Interested in a cheap straight razor shave

I

IanShane

Joined
Sep 23, 2014
Messages
37
I've always wanted to get into shaving with a straight razor, but I've always been intimidated with the initial start up cost... What would be the cheapest option to begin with?
 
your best option would be a whipped dog special vintage razor. the next option would be to look for a gold dollar razor made in china they shave well and keep a decent edge. I would opt for larrys sight unseen, a few more dollars but I prefer vintage. now you cant sharpen the razor with a knife stone, it is far too coarse, the only exception would be a translucent arkie. straights are a lot harder to hone than a knife. I make knives and been using straights since I learned to shave. stay away from any foreign made razor except the gold dollar. as I said it will shave well but it is no where near the vintage shave. if you get one that needs honing I can do it for you as long as you pay shipping both ways, I do Japanese naturals or coti's finished out on slate.
 
Being a member of this forum, what is your upper limit for an EDC knife? Your EDC is used how many times during the day? Personally, I spent the MOST I could afford for a blade(s) that was/were going to be used on a regular basis against my jugular... :)
 
I would go to one of the shaving forums, do some research there and maybe ask a few questions there before jumping in. Going too cheap might be a good way to get off to a bad start. Be prepared for a long learning curve and the inevitable frustrations that go with that.

Bob
 
whipped dog has a pretty good rep over at straightrazorplace. also look up lynn abrams over there, he is one of the gurus of modern straight razor use. There are bargains to be had, but far more crap on the market as it has seen an uptick in popularity from a sort of hipster sort of style thing. The good thing is that there are lots of good old razors around, and the big companies are able to make good razors at a volume that lends to value. Ebay razors probably have vegas table odds, so unless you have a gambling habit I would stick to places with reputations to maintain.

No disrespect intended kn4wd, but I would suggest that IanShane look more towards some of the SPR honemeisters. (and if you want to get into it, there might be a great place to advertise if you haven't already, I've been away from there for a while, more than a few guys have started building rep there on a pay-for-shipping basis) The only reason being that if Ian wants to learn to shave properly, that means eliminating as many variables as possible, and there are some guys over there with long term public profiles. Again no disrespect, but you are just some guy in the internet.

Ian, the first thing you should do is get a decent brush and good shave soap. (lots of different options to be had. mitchels wool fat is a good baseline to start from, I really like DR Harris and taylor of old bond street) Read around here for lots of options, Golnick did a great list of soaps a while back. Get started with that, even if you don't switch to straights, the soap is far better for your skin and wallet even if you stick with cartridges. And since lather is one of the key skills, might as well start on it now while you get your straight organized. good prep means good shaves. Mantic59 has some great youtube vids on shaving with a DE and making lather. good starting points.
 
I think there's staight razors available that accept disposable blades. Maybe worth looking into maybe not.
 
they get mixed reviews, and the skill is different. Sort of like learning to ride a motorcycle by trying out a mountain bike. kinda the same, but also not.
 
as far as soaps go dr dittmar, Williams, mdc, several options there, as far as honing goes I can get a razor do shave me well, 2 pass dfs. actually I am a member of both badger and blade and srp. and have honed a good number of razors. you will find me there under either the same user name. if you want the best find bayanomate on b and b the best of the best as far as reps go. srp straight razor place not spr as in your post he wont be able to find it using spr, google will find srp or straight razor place. and no I am neither a newbie or an unknown. you don't tie up 2 grand in jnats alone and a few more on cotis if you cannot use them. my favorite soap is mdc it is expensive but there you have to figure if the price is worth the shave, it is a little over 25 bucks a puck. my favorite is the vintage Williams when you can find it. I bought a dozen a while back and down to my last one.
 
