Straight Razor Shaving!

WadeF

WadeF

Joined
Apr 12, 2000
Messages
2,116
Well, I'm sitting here waiting for the UPS driver to get here with my new DOVO razor any minute now. I just wanted to say thanks for all the memories incase I screw up and slice a jugular! ;)

My last straight razor thread didn't get much of a response. It's a shame there isn't a better place to discuss straight razor shaving. I know there is a Yahoo group, but it looks like a pain to read through all the threads.

So if you use a straight razor what types of shaving soaps and after shaves do you like? Who do you think makes the best razor? If I like shaving this way I'll probably pick up another razor or two to put into my rotation so I don't have to hone them as often.

OMG! UPS JUST PULLED UP! LATER!
 
WadeF, being a fellow Penssyltuckian and probably the only other person besides you who knows where Perkasie is, let me be the first person to offer my service in retaining your other knives till they let you out of the nut house for attemting to slice your own throat.

On another note along the same vein;) my first shaving experience was at 14 years old when my old man sat on me and used my Grandfathers straight razor to,"Get rid of those G*d D*mn 3 hairs" on my chin.:eek:

Traumatized me so bad I've had a full beard since 1974.:(
 
Originally posted by T. Erdelyi

Traumatized me so bad I've had a full beard since 1974.:(
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Ha, thought maybe you were going to drive on down and give me some pointers. :) Well, the first experience wasn't very successful. I didn't cut myself, to much, but I didn't cut many whiskers either. So either I didn't get my whiskers soft enough, I wasn't cutting at the right angle, or the razor needs some touching up. I have a razor hone on the way which should be here tomorrow. :)

My wife didn't like the smell of Bay Rum very much. So I have almond, lime, and amber soaps coming tomorrow (at least they're cheap). If she can't find a smell she likes I found a place that has unscented soaps.

I'll see how the shaving goes tomorrow. :)
 
Hi Wade,

I use three antique razors for shaving.

1) Henckels with round tip.
2) Wade and Butcher square tip.
3) Ladies or travel razor.

The Henckels is my standard razor, the Wade/Butcher is my secondary standard in case the the other is in need of sharpening.

The ladies razor is great for angles or clean up. I use it for the hard to tirm areas. It's just great.

I just use a good quality gel. I know it loses some of the mystique, but it's quick. I use to use Burma Shave a bit back though, my local stores only carry a few soaps, to get the better stuff, you've got to mail order. After Shave, again I'm a whatever's handy Old Spice type fella. I've have the Bay Rum foo-foo stuff too, It was pretty nice.

A bit of razor history is in order, too.
There are few different tips one sees on razors, the square and round are the most common. The square is the older, the round tip is much easier on the ears, and jaw line, etc... There are a few other tips, these were used mostly for different styles(mutton chops, etc...).

The width of the blade is important too. The coarser the whiskers, the wider the blade. Most were 1/2, 5/8, or 3/4. There were wider(meat chopper style) models, but you don't see them as much. If you ever see a razor marked squirrel razor, that was a razor esspecially made for coarse beards.

These are brands that I've seen made recently:

1) Issard.
2) Dovo.
3) Col. Ichabod(I think Dovo handles these for the company).
4) Case XX, Case imported some a bit back from germany. These were Dovo, or Boker.
5) Puma.

I personally prefer older razors, they are both cheaper, and you get a better selection.
 
:D You think you know your own face? Wait until you start trying to match that blade to the curves of your face! You'll have the hang of it within a few shaves. There's nothing that gets as close as a properly stropped straightrazor. Imo there's less irratation with a straightrazor as well. Good luck!!:D
 
Originally posted by Stoneage
:D You think you know your own face? Wait until you start trying to match that blade to the curves of your face! You'll have the hang of it within a few shaves. There's nothing that gets as close as a properly stropped straightrazor. Imo there's less irratation with a straightrazor as well. Good luck!!:D
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Sounds like you have mastered the art of the straight razor. :) So what attack angle do you use? I seem to be reading conflicting information. One site said start at 90 degrees and scrape, less chance of being cut. Then another said go at 30 degrees as going to high will result in cutting, and to low will grab stubble.

