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Lynn
Obie
Obie: Perhaps more than anyone you’ve been responsible for the straight razor’s popularity worldwide. You’ve carved out a healthy niche for the jolly blade. Does your handiwork surprise you?
Lynn: In a way it does. Initially I wanted information for myself to learn how to hone my razors, after having sent them out for years and sometimes getting them back sharp and sometimes not. There was nothing on the Internet except for an old article by Arthur Boone and maybe one question on a blade forum. I thought, Let’s see if there are people out there with information about honing, and at the same time try to find some interested in preserving straight razor shaving.
Obie: The whole idea of straight razor shaving is incongruous with the modern lifestyle. Traditional shaving in general. Society insists on convenience to give us more time to do more things. The question is, "How much more do you want to do?" Straight razor shaving, because it consumes time and requires extraordinary effort, marches in the opposite direction. What does that tell you?
Lynn: I think society is looking for something like this. Our society has become fast-paced — "this is what people do . . . this is popular . . . this doesn’t take time . . ." Well, where does time go? This is directly in the face of modern society. And yet we realize there’s got to be more in life. So as we look for those distinct pleasures, the straight razor is the one that jumps out at guys.
Obie: We all have our reasons for using the straight razor. Mine go back to my twenties — not for financial reasons, or for looking cool. Rather, it was more my love for tradition, as well as the sense of belonging to the 19th Century, which I have always felt I do. What, then, drew you to the straight razor?
Lynn: When I got out of the Army, my grandfather took me to a barbershop and I had my first straight razor shave. For a 21-year-old kid, I was freaked out and I didn’t have to shave for two days afterwards. It was the whole experience and the smooth feeling of the face I fell in love with. Within a week I went to the Cutlery World shop in St. Louis and bought myself a straight razor without having a clue in how to use it.
Obie: What was the razor?
Lynn: An old Cutlery World. It’s like a Dovo "Best Quality" of forty years ago.
Obie: Was it a good shaver?
Lynn: Still have it. It’s been a good shaver. The biggest problem was me. I was told it was shave-ready. I took it to the mirror and butchered myself, like a lot of newbies, and my face got red and I cut my lip. So I’d send it out to be sharpened and it would come back — same thing. There was no one to teach me. I was using a 99-cent Barbasol shaving cream and it was drying up on my face. I had a strop, but I don’t know if I stropped all the time.
Obie: I once gave up straight razor shaving because of physical difficulties with my hands. Sold my three razors and strop. The first morning I walked into the shave den and found my razors and strop gone, I felt a profound sense of loss. Pain or no pain in my hands, that day I ordered a Dovo "Renaissance" and a strop from you. Did you ever contemplate giving up the straight shave?
Lynn: One time I got so close to the mirror, trying to see what I was doing, that the straight razor hit the mirror, bumped back, and cut my chin. At that point I thought why are you doing this? Just use a Trac II. What in the world is making you keep trying this? I put the razor down. Then I came back and tried it again. Unbelievable. This went on and off for about 20 years, from when I was 21 till I was around 40.
Obie: It was still the same razor? The Cutlery World.
Lynn: Yes, it was the only the razor I had.
Obie: Talk about a long engagement.
Lynn: That was the razor that got me to start the first Straight Razor Place. I said, "You know what, I’m tired of sending this thing out" — and we were living in Chicago at the time — and there was Corrado Cutlery. He was a nice little shave shop in downtown Chicago. I gave the razor to the guy and he was okay. That’s when I told myself I’ve got to learn how to sharpen this razor. So I went on a quest to try to find out information on how to sharpen my straight razors. There was nothing. It was unbelievable.
Obie: What words of wisdom, then, can you offer gentlemen on the verge of giving up?
Lynn: I would say before you give up talk to somebody. The optimal thing would be to sit with somebody who’s experienced and let him help you. Short of that, talk to him on the phone. Short of that, find Straight Razor Place, because here you have an environment of people who love to help others to be successful in straight razor shaving.
Obie: I think part of the problem is this hunger for instant gratification in our society that creates false expectations.
Lynn: Yes. People are so used to immediate results. They spend five minutes trying to learn and they become frustrated — "I can’t do this right now . . . I cant be good at it . . . I’m putting it down, because I’ve got a bad razor . . ." On and on. They’re going to blame it on everything except themselves. It’s just like anything else. You have to learn how to do something to be proficient at it.
