New - thinking of a cut throat

D

Dom

Member
Joined
Apr 13, 2016
Location
Melbourne
Hi all,

I'm thinking of diving into the cut throat (or straight blade?) world.

Any tips would be helpful!

Where to get a good cheapish blade to try it out to see if it's something I'd like to continue. How to sharpen, and anything else you recommend..

Regards,
Dom
 
Anything you want to know about straights, @Mark can tell you. From what I've heard on the forum, he's pretty busy at the moment. I think he sells shave ready straights for a pretty good price and can give advice on maintaining your razor too. I'm sure he will pop his head up on here shortly. There are also other members around who have a wealth of knowledge to share.
Best of luck with your new journey!
 
Welcome aboard Dom, you've certainly come to the right place. I'll leave the advice to others with far more experience than me but enjoy the ride!
 
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Hi @Dom, and welcome.
First and foremost, you need a blade that is "shave ready". Most, if not all straights bought are not actually sharp enough for a good comfortable shave. There are a few places that will sell you a blade, that they have first honed (sharpened) them selves however most are all overseas. (Straight Razor Designs, Wipped Dog etc) Within Australia, there are a number of folks with day jobs that would be willing to hone up a blade for you. They will hopefully chime in here and offer such a service. The best known about these parts is Mark as Normie has mentioned. I would send him a PM but yes, give him a few days to respond. He can sell you a shave ready razor, with a free second hone, for anyone budget. This starts at a Golden Dollar for about $20, though to several hundreds of dollars. Let him know your budget and you are away.

Sharpening (Honing) is something that you should forget about until you get your shaving to a good level. Learning to hone isn't hard, but trying to learn to shave with a poorly honed straight isn't a good idea. Your face will never forgive you. There is a little more to this (Crox pasted strop) but don't worry about it for now. This is why it is good to buy from the likes of Mark as you get the free second hone.

So, once you have a razor, you will also need basic shave kit;
Quality shave soap (I would recommend Shaver Heaven, an Aussie, family run small business making world class soaps that are very easy to use).
Brush - There are many, and you might want to grab a Semoge from Shaver Heaven if you are buying a soap.
Strop - This is a strip of leather that you use before and after each shave to keep the edge on your razor clean and keen. For this I would suggest the "poor mans" stop from whippedog.com Strops, like blades can get very expensive at the high end of the market, but you may find you cut your first stop whilst learning to stop correctly - hence the cheap option to start.
Optional, but well advised is a post shave balm to sooth and calm the skin as the first few shaves can be rought. Again, I can recommend Shaver Heavens, or if your budget stretches that far, PAA Aftershave & Colones are also excellent Al Fin is my favourite.
Then all you need then is a bit of growth, and a lot of practice.

There are countless other options out there, and very likely a bunch of blokes will make you some more suggestions.
 
Welcome @Dom - plenty of good advice given already for sourcing blades and shave gear. Well worth working out your budget first. If you're not a wet shaver (using soap and brush) then it's another skill to get under your belt along with using a straight. The soap and brush (besides a great experience) will actually help you have a great shave. Properly lathered soap will both protect the face with cushion and glide for the razor (along with softening your facial hairs).

I'd also suggest doing some research by reading many different sites and opinions. There's a fair bit out there and you'll pick it up as you get into it. Just search the forum here for info as a start as there's been some great advices posted previously. It's worth watching the series of videos out together by @razorguy about Maestro Livi from Italy as they will cover a lot of ground in a helpful way.

Have fun -the journey is as enjoyable as the destination. [emoji106]
 
Welcome @Dom, some great info has been put up there by @Sxot.
Something else I would mention would be to maybe try a shavette, there are many decent ones out there. The best brands would probably be Dovo, Feather Artist and Parker.
These are normally half the price of a real straight, but they can give pretty much the same feel/experience of shaving with actual straight. They do of course take double edge razor that has been snapped in half.
Then if you find it to be comfortable to use, I would then say go on to a Gold Dollar from Mark (cheap as chips) and then you can really get the hang of one. This would also be a good time to learn how to strop your straight properly.
After you get the hang of all that, that's when you would probably get a proper straight and then just keep building on your experience.
Here are some helpful sites (some are where you can buy stuff, and other are videos and info):
https://www.shaverhut.com.au/
http://shaverheaven.com.au/ (great soaps for straights)
http://int.classicshaving.com/guide...;___store=new_intl&___from_store=new_intl
http://www.artofmanliness.com/2009/10/06/how-to-straight-razor-shave/

Good luck with everything and enjoy your time here (y)
 
Welcome @Dom - I am sure you will have a great time here!

A lot of fantastic advice already here, so all I can add is: enjoy the journey (y)
 
Korbz said:
Afternoon Dom, welcome mate.

Would be great to know what gear you're currently using as well (soaps/creams/gels/brush/razor etc.)?

I'll leave to others on advice around straights :)
Click to expand...

Hey, thanks guys! Didn't expect such a fast and good response!

I'm currently just using supermarket bought crap:
http://www.epharmacy.com.au/product.asp?id=39370&source=GS&gclid=CI_lg6S4j8wCFU9xvAodmLMACw
https://www.woolworths.com.au/Shop/...isposable-xtreme-3-sensitive&productId=704085
I will then use some sort of moisturizer after, kinda trying all different one's to find something my skin actually likes.

I am hoping to learn to use straight blade for a number of reasons.
1. The closest shave I've ever had was in Philippines from a straight.
2. My skin get's pretty irritated after a shave. If I shave every day, it get's better, but I usually only shave once or twice a week to once a month (or currently January was my last shave, as I've been traveling). Obviously trying better quality shave soap, and after shave will also help this. And you guys seem to care about all aspects!
3. Reduce wastage.
4. Over time, save money (but this is just a bonus), unless I get the bug, and collect stuff...

