[attachment=9854]Having come across some razors which I thought were my grandfather's, but which following a bit of research turn out to have belonged to my great uncle's originally, I thought it might be interesting for those new to straight razors to share my experiences.
I started off using them at the beginning of February, but only at weekends when I had the time to devote to what was a pretty daunting experience at first. I have always wet shaved and have used a DE razor for quite some years now.
The first thing that became apparent was that the razors needed honing. I already had a 1k Shapton. I then bought a 3k/10k combination Naniwa stone and had a go at honing them myself. It soon became apparent that I lacked the skill to get a proper edge.
In the end Jamie (k/s pugh-the-special-one on here) came to the rescue and honed them for me. This was a godsend as I now had a benchmark as to what a well honed blade should feel like when shaving.
I had also taken the plunge a ordered a custom strop form mikes, photos of which I have posted on here. Mike was very easy to deal with and the strop is a work of art.
In the meantime Jamie had been incredibly helpful in answering all my questions, and providing advice.
So, with that in mind, what have I learned?
1 That I am pretty hopeless as shaving with my non dominant hand but persistence has paid off, even though I am still very cack-handed when it comes to my left side.
2 That you do need to take your time.
3 That stretching the skin is the key to a successful shave.
4 That I still find shaving my chin very difficult.
5 That I am achieving a closer shave that with my DE razor, or at least that is what it feels like.
6 That it is incredibly satisfying master a new 'art'.
7 That I find it very rewarding knowing that I am using razors that have been in my family for over a hundred years.
Finally, this is what I used today.
I started off using them at the beginning of February, but only at weekends when I had the time to devote to what was a pretty daunting experience at first. I have always wet shaved and have used a DE razor for quite some years now.
The first thing that became apparent was that the razors needed honing. I already had a 1k Shapton. I then bought a 3k/10k combination Naniwa stone and had a go at honing them myself. It soon became apparent that I lacked the skill to get a proper edge.
In the end Jamie (k/s pugh-the-special-one on here) came to the rescue and honed them for me. This was a godsend as I now had a benchmark as to what a well honed blade should feel like when shaving.
I had also taken the plunge a ordered a custom strop form mikes, photos of which I have posted on here. Mike was very easy to deal with and the strop is a work of art.
In the meantime Jamie had been incredibly helpful in answering all my questions, and providing advice.
So, with that in mind, what have I learned?
1 That I am pretty hopeless as shaving with my non dominant hand but persistence has paid off, even though I am still very cack-handed when it comes to my left side.
2 That you do need to take your time.
3 That stretching the skin is the key to a successful shave.
4 That I still find shaving my chin very difficult.
5 That I am achieving a closer shave that with my DE razor, or at least that is what it feels like.
6 That it is incredibly satisfying master a new 'art'.
7 That I find it very rewarding knowing that I am using razors that have been in my family for over a hundred years.
Finally, this is what I used today.