Obie: So what do you suggest?
Lynn: If you can change those self expectations, if you can sit down with somebody or talk to somebody who can help you, and if you’ll put that little extra time and effort into it, you’d surprised how it will turn you around and make you happy.
Obie: You could have kept the pleasures of straight razor shaving to yourself and chosen not spread the gospel. You chose instead to open the gate. What drove you?
Lynn: I thought if it’s this hard for me to find information, let’s see if we can help other people. Let’s make some kind of environment and have some information available so that the next guy won’t go through the frustration that I did.
Obie: As a straight razor pioneer, did you have a plan to direct its course in a hesitant, ambivalent, and generally unresponsive society?
Lynn: I was older and didn’t know much about computers, but I thought the forum was the way to go. It started from scratch. There was nobody in there. I had to talk my kids into becoming members.
Obie: What was the original forum?
Lynn: This was Straight Razor Place on Yahoo. We moved it to the dot-com format as it became more popular. We left the Yahoo one open. If you go back and read from the very first posts on it, you can see how far this environment has come.
Obie: Obviously it was the ideal invitation to people interested in straight razor shaving.
Lynn: It presented an avenue where people could find information. In those days buyers and sellers on eBay had their e-mail addresses on their ads. I spent hours, weeks, and months inviting everybody who was buying and selling straight razors to come join the group — "Any information is welcome," and so on.
Obie: Who were some of the first members?
Lynn: One of our first members was a fellow named John West, who was a 30-year collector. I used to spend hours on the phone with him. He had some 3,000 razors. This is going back 13 or 14 years. He knew everything about straight razors. We still have members on SRP from the original group.
Obie: Looking at the forum now are you happy with what you see?
Lynn: I really am. Straight Razor Place is one of the few places that has stuck to the original reason to have a forum. It’s not there for individual recognition. It’s there to help people be successful at learning how to use the straight razor, how to be a wet shaver, and to help them pay it forward to help other people.
Obie: Part of what makes Straight Razor Place special is its civil tone, the mature tone — a place for ladies and gentlemen.
Lynn: It’s such a good environment. We don’t allow any trashing of vendors. No special agendas are presented. The forum is there to help people, to preserve the art of straight razor shaving, and to grow our population. This is the place to come if you want straight razor information. Am I happy about Straight Razor Place? Yes, I am. I’m very proud of that, not because of anything I did. I’m proud of it because of the wonderful membership and what they do.
Obie: What’s the forum’s membership count?
Lynn: I think we are around 34,000 or 35,000.
Obie: What are your thoughts on the changes taking place at SRP?
Lynn: Like any environment nothing stays the same. You can’t please all the people all the time. There’s a great group of moderators and mentors who run the forum and try to make it into the best place to be for straight razor shavers — and for all wet shavers. If the changes help, if they bring out more information, if it makes the environment more useable, let’s keep it up. Nothing stays the same.
Obie: While forming SRP you were also working on establishing Straight Razor Designs, your online store. What led to that?
Lynn: I never had any intention of having a store. Straight Razor Designs was started about eight years after we started the forum. The reason Straight Razor Designs was started was to introduce custom straight razors.
Obie: Would Mastro Livi have had anything to do with that?
Lynn: Yes. I met Mastro Livi over the Internet. I thought his were the most beautiful and incredible razors out there. I also found out we could introduce Mastro Livi razors into the U.S. So I started Straight Razor Designs as a little part time thing just to bring Mastro Livi razors into the U.S. That was the start of the custom razor boom. I’ve also been fortunate enough to travel to Italy and meet Mastro Livi.
Obie: Then came the big change in your life. I suppose you can credit fate.
Lynn: When I was laid off from the insurance company where I was an executive, I had a choice to make. Did I want to move all over the country again or did I want to make a commitment to the straight razor environment that I had spent the last 12 years of my life doing? I went into partnership with Don Addleman. We said, "Let’s build a great shop. Let’s go from being nothing to being a shop that everybody emulates. We only want to carry products in which we believe and the best products for wet shavers." That was only three years ago.
Obie: I’ve always been curious about this: you seem to fancy Dovo straight razors. I don’t think anyone carries more Dovos than Straight Razor Designs. Why is that? What in that razor attracts you?
Lynn: We like Dovo, Don and I. Dovo makes a consistently nice razor. The quality is typically decent. They do a nice job on the grinds. The razors take and hold an edge pretty well.
