Str8 Razor Week 1/7-1/13

Woo-hoo! Our first Theme Week of the New Year is here!!

This one is Str8 Razor Week, and will run from the 7th to the 13th. I know many of you use a str8 every day, so please tell us about it.
Many of you are like me, only pulling out the cut throat once or twice a week. Willing to try it every day? (not me, I'll stick to the weekends. I know me and my face. I like my face )
How 'bout you folks who tried it a while back, but gave up on it? Why not pull it out, dust it off, and give it another go? Sure, there's quite the learning curve, but look at it this way, if your grandfather and his grandfathers before him could use a str8, why can't you? Lots of great info out there! Like right here, for instance ---> *click*

Have fun!

 

Well I might as well just say it... I am not man enough to use a straight all week.

However, I will try honing up my Boker tonight to give it another try. These skills are all very new to me. I have some disposable blade straights and I will use them too. Unfortunately, I have to get up early on several days this week and for me, that precludes the use of a straight razor. I love them though and they are real reason I started to get into wet shaving.

My first razor was a Dovo Shavette. I often dive into something head first and just go for it. So I decided I was going to do a three pass shave with my "straight" even if it killed me. The shave took almost two hours! I was standing there still for so long my legs started to ache. I cut my lip once pretty good and had several other good nicks. I think it can be safely said that I am man enough (silly enough?) to use a straight. Just not all week. One of the guys at work is an expert and I am planning to get together with him to learn a bit more.

It seems there are fewer and fewer "manly" things left in this world, but shaving with a straight is definitely one of them. Very cool indeed!! And I will get there some day, I have already made that promise to myself. My goal is to be able to complete a three pass shave in about 20 minutes (shaving time) without nicks or irritation. We'll see how it goes.

When I have some free time I will post a photo of my straight razors.

Cheers,

Lyndon

 

I can say that I won't be participating in this theme week. Although I give much respect to the people who use straights, at this point and time I have no desire to try them. I am still quite new to DE shaving and am still learning the proper technique and am still in the hunt for that "one" combination to rule them all. At this point me trying to learn to str8 shave would likely throw me off and start a whole new addiction. Someday, maybe, I'll learn to use and love a str8 razor.

 

I will have a go on this shave week, but that said I shaved last night with my English Aristocrat and nancy boy soap and got a BBS, so may be a few days untill I get to shave, I should really check the theme weeks.

 

I'm on board for this one, and my straight of the week will be my Expert Barber 400. It's a 6/8 square point full hollow made by Union Cutlery out of Oleans, NY.

 

I'm game for this, ill have to wait until Fri or Sat to break out the str8 and get a good shave. It'll be the 3rd time I've done this so ill post up for results.

Sidebar I will be using a gold dollar str8 so wish me luck lol

 

OK, it's back to the straights for this week. Time to quit playing with the DE's and give the straights some love.

 

I did a cut and paste of Stoker's post from the SOTD. I thought it was some great info for folks starting out with str8s, got curious and came here, but may not be frequenting the SOTD.


SOTD Monday 1-7-2013 (Straight Week)

5/8 Wester Bros DE-FI #34, Full Hollow, Spike Point
Proraso PSC
Speick SC
Omega Boar
Dickinson's Witch Hazel
Nivea Replenishing ASB
English Leather Cologne

To support Steve's theme I'll start off with the little De-Fi. For those who might want to try straight shaving but, are a little reluctant to spend a lot of money, there are numerous vintage straight razors on e-bay and the B/S/T forum pages that can be picked up for a reasonable cost. If....in the end, straight shaving isn't for you, you can always sell the razor and recupe your original cost. Many start straight shaving with a shavette with the replaceable blades. IMHO, the shavette's shave performance can never equal the performance from a well honed straight blade. I read posts about starting with a shavette with very negative reports and just wonder how much better it would be to start with an actual straight razor. There is a learning curve to using a straight and until you find it your shaves can be pretty rough no matter what you're using or how sharp it is. Once you have found it however, it is as easy as shaving with a DE and just as close as you could possible get with a DE. One important point to remember is; the razor must be properly honed. The "shave ready" notation on the e-bay description is probably false! (many sellers think if the edge "feels" sharpe it's shave ready....it's not! ) Get your first straight honed by someone that is experienced with honing a razor to get you off to a good start and give you a benchmark as to what shave ready actually feels like and performs like. If you have a straight laying around the house and still haven't given it a try....this is the week to start and a lot of the experienced Brothers will be here to help you through.

View attachment 33728

 

OF COURSE! I'd love to, but I can't. My straight is in the mail on its way to be honed I have a straight with replaceable blades, but since I've been using my new Dovo with tortoise scales, I refuse. Looks like a fusion week for me (bummer). But at least I have a whole slew of manly soaps, creams, brushes, and aftershaves to compensate for my feminine blade. Remember! You can't be AFRAID to cut yourself, but you have to be CAREFUL not to if that makes any sense. Enjoy your shaves, gents, and please tell me all about it.

