SMF

The films I have are also non-adhesive, it would seem a royal pain in the neck to deal with having the sticky back completely free of debris. I've also heard that mirror or thick glass works well with films. At this point I'm very comfortable in my honing stroke on the coti. I've moved on to just us...

Hi Matt,
Where your lapping films sticky backed or did you use water to hold it to the surface. Speaking of surfaces what did you use?

I'm really taking my time with honing, I now know that I should have probably started with a lower grit than the coticule but for now it helps develop proper technique and recognize the feedback the razor provides as it glides over the stone. I managed to drop the razor and catch it against the coti...

missing clip: he shaves her

thanks Pete, I did a little more honing over the weekend and I can tell i'm making progress. The blade now shaves arm hair at the heel and tip but not quite as sharp in the middle. I think that practicing an hour at a time has helped maintain my composure and patience. If I NEEDED to have the straig...

Pete, Thanks for your detailed information. It is very much appreciated and hope that it helps someone else along in their straight honing journey. You mentioned that the dry coticule is around 12k grit. Right now i'm producing a milky slurry on the coticule (w/ slurry stone) in order to get it to c...

My go to razor, a high-quality, precise shaving instrument.
enjoy!

Pete, thanks for confirming my suspicions about pastes. I've read that after any honing stone and before stropping , the pastes work very well. I've also noticed that the hanging strop should be left pasteless while paddle strops are pasted. Does this mean i should have 2 paddle strops, 1 for 1 diam...

Chris, Ray, Mike, Thanks for your advice and direction. I'm going to try my hand at honing for the time being. I picked up a belgian yellow coticule w/ slurry stone and have given the straight a few beginner passes. I've been very careful not to put any pressure, going slowly to ensure even x patter...

welcome William, I think you'll have much success with DE wet shaving. It sounds like your beard isn't very coarse , thick or curly which makes it a bit easier to shave. That being said, you should pay attention to a few things... Face prep - try to shave after a hot shower, letting plenty of water ...

done.

this thing looks like it would be good for applying lather to larger areas like your back, legs or your pet yak

welcome fiedler, I agree that for your beard type you might want to go to a sharper blade, perhaps feathers. Before trying feathers you might want to try an XTG (across the grain pass). So after one with the grain pass, you turn the razor 90degrees and go across like from your nose toward your ear. ...

Michael, I also love feathers and that is my go to blade. It took a few other blades to arrive at that conclusion. I would suggest you order a sampler pack and keep them in your shave drawer. Although feathers are great and very sharp there are blades that would be considered more mild / forgiving. ...

Welcome to the board Willie, I'm sure first timers to straights would like to know how you got started, what stone, strop, equip etc you used and what challenges you faced, I know i would.

So if you would like to try the Sheaf-Field cream and are willing to review it, PM me and I will get it out to you. gotsumoves, your Sheaf-Field cream went out in today's mail! ***** Thanks for sending the cream Russell. I gave it a try this morning and the results were surprisingly, above average....

Gents, I took the plunge and picked up a straight from B&B. With my limited experience I can tell that it is beveled. However, I would not consider it shave ready yet. I should mention that I have very coarse , thick whiskers and prefer extremely sharp blades in my DE (feathers, swedes, yellow 7...

John,
thank you very much for your help and patience. I think I should start with a strop and coticule for now.
thanks,
Jose

Hi John, I'm looking for the bare essentials to keep a shave ready straight. I know I definitely need a strop but I'm not too sure about the rest. The straight I bought is probably 90% of the way to being shave sharp. For now I would like to buy the tools I need to get it there. I'm new at this so I...

Hello Gents, I took the plunge and purchased a straight razor on the B&B board. I received it a few days ago and tested it on some hair under wrist. It seems sharper near the heel and less so toward the tip. I'm looking for a good beginner's set up to keep the blade sharp and shave ready. Thank ...