What Straight Razor Did You Use Today?

Wm. Greaves Sheaf Works oblique point, honey horn. 7/8 at the toe that tapers fairly radically to just under 13/16 back at the heel. It's one of a group of old razors I picked up a while back but I'm just now getting around to honing. First shave was a dee-light! Have a great Monday folks.

 

Palmera

 

Schulze 6/8 Inox
Truffitt & Hill Trafalgar crème
Razorock King of the Castle balm

 

Now that a beauty right there and so nicely displayed as always

 

H. Boker & Co Master Razor

 

Japanese Gold Rex full hollow 13/16

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Wacker
Williams
homemade boar
Nice shave, have a good one.

 

C-MON 5/8 Square-pt…smoooooth shaver!

 

Wade & Butcher Bow

 

Boker Good as Gold 5/8. Another very nice shave with this Boker. Have a good 'un.

 

Dovo 55 Fritz Bracht

 

shaved with my new Damascus 8/8 made from American steel and made as well in the usa. the scales aren't permanent they go to another one I am working on. I just had to take it out for a test drive an I am very well pleased with the shave. over 500 folds in this bad boy, yes it is a faux frameback but the brass really sets it off. it pops out and almost pleas "use me". hope you like it she has been a wait. I just got it all together yesterday and honed it fro a test run.

 

Nice point on that FB Dovo Robert!

 

Okay, so it's not a straight, but I wanted to report my first Safety Razor experience. Decided about two weeks ago I should try a DE. Why deny myself another potentially awesome aspect of the wet shaving experience based on my own unfamiliarity?

So after some research, I ordered gear. An "Old Type" Gillette Single Ring, a Matador Toro Mastiff, a Gillette Slim Adjustable ('65 for my Birth Year ) and a Schick Krona. Also a blade selection containing some Gillette Silver Blues, Personna Reds, Feathers, Astra SPs, and some others.

I fired up the Old Type with the Silver Blue blade and some Cella. Used caution and little pressure as the practice is new to me.

Result: A very smooth shave, no cuts, but definitely some irritation on one side of my lower neck.

First general impression: This is no straight shave. I'll continue to play around with what I have, and I'm sure I will get to a place where the irritation is significantly reduced. DE's are fun to play with and collect, but the results at this early point in the game don't even compare to what a good straight shave offers. Time and more experience may soften my opinion, but I believe I have learned enough to even at this first shave to know that a DE is never going to replace a straight for me.

 

Thanks.

 

I'd have to agree with you Mike...the straights give me a better shave in every possible sense. A lone Old Type was the only razor I needed (or wanted) for 25 plus years, and though it's still my favourite DE to this day, the shave from a straight is way out in front in my book. Smoother, closer, more comfortable, and waaay more fun.

I hesitated for years, mainly because I figured a straight would be a lot more of a hassle to maintain compared to a disposable blade - no-brainer right? Or so I reckoned, but my admittedly short-time experience has not supported that assumption at all. I can't put a lot of stock in the notion of an especially steep learning curve for the straights either, but that's one for another day.

A sharp DE blade still makes a good baseline for edge keen-ness though (or sharpness or whatever the correct term is). I think it was Glen who posted up some comparative figures a while back, on how the finest possible edge on a SR was within a few microns of a DE. Close enough to be beyond practical detection at any rate. Smoothness seems to be another thing altogether, but it's an easy way to know you're in the proverbial ballpark at least.

 

DE razors are great for rapid shaves, where I can let my mind wander a bit—but I miss the whole 'focused' process of the straight razor shave.

 

5/8 Crown & Sword
Gillette and Williams super lather
homemade badger
I've been having a little trouble with this brush (sheds) but have been working with enough that I think it's just about straightened out. Nice old C&S, very good shave today. Have a good one.

 

Where's the photographic evidence? We want to see it.

 

Suzumasa 1000