Z-2
Shave Master
Posts: 136
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Post by Z-2 on Sept 25, 2017 10:32:32 GMT -6
Hello there, I am curious how you started with classic shaving, and do you use other types of razors , like DE or injectors. I know this is SE place, so, I am sure, this is weapon of choice, but many people like variety. I myself started back in 2008, when in my local stores haven`t disposables with one blade (like Bic Metal), and I just bought some Wilkinson Sword blades. Loaded a blade in my dad`s old safety razor (bulgarian, copy of Gillette Super Speed) and was so impressed with the comfort of shave, so I decided to put in trash my Sensor Excel and .. the other is history
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Post by Petrvs on Sept 25, 2017 12:49:10 GMT -6
I started back in 2011, because shaving with cart razors and canned foam had become somewhat a boring routine...fascinated by the variety of soaps available and by the looks of vintage style razors, I first picked up a modern unmentionable, followed by a vintage one, only because at the time I didn't know about other types of safety razors than that. Then I started to follow some shaving related forums and came to know about SEs, so I started searching on the bay and ended up buying a Gem Featherweight and a Schick Injector L. When I first shaved with both razors I was completely blown away by the results....and the rest is history I now own several SEs, can't even tell how many, since various are still in "that box" everybody has (right Fuzzy? ) waiting to be put back in shape.
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ShadowsDad
Gem Star
None boring shaver!!
"It's not the bow, it's the Indian"
Posts: 4,534
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Post by ShadowsDad on Sept 25, 2017 13:25:32 GMT -6
SE razors can be discussed but if the razor has an edge on 2 opposing sides it's verboten.
I can't remember how many years ago I started. But I definitely remember how. It was time to buy another batch of cartridges for the hated chore of shaving. I looked at the prices and considered how much I disliked the act and decided to look for options. I rediscovered the knowledge of blade shaving and had some razors already; an AutoStrop, a Featherweight, and ultimately I found my unmentionable razor that I bought in the late 60s. I began with the FW and I never plan to go back to any other way of shaving.
I haven't used an unmentionable razor in a VERY long time but I do have some and blades.
If I never buy another SE blade I have enough for a few lifetimes.
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Post by wchnu on Sept 25, 2017 18:36:15 GMT -6
I started back in 2011, because shaving with cart razors and canned foam had become somewhat a boring routine...fascinated by the variety of soaps available and by the looks of vintage style razors, I first picked up a modern unmentionable, followed by a vintage one, only because at the time I didn't know about other types of safety razors than that. Then I started to follow some shaving related forums and came to know about SEs, so I started searching on the bay and ended up buying a Gem Featherweight and a Schick Injector L. When I first shaved with both razors I was completely blown away by the results....and the rest is history I now own several SEs, can't even tell how many, since various are still in "that box" everybody has (right Fuzzy? ) waiting to be put back in shape. Ahhhh yes THE BOX!!! It is fun to dig through at times. I started as a teen. There were a couple of unmentionables in the med cabinet. I used them off and on mixed with some of that plastic junk over the years.(I still have them both) About 10 years ago I found a micro matic when cleaning out my great aunts house. Got online to see what I had. I have not used any plastic things since. I still use a unmentionable now and then. But only the one sided ones. No 2 sided stuff in awhile.
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RocketMan
Gem Star
RazorAddict
Welcome To The Sharp Side!
Posts: 4,167
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Post by RocketMan on Sept 28, 2017 0:04:54 GMT -6
I remember my dad shaving with an unmentionable when I was a little kid, before he 'went electric' like so many did in the 60s. His shaving revelation was with a Remington 500. I mostly remember his razor days because of his somewhat frequent use of torn paper pieces to patch up weepers. It always stuck with me.
I graduated high school in the late 70s so fit right into the recent huge move to cartridge razors. I was an Atra boy for quite a few years. I really treated shaving badly. I rarely worried about shave soap. I mostly did Atra Plus with the lube strip. Maybe for twenty years. I often would run the strip side under hot water for a bit then turn the darn razor upside down and rub the lube strip around on my face which left a kind of snot smear as lube. That was my shaving at its finest in those days.
I guess about 2004 I found an old hardware store on a road trip and this guy sold vintage building hardware and assorted crap. I saw amidst the shelves behind a glass cabinet this small collection of razors. I knew nothing about them but was somewhat fascinated and stared at them for like a half hour or something until my wife urged us to move on. I had remembered what a couple looked like, a cpl of Unmentionable ones, and a Valet Auto Strop in the 1920s red and white cardboard packaging - the metal coffin case one some call it.
I started looking around on websites and slowly learning a bit here and there. I had never been on Ebay and didn't realize how easy that could make life. Instead I advertised in the paper for someone with 'any razors to sell?' I lived in a smaller town but did get two calls. I met this one guy and he had about five different unmentionables and he wanted only 10 bucks. I readily agreed and scurried away with my prize catch. I found awful blades at a Walmart and a cake of Williams and started picking away. There was a hospital disposable unmentionable as well that I reused a bunch of times. (Amazing That I had reused that piece of cake razor. Wow.). Then I bought my first ebay razor - an NOS Rolls Viscount with shipper and instructions and spare strop, spare handle in cardboard tube. Being in Canada, I waited for the mail for what seemed like forever. But once it came I fell in love with the Rolls.
The rest just rolled right along from there!