Obie: You also carry the Boker.
Lynn: The re-introduced Bokers have been good quality, good shaving razors. They’re a little more expensive than what we would like to see. We will only carry razors at Straight Razor Designs we feel are good quality razors.
Obie: You do carry some custom-made razors: Mastro Livi, Joe Chandler, and others. What are your thoughts on these razors? On custom razors in general?
Lynn: I think custom razors are one of the bright spots of the straight razor environment. I say that because it is a chance for artisan talent to make something that will last for generations. So the whole environment for custom straight razors is a great environment. It gives people the recognition for their talent, for taking a hunk of steel and making a beautiful work of art that shaves and will last generations. As we find more talented people to do that, the better it is for our environment.
Obie: Are we likely to see more custom straight razor makers?
Lynn: I think because of this whole wet shaving environment is turning into an industry, we’re going to see more custom razors. At the same time we’ll see more commercialism coming into our environment. You’re going to see more of everything. I totally expect every knife maker who thinks he can make a dollar to try his hand at making straight razors. Pen makers are spinning brushes. We see more people honing razors.
Obie: So then how far do we go with this?
Lynn: The key is who are going to be the guys who survive in the long run? Who makes the nicest stuff? Who makes the stuff that really shaves? It’s no different from looking at any razors on eBay that people can’t shave with. It’s like any other business, there’s good, there’s bad, and there’s people chasing the buck. Quality will always prevail and so will good people
Obie: Do you see any current stars among custom straight razor makers?
Lynn: Joe Chandler hasn’t made a razor in about a year, but he makes a really nice razor. Mastro Livi still makes phenomenal razors. Charlie Lewis makes a beautiful razor, and he does things others haven’t done. Robert Williams, our own Max Sprecher, and Alex Jacques make great razors. Also Bob Allman makes a great hollow grind custom razor.
Obie: I love what Robert Williams does.
Lynn: Yes, beautiful razors. Devin Thomas — we just introduced his razors — makes a nice razor, too.
Obie: I’m really impressed with the razors our own Maximillian makes.
Lynn: I think Max’s style is great. Max has that European style of making a razor.
Obie: Clean lines. There’s a formal grace to them. Sophistication.
Lynn: Yes.
Obie: What gives the custom razor its distinction?
Lynn: The thing about custom straight razors is this: People can do a lot of things. If you look at Alex Jacques, Alex makes phenomenal works of art. You have everything from Alex’s level of art to the simple beauty of a Max Sprecher razor, or a Maestro Livi razor, or a Charlie Lewis. They all make great art — Max Sprecher, Mastro Livi, Alex Jacques, Charlie Lewis, and some of the others. Having that art part is very important, as is making a great shaving razor.
Obie: Of course, we can’t forget personal preference — by the makers and the buyers.
Lynn: The biggest thing about straight razors is the personal preference element. Your idea of art is not going to be the same as my idea of art. You might like so and so and I might like something that’s not much to look at but that it’s a great shaver. From what I’ve seen most people like custom razors to be at least 7/8 inches wide.
Obie: How does the growth of custom razor makers reflect on the world of the straight razor in general?
Lynn: The more custom razor makers we have the more our environment is going to grow. In turn, the more we grow the environment the more we support custom makers, the more shops, the more people to hone razors. That’s a pretty basic philosophy of mine and that’s why I don’t push the business as much. I push the growth of people being successful using straight razors. The growth of the population is the most important thing.
Obie: How does the rise of custom razor makers reflect on the mega names like Thiers-Issard, Dovo, Wacker, Revisor, and some of the others?
Lynn: When you have custom makers out there and they produce the beautiful works of art we see, in a lot of cases it forces the people who mass merchandise razors to elevate their products the same.
Obie: Are there still stashes left of the new old stock Filarmonicas, Pumas, Torreys, Dubl Ducks, and other great names of the past?
Lynn: It’s a possibility. Is it as great a possibility as it was five or ten years ago probably not.
Obie: If you were to have one razor, what would that be?
Lynn: I don’t know if I can ever have one razor. The problem is I shave with so many magnificent razors. There are hundreds of razors out there that will give you a good shave. Then all of a sudden one out of a hundred gives you a phenomenal shave, and then the next one out of a hundred gives you a phenomenal shave. The difference is so incrementally small, but yet so recognizable when you shave.
Obie: Give me some names.
