Anyone use a straight razor? Thinking about starting.

[OrbitalEllipses]

Cold shave?

[CK_Bladesmith]

Dry shave ftw.

[Andrew025]

[Giccin]

Originally Posted by Dimman

Damnit, Geekin'!

Saw you posting, and was imagining something rather um... erotic.

Instead: nothing and still a pinch-faced pedo avatar.

Some chicks need to post up some pics of shaving with a straight razor (legs are fine). I think that might possibly be hot as hell.

Maybe.

Originally Posted by gramicci101

They're out there. Women have a separate section of straightrazorplace.com just for them. They normally use a 4/8" or 3/8" razor though, as it's much more maneuverable around certain areas.

I'm good with just the plain o' disposable razor blades. lol I get a close shave every time with no burns or injuries. Unless... my leg slips and my razor ends up going in a diagonal and I end up getting a huge cut.

Which has happened before. lol

[OrbitalEllipses]

Originally Posted by CK_Bladesmith

Dry shave ftw.

[suaveflooder]

Originally Posted by Giccin

I'm good with just the plain o' disposable razor blades. lol I get a close shave every time with no burns or injuries. Unless... my leg slips and my razor ends up going in a diagonal and I end up getting a huge cut.



Which has happened before. lol

I thought the same (close shave), but it's noticably closer with a straight blade (well, fake, straight blade)

[dem00n]

Originally Posted by gramicci101

Hot water relaxes your skin. The whole "opens/closes your pores" thing is a myth, because there are no muscles controlling your pores. Your skin and hair are softer and more pliant after being washed in hot water though.

I stay away from the shave arguments, mostly because it's literally bathroom science, but this is a good article...

http://www.artofmanliness.com/2010/0...water-shaving/

[OrbitalEllipses]

Anecdotal, at best.

[strat61caster]

Originally Posted by suaveflooder

lol, going to try the hand thing, but what if I need more? It took me so long that I found myself having to re-lather. Just mix more every time?

For me it depends on the soap, Mitchells Wool Fat generally holds enough lather that I can do three passes without re-lathering, I've got one soap that can't hold a lather for shit and another that's pretty decent but I haven't used in awhile because it's rather harsh on my skin...

The goal of lathering is work soap into the bristles of the brush, you shouldn't need to return to the bowl after your done, but it takes practice and a good soap that agrees with your setup (water quality can have a huge impact, I've noticed it's harder for me to build up a good lather at my gf's).

There's no problem with going back and relathering other than it takes time and your face will dry out and the skin/hairs may 'harden up', like has been said before the water/soap balance is tricky, adding water is easier, having too much means you have to put elbow grease into it.

I don't think I got a decent lather for about 2 weeks when I first started, but two passes with a DE was livable compared to what I was doing before (about once a week with a cartridge)

This stuff is incredibly anecdotal and once again, I'm mediocre at best. I agree with most that a hot shave is better than cold though, tried it once and it wrecked me, started using hot water halfway through, also rinsing my face between passes helped a lot, you get the chance to feel where you've still got a lot of growth left.

[OrbitalEllipses]

Originally Posted by strat61caster

rinsing my face between passes helped a lot, you get the chance to feel where you've still got a lot of growth left.

1000x this.

[bkblitzed]

like a man

[King Tut]

Originally Posted by King Tut

Is OP dead yet?

Been a couple days now. Just wanted to check.

[suaveflooder]

Almost been a month! Shaves are easy now, almost natural. Much cleaner shave than with a standard razor. I'm going to keep using what I have. The wife already knows that I want a real blade from the 1800's for Christmas. STOKED! GREAT hobby. Anyone who considers trying, it's totally worth it!

[gramicci101]

A real blade will take some caring for, but that's part of the fun. In addition to the razor you'll need a nice leather strop and some leather conditioner to take care of the strop. You can find vintage strops, too. Dubl Duck is a pretty sought-after brand.

For the razor itself, there are certain things you need to consider before buying one.

First, what size do you want? Razor sizes are expressed in 1/8" increments, measured from the blade to the spine. I consider a 5/8 blade to be a pretty decent all-around blade. Some people like 6/8, some go up to 11/8, which is like shaving with an axe.

Second, what kind of grind to you want on the blade? This is expressed in fractions of a full hollow grind and describes the amount of taper to the blade when looked at from the end. It goes from a full hollow, through 1/2 hollow and 1/4 hollow, to wedge, which is straight-sided. There are also singing or frameback razors, which is basically a spine and a blade, with no taper at all. The grind of the blade will tell you how sensitive it is. A higher grind blade, like a full hollow or a singing razor, will be much more sensitive. But they're also much easier to bend the blade out of whack. I prefer a 1/2 or 1/4 hollow grind.

Thirdly, the point, or the end of the blade. A round point will be the most user-friendly as far as not cutting yourself up with it. Some people prefer a square point, even though now there's a sharp corner at the tip of the blade. Others prefer a barber's notch, which is supposed to help you maneuver around your nose and other small areas.

This link has a lot of good information about the various parts of a razor.
http://straightrazorplace.com/srpwik...straight_razor

Mine is middle of the road. 5/8, 1/2 hollow, round point, with a slight smile to the edge. I figured it was best to start with something that wasn't too extreme, and I've never needed more.

Stropping your razor is fine, you'll do that a lot. If it needs to be honed, send it out to a professional; it's not very expensive. With as fine as these blades are, it's real easy to mess up the edge accidentally.