Thread: Hello from a newbie!

Hi everybody,
I am new to the world of straight razor's and will most probably have tons of questions for you shaving guru's.
Let me start with a simple one.
Do you think it would be a good deal to buy 1 king cutter and a 1 carbo magnetic for 50$ the pair? They would serve me to learn honing skills.
Thanks
Looking forward to your replys.

Welcome Fresh, you've come to a great forum with many long time, very experienced, straight shavers. They will give you sound advice. Valuations are not allowed on the forum, so some of the answer to your question will be left to you to decide. If I were you, I would save my money and use it toward a new or used professionally honed, shave ready razor. You can find them here in the classified section, all from members of this forum. You can find a new one, and get free professional honing "for life" on that razor as a Christmas Special at The Finest In Gentlemens Shaving And Grooming Needs.
Start by learning to shave with a shave ready razor and after mastering prep and technique and getting good shaves, then think about honing. Trying to learn prep, technique, and honing all at the same time can be overwhelming and leads to disillusionment. I can testify, I did it the hard way. Don't want to discourage you right here at the beginning, but you'll hear from more with the same experience of trying everything at once. When the shave isn't working, you can't isolate the problem. Too much learning curve and too many variables. You'll have plenty of opportunities to buy and restore old razors, but start with a nice shave ready one and build from there. Hope this helps. Again, welcome to SRP and hope you have a fun and rewarding straight razor experience. Best Regards and Good Luck on a new adventure. Howard

Hey Fresh,

welcome to SRP!

Learn to shave and strop properly first. Learn to hone second. Remember that true learning comes from mastering incremental difficulties, NOT insurmountable difficulties.

+1 for all above me!!

fresh, buying those razors for practice honing is a great idea. But!!! if you are new to str8's, I assume you have a sharp razor already. If you don't, use that money to get one. You have to have a baseline like anything else does, to get an idea what a true sharp razor is really like before you can ever hope to hone one to shave readiness.

Mastering the small incrementals of actually using a str8 takes months and months to do. Sadly, you can only practice those skills once a day, which is why it takes so dang long to get good at it.

Maxi said it very well, learn the art of shaving, then learn the art of honing.

I have the entire arsenal of hones now, and I have attempted to actually put a real bevel on a dull razor 7 times. I have succeeded three times now. Just a tad over 33% ratio. Not too good. I have been working on the same razors over and over. I have about 30 razors now that ARE shave ready, that a myriad of masters have honed for me over the last year. I have a lot of sharp razors to compare too, and I realize that it will be quite a while before I can actually say I have some honing skill. Right now I have a little luck occasionally. I think you have to see it and actually be taught how to do it properly. I've been floundering on my own, so I'm being patient until another opportunity to be taught arrives. That might not be until next July, but oh well. Until then I'll play with my duds until I learn something on my own.

I ramble, sorry.. I tend to do that.

Good luck mate!!! Experimentation is the spice of life!!!

Mike

Thanks for the input guys but...Today I became the proud owner of a Dovo Bismarck shave ready blade, it's quite beautiful it's almost like a jewel but with an edge. I will be performing my first ever straight razor shave with it in the morning, I have a 10 day beard and I will most likely bleed.

Welcome to SRP, fresh and, I hope you didn't bleed too much during your first shave.
I made the concious decision not to cut myself when I first started on this journey and I can state, without fear of contradiction, that I have failed miserably in that endevour, however, I have also learned sooooo much from the experience.
Don't forget that we are all interested in your successes and would like to help where we can.
I wish you many smooth and blood free shaves.
Hang on and enjoy the ride.

Originally Posted by fresh

Thanks for the input guys but...Today I became the proud owner of a Dovo Bismarck shave ready blade, it's quite beautiful it's almost like a jewel but with an edge. I will be performing my first ever straight razor shave with it in the morning, I have a 10 day beard and I will most likely bleed.

I have a Dovo Bismarck, nice razor and it's my first spike point. Just be aware of that spike point toe.

I cannot tell you if that is a good deal (Valuations are not allowed on SRP) but what I CAN tell you is that unless you have a shave ready razor already, your 50 bucks would be FAR better spent getting something that is good to go.

Straightrazordesigns.com has some GREAT deals (and they are offering honing for life for the month of December) and the razors come all properly honed by Lynn himself (One of the best honemeisters in the world) so you can GUARANTEE that you will have a ninja sharp edge, I just got a 6/8 Dovo and their Latigo Strop on special....good deal IMHO

But if $ is tight there is a less expensive way,

Categories has the 48 dollar sight unseen deal which includes a truly shave ready razor, and a poor mans strop kit, it's a great way to get your feet wet with SR shaving

Hope this helps

Originally Posted by mcgyver74

I cannot tell you if that is a good deal (Valuations are not allowed on SRP) but what I CAN tell you is that unless you have a shave ready razor already, your 50 bucks would be FAR better spent getting something that is good to go.

Straightrazordesigns.com has some GREAT deals (and they are offering honing for life for the month of December) and the razors come all properly honed by Lynn himself (One of the best honemeisters in the world) so you can GUARANTEE that you will have a ninja sharp edge, I just got a 6/8 Dovo and their Latigo Strop on special....good deal IMHO

But if $ is tight there is a less expensive way,

Categories has the 48 dollar sight unseen deal which includes a truly shave ready razor, and a poor mans strop kit, it's a great way to get your feet wet with SR shaving

Hope this helps

I agree with you on Straight Razor Designs' package deals and Whipped Dog's deals too. I had I known when I first started SR shaving, I would not have purchased that dreaded shavette and gone right to a straight razor. Of course, I thought straight razors were ultra expensive until I started researching them and I found Straight Razor Designs and the package deals.

Hey mcgyver74, I got the same razor package as you!!

there well worth your time for some practice , welcome to srp and happy holidays