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When You Are Interested In Trying Straight Razor Shaving…

Phoenixkh

I shaved a fortune
I have a Razorock Hawk Single Edge. It also uses AC blades. I believe single edge razors $ straight razors (for beards) come in three flavours: half DE blade, AC format, injector.
I actually bought two boxes of AC blades to go in my first razor purchase, the Supply Single Edge v2. I was wrong. Injector blades are smaller than AC blades. Your Claymore indeed takes the same AC blades as the Feather shavettes!
Please correct me if I'm wrong.
Yeah.... I figured that out after a bit of research. I didn't know the right questions to ask.... the photos of the barber razors and shavettes made the blades look soooo long, I wasn't sure if they used the same blades as my Claymore Evolution, but as you suggest, they do.
 
Yeah.... I figured that out after a bit of research. I didn't know the right questions to ask.... the photos of the barber razors and shavettes made the blades look soooo long, I wasn't sure if they used the same blades as my Claymore Evolution, but as you suggest, they do.
As long as we're not talking about these (I believe they're not for shaving male human beards):

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Here is my perspective on what is in the mind of somebody who is interested to try straight razor shaving, the (unhelpful?) advice they will often get, and why any talk of balsa strops will likely make them go straight back to DE razors….

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Balsa strops are not merely a bridge too far, they are a bridge-you-have-to-build-yourself too far.

I find that a Feather Artist Club razor with Feather Proguard blades is an excellent way to try out straight razor shaving without being offputting, over-complicated, or filling your house with masses of stuff. Guarded blades are the key, and are a really nice bit of technology.

Just my opinion based on my journey so far. I think people can get into all the other stuff after they find out what they want from straight razor shaving, and what they are interested in to develop the experience further (if anything).
I totally agree. I have just recently started to use a straight razor. The difference is that the shave with the straight razor is a hit more forgiving and leaves a bit more comfortable skin than the Ac shavete with a proguard. Using a sharper AC blade gives you a better skin feeling post shave but the shaving technique must be always perfect.

You save time in using a shavette and you need to have always the perfect technique, except when using a guarded type blade.

The straight razor, after learning honning and Stroping, and building your system, needs 0 Usd maintenance cost. The Ac Shavette needs one or two cartridge per year ( around 20-40 usd per year) .

A poor edge straight razor helps you improve the technique in a shavette as well.

Personally I enjoy an ac shavete with a Feather Proguard / Kai protouch blade a lot.
 
I am actually starting to get into honing and I acquired a couple of coticules as well as a translucent Ark, in addition to a Naniwa synthetic progression. I think if you enjoy the Artist Club razor experience then you will inevitably end up with traditional straights and stones - but you can shave with the Artist Club on guarded blades right away and take your time to acquire / practice the other stuff until it works well for you.

I think the best advice I could have got at the start was to get the Artist Club razor and Proguard blades first. That would keep things simple and avoid the frustration of buying all the other stuff and not really being able to use it or get / maintain acceptable edges for a while - not really experiencing what straight razor shaving feels like and the advantages of it. An AC razor with guarded blades gives you most of the SR experience without any complication. And if for any reason I didn’t enjoy the AC razor, I wouldn’t have a load of unwanted stones, strops, lapping plate, etc. If I do enjoy it (as I do) then I have much more motivation to invest the time required to develop my honing and stropping skills - it means I will stick with it.

There may be exceptions, but I believe most people who want to try straight razor shaving are interested initially just in the shaving part, and are uninterested in honing or stropping. Interest in honing comes later, as a result of enjoying the shaving and wanting to see what they can do to tailor the edge to their liking.

I’m sure even when I’ve become fully competent maintaining a traditional straight razor I will still use my AC razor sometimes. It’s a good tool and very convenient if I don’t have time for stropping or refreshing an edge.

But, as I say, the guarded blades are the key here. Unguarded AC blades or half-DE blade shavettes are really sharp and dangerous things in inexperienced hands, and very likely indeed to give you a nasty injury that may put you off the entire idea. Handling a straight razor the first few times is quite awkward.

And maybe I will make some balsa strops some day. But to my mind that is something for much later, as a way to maybe refine my blade maintenance process or to experiment with a different edge.
I have never tried the guarded blades. The Proline blades are also a safer option then the Feather Pro blades. Smoother, but a little less deadly. I should have started with a Guarded blade and an artist club style blade. These half de blade "shavettes" are still a little intimidating to me. I think when people are advised to get started with these they are scared away from starting with SR's.
 
I have enjoyed reading this thread , and do take the point by the thread opener. I fall into the straight crowd, I just enjoy hunting them out, cleaning them up, sharpening them and using them. Plus there are many options for sharpening, and I enjoy trying new ways. It can cost an arm and a leg, but what hobby does not. As has been said, these days there are cheap options for sharpening, you can then slowly add stones when you get some free funds.
I have looked a few times at buying a ac shavette, I have 2 ac razors which I enjoy using and get great shaves from, and still look at these shavettes, though not an original, some sort of copy to see what they are like to use, and may well buy one as I have blades.
 
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