straights and a hone. Now its time to dive into a whole new ball park of learning to hone and picking up lapping films at first.
I think a lot of what pulls me to straight shaving is watching people shave with the face erasers at the gym every day, the art and skill it takes to use a straight blade and the history behind it all. I mean who doesn't want to do something that used to be done in the past? Hell I've worked on airplanes made in the 1960's, Used tools made in the 1950s and shot guns older then both of them. To me each straight is a part of history and has a small story behind it. Like the Geneva Pyramid I have. It was made about 3 hours from my home town in one of the largest Producers of Straights in the US.
I guess I just wanted to share what got me Started in the world of straights
