Who was your Mentor?

I assume everyone on this forum is not a Barber, so I was wondering where did you learn to straight-razor shave? Did you just decide one day to give it a try,or your fathers teach you...?

 

I've never given a straight-razor shave,we just use a safety razor at my shop.Now I am thinking about using my husband as a test subject!

 

I joined a shaving forum or two. Found some stuff out. Got a straight and did not cut myself.

I would not use your husband as a test subject. Try a Balloon or something for a while then try shaving yourself (who knows you might like it).

Then move up to shaving others with a straight (they call it a cut throat for a reason ya know).

 

That's how it went with me. I shaved with a DE for about 6 months, but was always kind of intrigued by straight razors. When I first started wetshaving, I was certain there was no way I would ever be crazy enough to put a straight razor against my face... but sure enough, I eventually got interested enough to actually try it. I've been using straight razors for a few months now and I really enjoy it and I get great shaves.

Just about everything I know about straight razor shaving, I learned from shaving forums. Lynn Abrams also put out a DVD about straight razors, buying them, honing them, and shaving with them - its very informative and I think you can even watch some of it online now. If you want to shave customers in a barber shop though, I think you'll be restricted to using a Shavette for hygiene purposes because you use a disposable blade in those. That's all any straight shaving barbers seem to use anymore, so I'm pretty sure its a legal thing.

I definitely recommend Lynn's DVD though. You can get it from a few different sources now, but I got mine from www.straightrazordesigns.com

 

I found a DE at my Moms house back many moons ago. taught myself to use it. Only found these forums in the last 6 months. Even though I could get a good shave from the slim i was using, I have even better shaves now..and a lot better products to shave with. Mainly learned about SE razors.

Fuzzy

 

I was the other way around - self-taught with a straight, *then* discovered shaving forums...

Well, not exactly completely self-taught. The fellow at the shop where I bought my first straight and strop did give me some tips:

- Shave a balloon (that was a good tip, or at least didn't hurt)
- When stropping, flip the razor by rotating the spine into the air at the end of the stroke (baaad tip - killed my razor before I even shaved with it, but I did not know that at the time...)

- If the razor ever dulled, I would need to send it to some guy 1000 miles away to be professionally reground... :happy102

So, I had a lot of fun teaching myself to shave with a straight, but we got there in the end

James.

 

SRP was my mentor. I've shown a couple of guys how to shave with a straight razor since then, and I must say it appears far easier to learn from someone in person than from a million differing opinions on the internet

 

My mentor(s) have been SRP, SMF, and TSD .... and my mirror. Went from cartridges to DE a year ago then to straights last July / August. Primarily use the straights on a daily basis but will grab for the DE when travelling or pressed for time.

cheers,

Rick

 

Great suggestions already, also Chris Moss's PDF is very informative,

www.shavemyface.com/downloads/The-Straight-Razor-Shave.pdf

 

I started shaving with a straight in 1980. I was intrigued by a razor in the window of Chicago Cutlery. I got a strop and a Dovo and a few instructions from the clerk. The first shaves ripped up my face so I went back to the store a couple of times to ask if, perhaps, the razor wasn't sharp enough. The clerk insisted that the razor came sharp and that it was my technique. The second time I went back, there was a customer in the store who said I needed a hone so, over the clerk's objections, I bought a 3-line Swaty, which solved the problem, and the rest, as they say, is history.

 

A few months after starting with a DE (I found the forums before starting), I knew I would have to try the straights. I don't know about "mentor", but Joe Chandler (thanks Joe!) was very helpful in getting me set up and answering my many questions. Lynn's DVD was great because I finally got to see many of the things I had only been reading about on the forums. That was almost 3 years ago, and I haven't looked back.

Jordan

 

And haven't looked back since

 

For me, I just decided to do it. I had just gotten rid of an electric shaver that wouldn't maintain a charge in the batteries. I had a hobby with knives already, and figured that owning & using a straight was nothing more than an extension of that hobby -- straights are just specialized knives. Later on, I got to using the DEs with my involvement in the various wetshaving forums.

 

Another one who just made the decision to do it, and sold some things on eBay to pay for it. Initially it was a D.E. although straights ended up working better for me. As for mentors, probably Lynn via his DVD as well as Dr Moss's pdf guide.

 

I was a member on a non wet shaving forum and one of the members started a wet shaving thread. I became interested in DE shaving and joined a wet shaving forum and started that. I then found the Straight Shaving section and the rest is history. I have been straight for 1 1/2 years now.

bj

 

I was looking online for some hones to sharpen my pocket knifes, found out about straight razors and, well, that was it

 

I had always had the idea in my head that one day I would have the barber shave me, but I waited so long that now I cant find a barber who does shaves . When I found out a few weeks ago that a friend of mine at work shaves with a straight, I decided to get into it, and everything I learned was from shave forums. Im now into my tenth shave and I love it. I also have already a small collection of razors.

 

I'm still waiting for my safety razor in the mail. As soon as i have a few bills to spend i've already got the strait razor picked out and a nice wide strop to go with it. I'll probably just go to "Lee Valley tools" for the hone.

I did find some really informative videos on "YouTube" for strait razor shaving, three videos on honing and a couple on stropping.:whacky084