All About Pocket Knives

Do you guys who collect razors, use them? How should I get started? I have razor that came from my great grandfather. I also have a newer strop.

Beginners guide to shaving with a straight razor ---► http://shavelibrary.com/index.php/Begin ... or_shaving

Straight Razor Place Forum ---► http://straightrazorplace.com/ (Say hi to Owd Wullie. I think that's where he hangs out nowadays.)

eveled wrote:Do you guys who collect razors, use them? How should I get started? I have razor that came from my great grandfather. I also have a newer strop.

.......I have my great grandfather's straight razor, too, it's a MONARCH(1888-1892).....what brand is your's???......... ................

It is a Keen Shaver, Wade & Butcher Sheffield England.

Thanks for the help. I managed to get through a shave, I'm not bleeding. So I will call it a success.

Not sure I'll be giving up my safety razor anytime soon. It came from my Dad's father, I've been using it for 30+ years, and it was old when I got it.

Been using straights for several years now. Learning curve can be painful. My advice is to get a professionally sharpened blade to learn on. May sound crazy but the sharper the blade, the easier the shave.

Blade angle is everything. Try to keep the blade almost flat against your skin. Use a good soap and take your time learning. I use Van Der Hagen shave soap available from Walgreens. It's cheap and does a great job for me. Lots of good info and some mis-info on youtube. Just remember, men shaved with those things for several hundred years before King Gillette came along.

I can do a two pass shave in 10 minutes nowadays if I'm of a mind. Don't usually run it that fast but I can if I need to.

.......I tried twice with my great grandpa's old monarch razor, but I couldn't afford the BANDAIDS!!!.............. .........

I don't, but I gave it a try some time back with razors Willie loaned me.

You cannot just pick up an old razor, strop it and shave. It needs to be properly sharpened, as Willie said, before you can just hone and shave with it.

I had a professional hot towel barber shave once in New Orleans at a shop called Aiden Gill For Men.

One thing they did that I adopted and still do, is use a pre-shave like witch hazel. I've also used a lemon oil based pre-shave, but I prefer the witch hazel. Just ordered a new bottle this week.

Witch hazel is an astringent. It both softens your beard and tightens your skin, which reduces the chance of nicks.

Actually, some sites recommend shaving with nothing but hot water and witch hazel, no soap at all.

Charlie, who still needs to return Willie's two razors.

I use straight razors. Not much of a collector, though. I have eight that I rotate through.
As others have said, you need to start with a professionally honed razor.
Talk to Glen at www.gemstarcustoms.com He's done all mine for me.

For advice, check out the straight razor section of www.theshaveden.com

jerryd6818 wrote:Beginners guide to shaving with a straight razor ---► http://shavelibrary.com/index.php/Begin ... or_shaving

Straight Razor Place Forum ---► http://straightrazorplace.com/ (Say hi to Owd Wullie. I think that's where he hangs out nowadays.)

Jerry, last I knew straight razor place is now only accessible via facebook. That link goes to a GoDaddy "buy this domain name" type window.

LOL Charlie.

I'd forgotten about those razors. I will share that I have two Robeson "New Science Concave" 5/8 razors. One square point and one round. BOTH are excellent shavers. Honed up beautifully and blow the whiskers off. They act like a much heavier grind razor without the weight. Mr R had it together with that idea.

Glen Mercurio at GENSTAR is good people. He will definitely treat you right.

Steve and Jerry, I don't fool with SRP any more. The site is up as http://www.straightrazorpalace.com seems the owners and the webmaster had a disagreement. Either way, I don't mess with them. A new forum has been opened at https://wetshaversworkshop.com/index.php