My apologies kn4wd, On on my poor typing, two on any offense I may have caused. The razor section here tends to be pretty quiet, and there have been a few guys in the past who have come through and made huge claims that haven't been proven. The truth of the matter is, you would be best served by trading on your reputation over at BandB or SRP, and not here. So you would want any good feedback about your honeing to be found there, rather than here where it will be lost. If Ian looks you up on either place, I think both of you will be better served.
You are an unknown here, and its a quiet corner of the forum. That said, I don't want to make you feel unwelcome, I'm sure you have a lot of good info to share, and I would appreciate you sharing it. I did not intend to offend, just trying to help Ian navigate his starting out. On the other hand this is bladeforums, and very few around here get all that upset about someone getting offended. So if you are the type to get offended when someone doesn't just take your word without some proof, you'll be in for a rough ride.
 
no offense taken, I offered the same as I do there to hone the razor he got for shipping costs. I have been making knives for over 40 yrs and still continue to do so, I sell mostly local to hunters and they keep me fairly busy. I have put razor making off till recently I have a 4/8 that is about to go to a friend in ny for evaluation. I didn't want partiality to come into play on it.any proof I need I can provide thru references or otherwise.
sosa the shavettes defeat the purpose of a straight, a straight is one blade non disposable made to last a lifetime. point is if you are gonna buy blades why bother switching from a de razor?

ianshane if you want to try a straight I have a shorty, it had a crack near the heel that I removed and honed. it is most definitely shave ready. if you want to pm me you address I can send it to see if you want to continue. no its not fancy nor is it the prettiest peach in the basket but it shaves and shaves well. I will warn you though it does become addictive known as srad straight razor addiction disorder. myself I enjoy a straight shave, if I relied on disposables I probably would have a beard.i have many razors and the 5/8 below and the hollows I don't use much anymore, I found a love for the Sheffield wedges, I have quite a few of them and waiting on another 9/8 wade and butcher to arrive. the whipped dog poor mans strop would be a beginners strop but you would only be out 20 or so if you happened to put a bad cut or nick on it, a very good strop will go 100 to a little over 300 and you need to master stropping before you consider where to go. I have several I bought and a few I made. the bought are kataima and neil miller. the Japanese strop set me back almost 350.00. neil miller sells a very good strop. stay away from foreign makes unless someone you trust can tell you about them. even an Illinois strop is around 50 and you don't want to take a chance learning on one. its not hard or complicated to learn you keep the razor flat on the spine and with the edge toward you push toward the top of the strop, flip the edge with the spine still on the strop edge away pull it toward you. go slow at first and soon you will be moving along. it takes me 91 seconds to give 50 strokes each way that is 100 total. I usually do 100 after honing and 50 before I shave each time.
 
no offense taken, I offered the same as I do there to hone the razor he got for shipping costs. I have been making knives for over 40 yrs and still continue to do so, I sell mostly local to hunters and they keep me fairly busy. I have put razor making off till recently I have a 4/8 that is about to go to a friend in ny for evaluation. I didn't want partiality to come into play on it.any proof I need I can provide thru references or otherwise.
sosa the shavettes defeat the purpose of a straight, a straight is one blade non disposable made to last a lifetime. point is if you are gonna buy blades why bother switching from a de razor?

ianshane if you want to try a straight I have a shorty, it had a crack near the heel that I removed and honed. it is most definitely shave ready. if you want to pm me you address I can send it to see if you want to continue. no its not fancy nor is it the prettiest peach in the basket but it shaves and shaves well. I will warn you though it does become addictive known as srad straight razor addiction disorder. myself I enjoy a straight shave, if I relied on disposables I probably would have a beard.i have many razors and the 5/8 below and the hollows I don't use much anymore, I found a love for the Sheffield wedges, I have quite a few of them and waiting on another 9/8 wade and butcher to arrive. the whipped dog poor mans strop would be a beginners strop but you would only be out 20 or so if you happened to put a bad cut or nick on it, a very good strop will go 100 to a little over 300 and you need to master stropping before you consider where to go. I have several I bought and a few I made. the bought are kataima and neil miller. the Japanese strop set me back almost 350.00. neil miller sells a very good strop. stay away from foreign makes unless someone you trust can tell you about them. even an Illinois strop is around 50 and you don't want to take a chance learning on one. its not hard or complicated to learn you keep the razor flat on the spine and with the edge toward you push toward the top of the strop, flip the edge with the spine still on the strop edge away pull it toward you. go slow at first and soon you will be moving along. it takes me 91 seconds to give 50 strokes each way that is 100 total. I usually do 100 after honing and 50 before I shave each time.
 
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