Lynn: I would be hard pressed to. If I only had one, I’d keep the Mastro Livi because of sentimental reasons, because he made it for me. Or would I say something else?
Obie: How about some traditional names.
Lynn: I absolutely love the old Bokers, or the pre-World War Two Henckels. I love King Razors from Indiana, Pennsylvania. I love the old Dubl Duck Wonderedge. The old C-Mon. Where do I stop? Which one?
Obie: I find beauty hard to resist, and beauty in the straight razor is especially intoxicating. Let me shift gears here and throw out a question that often creates controversy. There’s always talk on Baby Bottom Smooth (BBS). Should BBS be the ultimate goal of the shaver, or should more emphasis be put on a comfortable shave with or without BBS? In other words, does BBS at any cost make sense?
Lynn: I’ve compared a shave with a multi-blade razor with a straight razor. The multi-blade razor is obviously a comfortable shave; however, I don’t think I can get as smooth a shave with equal number of passes as I can with the straight razor. So to me it’s always been the comfort of the shave. When you have the technique of the straight razor or the double edge down, I think you get both the comfort of the shave and that sticky smooth feeling on your skin.
Obie: Is there a bottom line, so to speak?
Lynn: You know what? You can just do a single-pass shave every day and it will look respectable to other people. It’ll be comfortable and you’d be good to go. The second pass will do the baby-butt smooth.
Obie: I’ll channel that question into honing. How much importance do you put on the HHT, the hanging hair test? To me, the shave is what matters.
Lynn: Yes, it is the shave that matters. The hanging hair test does not give you all the information. If you have thin hair, or haven’t washed your hair that day and it’s oily, it may not cut as well. When I send somebody a razor that has oil on it, we always have people trying to cut hair without wiping off the oil and stropping the razor. The hanging hair test will tell you that the razor can cut hair. It will not tell you how comfortably that razor shaves your face. So the value of the hanging hair test is diminished. The value of anything short of a shaving test is somewhat diminished.
Obie: Let me throw some general questions your way. What are your preferred soaps and creams?
Lynn: I really enjoy Caraceni. I like Castle Forbes and compare all the creams and soaps to it because of the suds. I love Trumper soaps and creams. All are good. Love Truefitt & Hill’s soaps and creams. Martin de Candre is a fantastic soap — big suds, nice cushion. It’s up there among the best. There’s so much good stuff out there. A tube of the old formula Palmolive, or Old Spice shaving cream — those are good. And I like our soaps.
Obie: Your preferred strops?
Lynn: You know what, how can I not prefer our own Straight Razor Design strops? From a quality and value standpoint — I may be a little prejudiced — I think we’ve developed one of the best strop lines in the word. We have created strops that have draw preference for every individual. The quality of the leather and workmanship is superior. I really like our strops, because there’s one out there for everybody. And we just started making kangaroo strops. And I like Kanayama, too. He makes a fine quality cordovan strop.
Obie: Hones?
Lynn: I think you can’t go wrong with the Naniwa Super Stone line of hones. Or Shapton Glass hones. The Norton 4000/8000 stone. My preferred bevel-setting hone is the Naniwa Chosera stone. My preferred finishing stone is probably the Naniwa Super Stone 12K. I have an Escher that’s top of the line, and several Japanese finishers. There are other good stones out there.
Obie: What’s your general honing routine?
Lynn: Normally I use the circle method that I have developed. I found that to be the most consistent and reliable process for attaining great shaving edges. There are many posts on Straight Razor Place that describe that method, and there are several videos.
Obie: For those who want to hone their razors — not professionals — what hones do you recommend? I use the Norton 4000/8000, plus a Thuringian finisher, and they seem to work well for me. I might branch out to something else. Or should I?
Lynn: For those who plan to hone a lot, I normally recommend the Naniwa Chosera 1K for setting bevels, the Norton 4K and 8K for honing, and the Naniwa Super Stone 12K for finishing.
Obie: Finally, do you have advice for anyone contemplating shaving with the straight razor?
Lynn: My advice is to try it, but before you do, learn something about it. I would encourage everybody to try it after they’ve learned a little bit about it. And learn to respect it rather than jump into it with expectations greater than your abilities. I would encourage everyone to not only try straight razor shaving, but also wet shaving in general. Once you master the art and the craft of straight razor shaving, your daily shave will become a pleasure instead of a chore. You will look forward to it every day.