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ShadowsDad
Gem Star
None boring shaver!!
"It's not the bow, it's the Indian"
Posts: 4,534
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Post by ShadowsDad on Sept 28, 2017 6:40:47 GMT -6
Starting with a Rolls as a first SE razor is pretty cool! Nothing like a steep learning curve!
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RocketMan
Gem Star
RazorAddict
Welcome To The Sharp Side!
Posts: 4,167
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Post by RocketMan on Sept 28, 2017 8:00:38 GMT -6
Starting with a Rolls as a first SE razor is pretty cool! Nothing like a steep learning curve! Yeah thnx! The family wasn't so sure though. I remember thinking in the early days that 'just another hundred' slap, slap, slaps of honing will tune it just right!
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Post by jayaruh on Sept 28, 2017 12:38:43 GMT -6
I started back in the 60s with a Schick. I used a variety of unmentionables over the years. I still do. I use all kinds but no plastic for sure. I am currently a lover of old SE and injectors.
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ShadowsDad
Gem Star
None boring shaver!!
"It's not the bow, it's the Indian"
Posts: 4,534
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Post by ShadowsDad on Sept 28, 2017 14:38:44 GMT -6
Starting with a Rolls as a first SE razor is pretty cool! Nothing like a steep learning curve! Yeah thnx! The family wasn't so sure though. I remember thinking in the early days that 'just another hundred' slap, slap, slaps of honing will tune it just right! You did it with the supplied stone and strop!! If you did my hat is definitely off to you!
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Post by wchnu on Sept 28, 2017 23:13:04 GMT -6
Yeah thnx! The family wasn't so sure though. I remember thinking in the early days that 'just another hundred' slap, slap, slaps of honing will tune it just right! You did it with the supplied stone and strop!! If you did my hat is definitely off to you! RocketMan is kinda hard headed you know!
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RocketMan
Gem Star
RazorAddict
Welcome To The Sharp Side!
Posts: 4,167
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Post by RocketMan on Sept 28, 2017 23:17:57 GMT -6
Yeah thnx! The family wasn't so sure though. I remember thinking in the early days that 'just another hundred' slap, slap, slaps of honing will tune it just right! You did it with the supplied stone and strop!! If you did my hat is definitely off to you! Well, I actually went 'au naturel' with one for almost three months straight once. I never really got it to velvet sharp, but sharp enough to shave off the stubble good enough for work. They do sharpen up much better on other systems, but I was determined to make it through. A few crappy shaves for sure, but seem nice ones too.
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RocketMan
Gem Star
RazorAddict
Welcome To The Sharp Side!
Posts: 4,167
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Post by RocketMan on Sept 28, 2017 23:21:38 GMT -6
You did it with the supplied stone and strop!! If you did my hat is definitely off to you! RocketMan is kinda hard headed you know! Ye thanx Fuzz. It's all the minerals in this Rocky Mountain water I'm drinking up here. Good bones. In the head. Will come in handy one day. Stubborn for sure.
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Post by Trout Whisperer on Sept 30, 2017 20:12:10 GMT -6
My dad shaved with safety razors, Barbasol, and Afta when I was young. He switched to electrics at some point. When he died in 2010, I found his unmentionables, a Shick Injector L-type, a metal-on-plastic Personna injector that shaves like a butter knife, and my grandfathers straight razors & hones.
I really wanted to shave with them, especially since I began shaving with an electric and, at the time, shaved with a cartridge razor and that gooey gel stuff from cans. I mentioned my shaving finds to the lady who cut my hair (no proper barber shop in the area). She no longer shaved clients, and therefore gifted me with a well-used Crabtree & Evelyn badger brush and a mostly-used jar of C&E sandlewood soap. (Skipping the unmentionable part of the story). Some store in the nearest town (Walgreens or the City/Village/Farm/Ranch/Po-Dunk Market maybe) had the Chinese Schick blades.
Straight razors garner most of my attention now, but single-edge razors seem more mechanical and tool-like than the unmentionable alternative. When I choose a safety razor, it is generally a single-edge.
I didn't replace the can of Barbasol I had purchased for nostalgic reasons. But sometimes I like to smell like my dad.
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Post by twhite on Oct 5, 2017 18:43:56 GMT -6
I started off in 1978 using an unmentionable and goo. I used it continually until 1989 when my wife then my girlfriend moved in. She used disposables. I started using those. Then in 2000 my wife got me another unmentionable and a brush with soap for my birthday. I never looked back again. Then a little over 2 years ago I found injectors and SE’s. Why oh why had I never tried them before. They are heaven. Never going back to anything else.
Tom
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Post by GarnerPW on Oct 6, 2017 5:23:58 GMT -6
Reading everybody else stories made me want to put mine up as well. I started life using cartridge razors. My father always used an electric as far as I can remember. I guess in 2008 - 2009 my Wife refused to buy me any more cartridges after an incident where some cartridges were left on the roof of the car at the discount wholesale club. She brought home 1 bag of cheap disposables that is when I said "NO". I found the unmentionables online. I used a new unmentionable for about 7 years when this past January - February I decided to try a single piece of steel unmentionable. Now mind you I have an Essential Tremor, which means my hands shake all the time. I was able to shave with that piece of metal and got a descent shave out of it. Then one month I found an injector in the wild cheap and have not gone back to the unmentionables since then.
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