Also did you do anything to break in your strop? I have read about using a pumice stone to smoothen it out, and using stiff lather. Not sure what they mean by stiff lather.
 
When I was much, much, much younger, I decided I should try shaving with a straight razor. Got lathered up and went at it.

I laid that razor on my face four times, each time producing an initially-painless and effortlessly-accomplished push-cut into my face.

End of story. Good luck!
 
Originally posted by gud4u
When I was much, much, much younger, I decided I should try shaving with a straight razor. Got lathered up and went at it.

I laid that razor on my face four times, each time producing an initially-painless and effortlessly-accomplished push-cut into my face.

End of story. Good luck!
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What angle were you touching the razor to your face?
 
I use a low angle, 30 degrees or less seems like the best idea. I also choke up on the blade and use a short popping stroke. My left hand used to pull the skin extra taut:-).

Dude, you're putting way too much thought in to this. Just lather up and take your time, it will work itself out.
 
Originally posted by bob bowie

Dude, you're putting way too much thought in to this. Just lather up and take your time, it will work itself out.
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I'll see if changing the angle helps during tomorrow's attempt. :)

So what type of strop do you use? Do you dress your strop or do any regular strop maintenance? :)
 
My strop is an older one made by Norvell Shapleigh that I bought from a barber that was changing over(most barbers have changed over to the exchange-a-blade razor types cause of the health codes). While I was there, I asked him about technique, there wasn't much to it, the main thing was to maintain constant tension on the strop and not let it sag.

As for prep, I use a bit of Jewelers Rouge, nothing really special.

As an aside, horse hide was said to make the best strops(many older stops have horse related motifs stamped into the handles), I believe this had to do with the tightness of the pores, and the general quality of horse leather.
Kramer Handgun leather might still offer their horse hide model.

I think it's more a matter of technique with strops, but you might consider a razor hone, for when your razor needs a good work over. Swatty or Pike were good old brands. A modern equivalent is the hard black surgical stones sold in wood working shops.

P.s., You probably figured this out, but becareful with the blade, an edge crack is a horrible thing.

:-).
 
Thanks for the info. I have a 4000x and 8000x water stones on the way for when I need to hone the razor. :) I got a Russian red leather strop with canvas on the back, and strop dressing. I'm probably well prepared, but some of the things you read make you paranoid.

Read this one article's info on strop maintenance:

"A leather strop becomes better or worse according to the care it is given. Do not fold a strop, but keep it suspended, attached to a swivel, or laid flat. When a leather strop appears rough, it needs a hand finish to make it smooth. Various types of strop dressings are available for the purpose of cleaning and conditioning the leather side of the strop. A canvas strop needs a daily hand finish to keep it in good condition. Accumulated grit is removed from a canvas strop by rubbing it with lather. To remove imbedded dirt from a leather strop, the leather strop is softened with lather and then rubbed with a pumice stone. After drying the strop is again rubbed with a dry pumice stone until smooth. After cleaning and drying a fresh application of strop dressing is applied to maintain the supple nature of the leather."


I get the hand finish. I belive that's just working it over with your palm to smoothen it out. It's the part where they are talking about scrubbing the strops with lather and rubbing them with a pumice stone that's got me. I never heard anything like this before. :)
 
wadeF2.jpg


Keep trying.... just be a bit more careful.
 
As a barber friend once told me, and I mentioned in some other thread, if you practice on a balloon you shouldn´t have any problems.
 
Today was my second attempt and it went better. I was actually removing stuble. :) I tried to keep the blade around 30 degrees and that did the trick. I have some spots around my chin and neck line that could use more work, but I wasn't going to push it. :) When I started shaving my throat I felt a little dizzy like "OMG what am I doing! What if I slice my throat open!" haha. No blood today. :)

I emailed Spark and requests a Straight Razor forum. I doubt he'd do it though. :) It would be fun to have a good resource for straight razor shaving, and talk to other straight razor shavers.
 
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