Thanks for the info guys!
 
Dom said:
I am hoping to learn to use straight blade for a number of reasons.
1. The closest shave I've ever had was in Philippines from a straight.
2. My skin get's pretty irritated after a shave. If I shave every day, it get's better, but I usually only shave once or twice a week to once a month (or currently January was my last shave, as I've been traveling). Obviously trying better quality shave soap, and after shave will also help this. And you guys seem to care about all aspects!
3. Reduce wastage.
4. Over time, save money (but this is just a bonus), unless I get the bug, and collect stuff...
Click to expand...
1. After a good wet shave using any decent brush, soap and razor you'll get a smooth shave. A lot has to do with technique. The barber than shaved you knew his equipment. If you use a few simple wet shaving gear (brush, soap and razor) then you can get as good - sometimes better - shave than from visiting a barber once off.

2. Using shave gel and poor shaving technique due to what a multi blade razor forces you into, of course you'll get irritated skin!!! (And ingrown hairs, etc) Once again, a simple wet shaving setup with make your face feel a million times better after a shave.

3 & 4. Certainly true if you keep it simple. But many like to dabble and explore to make wet shaving into a hobby. Not all do, there are some here who have a simple set up (whether with straight or safety razor) and keep costs & wastage very low. But others enjoy the process and are prepared to make it into a hobby. It's your choice but there's plenty of rewards which ever way you go.
 
Yeah... save money. Sure. You will IF you don't contract a RAD.
RAD is very contagious and the simple fact you have posted here means you have very likely caught it already.

RAD - Razor (and other shaving equipment) Acquisition Disorder.

If you can manage to avoid CAD, yes, you'll save money. Straight razors (cut throats) are cheap in the long run (since all you do is just keep it sharp) but expensive to set-up. They also have a long learning period (most agree 100 shaves) before the shaves are considered really good and irritation free so be warned. A lot of folks give up on straights too soon because of this. Don't let this put of you though... they are well worth it.

So, ignoring RAD a good, but cost effective set-up to last you decades might look like the following and includes my personal bias. I am no expert, and there are literally thousands of options! This just a list as an example.

Soap: Tub of Shaver Heaven $20 (plus postage). You only have to say the word "Lather" and you get world class glide and protection. Not sure how long this would last and I doubt anyone has used just one soap exclusivly! Maybe three months of daily shaves? Depends on how much you use each save. Some folks (me) load way more than is required because soap is cheap and I don't want to run out mid shave.

Brush: Semogue 820 - $27 from Shaver Heaven (or other places but buying the soap at the same place saves on postage). Excellent brush but it will be a little scratchy for the first 20-30 shaves when it become awesomely soft and sublime.

Razor: Friodur INOX NOS (New Old Stock) - $50 to $100. PM Mark as mentioned earlier and he will make a recommendation but this is a good priced blade.

Aftershave: You choose - maybe Shave Heaven Balm $15. At the moment I love Phoenix Artisans Accoutrements Aftershave & Colone. ($40) It includes goodies such as Alum, Witch Hazel, Rose Water, Menthol and simply works.

Strop: Tri-Strop XL - $50 It is hard to go past this guy. Small business, has a second cloth strop for addition of abrasive powders etc.

That's it for now, but soon (couple of weeks of daily shaving) you will begin to think the razor isn't so good any more.

Pasted Strop: By putting some abrasive paste on the third element of your tri-strop, you can clean the edge up fast.
Crox paste: $20

That should get you through a few months. Once that stops working, and it will, you can send it out for honing $30, or hone it yourself. This is where things can get murky and expensive. You have the synthetic stone option, or the rabbits hole of natural stones. You are looking at around $500 for a full hone-setup but this is pretty a once in a life time purchase. Unless you get HAD..... hone acquisition disorder....

Anyway, as I said before, I am no expert, and there are literally thousands of options! This just a list as an example, but it should give you an idea of what is/can be involved in straight razors.
 
So tell me all grain or gloop from a can. One is brewing, the other is "can opening".

Straight razor shaving is a bit like all grain beer. Requires dedication and attention to detail but rewards you in the end.
 
By the way @Dom welcome to the rabbit hole. It is easy to cure RAD, HAD and even SAD but the withdrawals are not worth it. RAD - remove Ebay from your favourites, HAD - I'm working on a cure for that but it is difficult to swallow and SAD, just buy a crockpot.
If none of that made any sense it will within a week of being here. :)
 
bald as said:
By the way @Dom welcome to the rabbit hole. It is easy to cure RAD, HAD and even SAD but the withdrawals are not worth it. RAD - remove Ebay from your favourites, HAD - I'm working on a cure for that but it is difficult to swallow and SAD, just buy a crockpot.
If none of that made any sense it will within a week of being here. :)
Click to expand...

Funny you should mention this. I have been on a soap sabbatical for a few weeks now. All good, and last night after winning another bargain razor (it was too!!) that I really didn't need (it was dam cheap!), I have deleted my saved searches and automatic email updates. So that should be it for SAD, and RAD. Awaiting the arrival of my first hone - a Jnat, so I guess that ride is about to begin! I do hope to nip it in the bud though. It occurred to me that really puts me on a full equipment wide sabbatical...just not sure I am quite ready to go there just yet.
 
bald as said:
So tell me all grain or gloop from a can. One is brewing, the other is "can opening".

Straight razor shaving is a bit like all grain beer. Requires dedication and attention to detail but rewards you in the end.
Click to expand...

All grain! You obviously are too by your "can opening" comment :) Been at it on and off for about 8 years.
 
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