Who uses a straight razor?

Shaving with straight razors sounds interesting to me, but I think I'm too much of a coward to begin with it.
I'm already shaving a few months with a Wilkinson Quattro, and I think it's great. I did electrical before that, two minutes and done, but that wasn't smooth.
Now it takes me at least ten minutes, but my face stays smooth for one day, and doesn't have visible stubbles the second day. It's gives me also less razor burn than electrical shaving.
As far as cutting myself goes, maybe I get a tiny bleeding spot every two shaves. They stop bleeding very fast, and a shaving lotion really quickens the healing process (two days max.).

Shaving was a burden for me, now I almost look forward to it. It's very relaxing :) .
 
I've used a straight razor now for about 12 years. Love it. I also love not buying razor blades etc. ... just a $2 pat of shaving soap to put into a mug every 3 months or so.

After a while, you do get faster ... but never so fast as to risk taking your ear/nose off. Still, I shave in about 5 minutes these days. Best after a quick shower, in which the beard has had a chance to really soften up.

Tom.
 
I hardly ever cut myself, with a straight razor. I actually nicked myself today. Prior to that I gave myself a full blade width red line, but it didn't bleed.

I find a straight razor much more comfortable, all the beard waste clears off to the top of the blade. They can cram as much techno as they want on a multiblade, but they all entrain stubble, and it is irritating at times.

Once I went on a business trip, that has media conferences each morning. I had inserted a new 2 blade in my razor prior to the trip. I got up, shaved, and nicked myself all over the face. I flet pretty stupid about it. Second day same thing. And so it went. There was something wrong witht he blade, and it was nicking me repeatedly. My fault for not having test driven the blade. That sort of thing never happens with a razor you sharpen yourself, or even the replaceble blade straight razor that are simpler, and use top quality german blades.

My point is just that you can cut yourself with anything.

I only take about 2 minutes to shave, I'm always in a rush about it. Three girls, one bathroom.
 
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I have Crookes that's about a century old which was my first straight razor. I also have a Challenge, a BBS Polsilver Solingen and a Kiebitz. I haven't shaved with them in a while (head or face) since I have neither the time to these days and they pretty much all need to be honed at this point. My favorite soaps are currently Speick stick grated into a bowl, Nancy Boy and I have actually taken rather a shine to the AoS sandalwood cream.
 
I use straight razors.
I shave my face, and head, daily.
Straight razors are my main hobby these days,
I have too many to mention, but my Fillies and my customs are especially dear to me.
Those and my Helhestrand MK's
 
When I started shaving back around 1981 I decided to use a straight. I've never been one to do what everyone else does so I followed my anachronistic tendencies and bought a couple of Solingen straights. I loved shaving with them but somewhere along the way they disappeared along with a lot of other things in my last divorce.
Last year I bought this one for my birthday to begin shaving the right way again.


I was in heaven. Or so I thought.
Recently I received this Carbo-Magnetic hollow ground beauty and it shaves unbelievably.:eek: I can't even feel it shaving it's so smooth.
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At the same time I received this R.Rodgers and son Sheffield wedge. It has quickly become my favorite of all time. A man should not be this confident when putting something this sharp up to his neck but this blade gives me that confidence.
389974_210211929133444_1432491391_n.jpg

1005629_210317592456211_1246071319_n.jpg


BTW, having a razor that has been professionally honed makes all the difference in the world. These have all been honed by Unit and they are a dream to use.
 
protourist said:
BTW, having a razor that has been professionally honed makes all the difference in the world. These have all been honed by Unit and they are a dream to use.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the kind words.

I have to agree with you about proper honing, and I am not just saying that to promote myself. My first three razors were from an estate sale and I restored them myself. I considered myself a hot-stuff sharpening guru that had been sharpening knives for over 20 years (and prided myself on achieving results that performed all the cool-kid parlor tricks like whittling hair, tree-topping arm hair, push-cutting toilet paper, etc), BUT those three razors taught me what I did NOT know.

I sharpened them up and polished them with 14,000 grit abrasives and went to shaving only to find a high level of irritation and frustration. Shortly after I received a professionally honed razor that further showed me that there were a few problems with my methods/results. A professional razor honer in another state offered some advice, and eventually did a professional review and evaluation of my work. Since that time I have learned a bit (much of it the hard way)...and I continue to learn all the time.

I share this only to demonstrated that razors and knives are a bit different, and to hopefully help others to consider comparing their honing results with those of someone that hones razors regularly (I would be happy to recommend people other than me if you like).

Have a great day, and a great shave;)
 
The w(edge) looks amazing protourist and I've heard from RJ that unit does good work... :D;)

Unit, I've got an old Boker King Cutter that I've just refurbished a bit by de-gunking it. I've got these lapping films: http://www.leevalley.com/en/Wood/page.aspx?p=68943&cat=1,43072 ; are they sufficient for getting a usable shaving edge started or do I need something else?...

Thanks,
Czech
 
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Czech,

I have never used lapping films for razors so please temper everything I am about to say with that in mind. I have, however, used diamonds to hone razors.

What I can tell you about diamonds is that they are very aggressive. What I can tell you about razors is that they are very delicate. My results with diamond abrasives were not to my liking. I got very high levels of sharpness, but the edges were aggressive and harsh (not smooth). Opinions vary with diamonds and razors, but I prefer edge leading strokes and gentler abrasives.

You may find that there are many opinions and preferences with honing razors. The only way to know for sure is to try things and see how YOU like the results;)
 
Thanks for your input unit! I think I'll mount the lapping film on some glass and work through the grits and see what sort of results I get...

Typically my knives get edge pro treatment or paper wheels but this old straight razor has me feeling like it's out of my league so far!
 
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