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Razor


Forty  Rod SASS 3935

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Last night while digging through a box of stuff that has been in storage for many moons I came across my old Swiss straight razor.

 

This morning I went through all the steps to hone and strop it to get an edge that will split a gnat's hair.

 

I still use Col Ichabod Conk's shaving soap so I lathered up and gave it a try.

 

I'm going back to my 5 blade Gillette cartridge razor and hoping my right ear heals back before too long.  (Damn shaky old hands.)

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My grandfather shaved with a straight razor until his cataract operations. He then switched to an electric razor! Of course today's cataract operations produce much better results. But I have never shaved with a straight razor, and don't intend to start now.  Gillette safety razors are good enough for me, as I don't get quite close enough shave with an electric.

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Used a straight for the past 25 years. As it happens I just went through and reset the edge on a couple of mine a few days back, and am working on completely resetting the edge on a Worstenholm wedge from around 1900. A previous own honed a pretty good smile in the blade that makes it a challenge to set a good edge on. 

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Well, now you know.
Look at it this way, at least you were able to use one in the first place.

I tried a straight razor three times.

The first time I tried I sliced a flap of skin off my chin.

The second time I did okay. I waited until the first mishap healed.

The third time I put a 3” slice on my cheek because some kid outside my first floor apartment bathroom window let out a blood curdling shriek. I jumped and cut myself. It was minor. No scar, but I decided nostalgia wasn’t worth it. 

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I use a Braun electric, I also have a Remington electric. They're both rechargeable. I have a beard so I just shave my neck and my cheeks (ON MY FACE SMART GUYS) :P

Electrics don't give the greatest shave but at my age I really don't care that much! 

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My grandfather shaved with a straight razor - leather sharpening strop hanging on the door.

My cousin had cut himself on that razor playing with it; and so I was preemptively told upon a visit to NEVER touch grandpas razor - being an idiot child, I immediately took the opportunity to do exactly that.

A bit like Ralphie with his Little Orphan Annie decoder ring; I closed the bathroom door and opened the sprung case that held his razor.

Eyes wide; I swung the blade open from within its mother of pearl scales and gazed at the mirror polished piece of steel.

I brushed my fingers across the various surfaces of the razor until the moment of true discovery - sharpness.

I had watched my grandfather handle and sharpen this blade - and while watching, I  had seen him press or scrape upon the blade with his thumb evaluating its edge.

 

I did what I thought was the same.

I pressed my thumb into the blade and then ran it the length of the blade.

 

The sharpened steel instantly sunk into my thumb down to the bone; and with the absence of instant pain or a comparable reference event - I was initially confused as blood immediately covered my hand and clothing.  Between the shock of the injury and the fear of reprisal; I dropped the razor to the floor.  My thought was first to clean it all up; destroy the evidence - put on a band aid - no one ever had to know. 

This plan lasted only seconds as the pain and fear kicked in and a childs minimal knowledge of methods to quench blood loss was sorely on display.

Having now converted their bathroom floor and vanity to the prom scene from Carrie - I exited to cry for help.

My grandfather was a carpenter; so my grandmother was no stranger to cleaning and bandaging wounds.  She employed her stand bys of witch hazel, Watkins salve and white binding tape to clean, fill and cover the cut.  My clothes were stripped off to soak in the sink and my grandmother went after the mess in the bathroom.

Then my grandfather came home...

 

My pale self on their couch covered in a blanket and my grandmother wiping down the blood splattered linoleum - he picked up his razor from the bathroom sink; examined the chipped scale from its trip to the ground and motioned me to come over to him.

He was not happy with me.

I learned the secondary purpose of a leather sharpening strop that day as well.

 

I have never had much interest in straight razors since that day.

And I still carry a narrow faded white scar down the center of my right thumb.

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I kinda cringed at your tale Creeker.

I still carry scars from sharp things some 70+ years ago.

Twin blade safety type razor is as daring an I get.

(Takes too long to heal at my age!)

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I managed to shave my face a couple of times with a straight razor. I tried it just to see if I could and didn’t remove any important facial features.

 

When I shaved, back in the days when I kept clean shaven, I used an adjustable Gillette double edged safety razor.  I kept it around to trim my beard/mustache until I quit doing that too.

 

Haven’t shaved at all in thirty or more years.  Don’t know where that old razor got off to. I ain’t had the urge shave in longer than I can remember.

 

Forty!!  Hope your ear grows back straight…

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Back in the early '80's, I was sent to Okinawa for a year so decided to go "old school" with a razor stone, a strop and of course a decent straight razor.  Used it the whole time I was there but was glad to switch back to safety razors on my return.  Anyway, I survived, pretty much intact.  Did get some interesting looks in the common shower area when I broke that thing out.  I'm not interested in duplicating that again.  

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@Creeker, SASS #43022 your story made me laugh and cringe at the same time. :D

 

I cut myself with the razor blade from my Dad’s safety razor when I was around 5 years old. I twisted the handle and the two sides popped open and then I dropped the razor blade. When trying to pick it up off of the floor I sliced up my thumb and index finger. I thought I did a pretty good job of cleaning up the bloody mess but just couldn’t quite figure out how to get the bandaids open so I yelled for my Mom. 
At the time I wasn’t sure what all the excitement was about. She wasn’t very happy with me and neither was my Dad. 
Funny thing is the cuts didn’t hurt much but the bandages sure were inconvenient, but then I found out how much attention little boys get from pretty older women (girls) when they have battle scars and bandages. :D

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I started shaving with a safety razor. In college, the book store sold a “Buck Box” which was a box of toiletry samples (deodorant, shaving cream, aspirin etc.) that sold for a dollar and included the latest and greatest Gillette razor. Those changed a lot in 4 years so I got to test drive them all. Techmatic, some kind of loop/band blade et al. 
 

I’m happy with a Mach 3. The 5-blade contraptions are just too expensive. 
 

Anyways, I’ve never had an urge to try a straight blade. They developed the safety razor for a reason and its name is appropriate. To me, shaving is a chore, not an adventure. ^_^

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I started out shaving with my Great Grandpa's safety razor. Shaved exceptionally well and never drew blood. Navy boot camp said they were dangerous and gave me a stupid Bic disposable.  That thing drew blood at least once a week. Once I graduated boot camp I went back to using a safety razor and was much happier.

 

 

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Still love my old Gillette DEs, Derby blades.

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A young man decided to start shaving with a straight razor, but just couldn't get the hang of it.

His grandfather had shaved with one for decades, so he asked him for advice. 

The old man said the best way he could help was to watch the youngster shave.

After watching his efforts, the Grandpa said "Boy, there's your problem, you're getting too much blood in the soap".

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i have a friend that collects razors , ive used an electric since the 80s , he got me back into shaving with a blade [i have a full beard so its not all that much work ] i like the way it leaves my face feeling , 

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On 1/30/2023 at 9:45 AM, Pat Riot, SASS #13748 said:

Well, now you know.
Look at it this way, at least you were able to use one in the first place.

I tried a straight razor three times.

The first time I tried I sliced a flap of skin off my chin.

The second time I did okay. I waited until the first mishap healed.

The third time I put a 3” slice on my cheek because some kid outside my first floor apartment bathroom window let out a blood curdling shriek. I jumped and cut myself. It was minor. No scar, but I decided nostalgia wasn’t worth it. 

Get drunk first. You will be relaxed and less apt to jump when startled. :D

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Razor??? Those are for shaving aren't they? Complete waste of time. Also expensive. I have probably been able to afford several more guns with the money saved by noy buying razors...let alone the extra sleep by not having to get up earlier to shave

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