 

I'll give it a go. I always forget about the theme weeks. Maybe if I put my other razor away I'll remember. Glad I touched up the edge last week!

 

Does a straight on a stick count?

I don't have any shave ready straights right now.

I broke out a Rolls Razor today which isn't too far off.

 

How big is yours? Men like things BIG and cheap. (Think Big Harleys, Monster Trucks, Dolly Parton.) Size does matter but, in a way that you wouldn't expect. One of the most common mistakes a new straight shaver makes is wanting to start off with that big beautiful Wade & Butcher "for Barber's use" cleaver he saw for sale and couldn't resist bidding on. Big is not however, better. (except in the aforementioned Harleys, Monster Trucks and Dolly) Big is nice but, you wouldn't want to drive a monster truck to the DMV to take your driving test in. In that same vein, a big W&B chopper is very difficult to handle and maneuver for a novice straight shaver. In this case big is not better. Moving on.... Cheap; the second most common mistake is buying a small size (4/8 inch, 9/16 inch) blade because it's cheap. (it's cheap because most straight shavers don't want them. That's why there are so many on the bay and elsewhere for sale...cheap. Why should a novice straight shaver stay away from these smaller blades? Because, a smaller blade is hard to keep the proper blade angle (which is very important to a new shaver to master for a comfortable shave) These smaller razors were used a lot in the Barber Shops back in the day because they could be maneuvered into tight and close areas by the Barber however, he was a trained professional, used them numerous times a day and had the skills to handle them, a novice will have trouble with them. In this case smaller is not better. A good 5/8 inch blade can be found reasonably priced on most selling/trading forums.
What is the best size for a Novice to start with? IMHO, 5/8 - 6/8 inch is a good starting size. It is small enough to maneuver but large enough to have some blade surface to set a proper angle for your strokes. If you were to take a survey and create a bell curve, most of the straights out there in use will be in the 5/8 - 6/8 range. As the Novice becomes more skilled and has mastered his technique he can start using those bigger blades if desired. Most experienced straight shavers have a number of those bigger blades and some of the smaller ones as well but, they are able to use them effectively because they have learned their skills on a more user friendly sized blade.
You wouldn't start out on a long hike with boots that were too big or too small and not expect some discomfort; the same applies for starting on your journey into straight shaving. Leave the matcho and cheap behind and start with the proper sized equipment; it will be a much more pleasant journey.

 

Alright!! I haven't really had time to be making the scene around here like I like to....but I plan on making this hang...I'll at least make 1 pass every day this week and hopefully more with my Turkish Sedef disposable blade straight...This should re-jump start my getting this together...I really love this razor, and I would love to have the confidence with it I have with my Injectors and DE's...and I can see that this razor does put all the control right in your hands....so eventually I would think, I should have more confidence with it than my other razors where I don't have so much control...

At least that makes sense in theory....

I see I've already missed the 7th but I'm starting with today's Tuesday the 8th shave...

 

Glad to see you blow the dust off that Turkish Sedef Lloyd! Give it a go for the rest of the week and you should be back on track by Saturday! lol
You know what they say; Practice, Practice, Practice.... lol

 

I missed the first few days, but shaved today with my favorite straight (from a previous SOTD):


I used the brush pictured, but used TABAC for the soap and finished with English Leather.

 

Right...the same way you get to Carnegie Hall baby!!

 

With the help of TSD, I started using DE's and SE's in January of last year. I kept seeing photos of beautiful straight razors here and on other forums, but was afraid to try until I traded some vintage Personna 74 injector blades for a straight razor in July. I shave every day with a straight now and have around a 100, German, American, English, Spanish and Japanese. 1/4 hollow, 1/2 hollow, near wedge, full wedge. 3/8 to 8/8. Palmera, Frederick Reynolds, Bartmann, J A Henckels, Engles, Primble, Parker, Favorit.

I love the history, science and art of straight razors and shaving and honing and stropping. And it's great to get a great shave and less irritation. I love learning the skill of it, the patience and attention needed.

 

100 razors, that's alot of steel to keep track of and keep clean and rust free! 3 is all I care to take care of.

 

Just rinse, wipe, strop, oil and put aside until the next shave. Sanding and polishing incoming vintage blades can take some time, but then it's done. Lately I've been buying NOS blades. No cleaning or honing necessary. It is hard to decide what to use each day, though. Big, little, wedge, full hollow, Beau Brummell, Dubl Duck, Schulz....

 

Update for str8 week, I tried my hand at using the str8 tonight. I have a gold dollar razor, which I know is not the best for a starter str8. I could only get two passes in before irritation sat in and I have to switch to my DE to finish the job. While I'm not discouraged, I think I'm going to ask to see who on here would take on the daunting task of honing and seeing if this blade will take an edge :/