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About ShaveSmith

My First Shave

By About ShaveSmith

Our family lived in this pre-WWII bungalow in Littleton CO.

A Hot summer evening, my sister drawing in her room, with mom and dad watching T.V.

We probably had a oven-pizza for dinner.

Standing in our tiny bathroom (the kind where you needed to step around the toilet and laundry bin to reach the mirror) I just finished brushing my teeth.

Looking in the mirror, I examined my polished braces and noticed thin blonde hairs growing from my cheeks.

As seen on T.V., I ran my hand over my face, expecting to feel some Clint Eastwood type stubble (there was none), and determined it was time to shave.

I opened the mirror cabinet, grabbed my dad’s rusted bottomed can of shave gel, his razor, inflated a small glop of shave goo on my hand and slapped it on my face. Before I understood what I was doing I shaved the upper right cheek with ease. A few swipes in, I noticed my smooth patch of skin surrounded by foam, and stopped.

It was all wrong.

Quickly I washed the razor at the faucet, cleared my face with a towel, and washed away evidence of the blue goo. Patted my face dry, and put all the tools where I found them. Bathroom back in order, I walked into the living room and walked up to my dad.

“Will you show me how to shave?”

Of course he would.

Soon, we were side by side in the bathroom, going through the steps of a proper shave. I know that  he knew I started, (my mom pointed this out, with a poking humor) but my dad put her aside, and shaved alongside me.

We did the same techniques I did before, but this time it was much better. It felt as it should.

This was my first shave, and little did I know, years later it hits home what shaving is to me.

It’s all about meaning.

As I’ve gotten older, I’ve discovered there are so many ways to rush through life without sharing, care or attention, and before we know it, life is done, and we’re gone. We’ve run right into the grave in the most cost/time-efficient method possible without even an echo.

In my first shave, I didn’t want the ritual to be something I learned from the back of a can of shaving cream.

Shaving was a skill, and ultimately gift, that my father passed onto me.

Though I did my shave mostly right in the end, I would have never predicted how it would become a metaphor, nor how much shaving would influence the philosophies of the rest of my life.

-Christopher

News Article About My Shop

By About ShaveSmith

QUALITY BLADESMITHING GIVES ART, PASSION, AND RITUAL TO SHAVING

Article sponsored by howtobehenry.com, written by David M. Fitzpatrick

Christopher  isn’t your typical craftsman. Some men are avid woodworkers; others restore classic cars. And even when some venture into the art and science of forging steel, they might focus on knives or swords—the sort of craft that might come to mind when you heard the word “bladesmith.”

But Christopher is a rare bladesmith, because he specializes in forging and restoring straight razors—the kind our grandfathers might have shaved with, and which are finding resurgent interest from the younger generation.

His love of bladesmithing began by learning from his father, a knife maker, but his interest in straight razors came later. Like many men, he remembers his first shave. He’d grabbed a cartridge blade and begun shaving, but quickly realized that it was important to not do it alone—that he should be taught. He fetched his father, who showed him the ropes, while his proud mother looked on. Some teenagers might have felt self-conscious about the experience, but not him.

“It was having a really unique experience where you learn something,” he said. “And I really wanted a ritual in the process. Straight razors really give that to you.”

Those would come later. While in college, he found his grandfather’s straight razor and taught himself how to shave with it. He was soon buying straight razors from antique shops and learning to hone them. He restored razors for two years before learning how to craft and repair handles, and his work steadily increased. By 2014, it was clear that his hobby had become a job.

Today, he works as a straight-razor bladesmith 12-plus hours a day—yet his passion has never wavered. “It’s still as much a hobby as it is a business,” he said. “When I keep this in mind, I make razors that make me happy.” As a man with a background in environmental science, he has a keen sense of how a straight razor is the antithesis of a disposable one. He’s restored razors as old as 200 years, which represents some serious reducing, reusing, and recycling.

“I like the idea of having a single piece of equipment that, if you take care of it, it takes care of you,” he said. “And I don’t like how most things are now built to be thrown away. A straight razor battles a throwaway mindset.”

Besides a ritual, a hobby, and a business, his craft is also a deep passion and an art. And it transcends those titles when he hears the nostalgic tale behind an old straight razor or the personal story of why someone embraced shaving with one. “Bladesmithing is a rare and artful form of crafting,” he said. “The story that people create behind the piece is just as valuable as actually using it.”

He’s also very attached to every razor he creates. It’s a process that happens over a month, culminating with him test-shaving with it. He even audits his own forging regularly, breaking a sample from a new batch of blades just to examine the steel grain under a microscope to ensure that the batch meets his high standards. For any man who enjoys shaving, a straight razor gives him something everlasting in a disposable world. It’s something, he says, that can make the simple act of shaving a very personal and powerful ritual. In our fast-food, quick-and-easy society, something as simple as shaving can be a relaxing, fulfilling experience that provides great emotional support.

“A straight-razor shave is a moment in your day when you actually have to stop and do something for yourself, by yourself,” he said. “You take care of yourself and learn something. I think that journey is what people find interesting.”

howtobehenry.com supports artisans in the U.S.A, and sponsored this article written by David M. Fitzpatrick.

ShaveSmith Forging a Straight Razor
ShaveSmith Forging a Straight Razor
ShaveSmith Forging a Straight Razor

Some of the Tools I Use to Make Your Custom Straight Razors

By About ShaveSmith, In the workshop

A look at the tools I use to make custom straight razors.

Straight Razor Forging Hammers

Straight Razor Forging Hammers

The large hammer is what I used to make the handle drawn out (4lbs), and the little one (over 1.5 lb) is used for detail work, and  performing wet forging to make impurities blast off the surface of the steel.

Straight Razor Forging Tongs

Straight Razor Forging Tongs

Most of my razors are forged with the rusted tongs, 1″ box jaws. They’ve become a close friend. The wolf Jaws (center) are used when I’m heat treating, or reaching areas of the forge/furnace that are tricky. The little tongs are for delicate and finish work.

Dead Kamisori

Dead Kamisori

Though very odd looking, this is something I use all day long. It’s a kamisori that I was frustrated with, and decided to scrap due to imperfections. I repurposed it as a push stick that assists me in the grinding process by adding extra support. It’s also a good reminder that good work takes time, and no matter what, I shouldn’t rush work.

My Escher

My Escher

This is a very rare rock.

This is a yellow green Escher Barber’s delight.

I use it to finish all my razor honings. This is the last stone used before I strop.

I purchased this stone and carefully removed the stickers (I’ve archived them).

This stone has been through many razors, and made many blades keen.

It sits atop a chamois that I use to wipe slurry and water away as I switch between stones.

ShaveSmith In the Newspaper

By About ShaveSmith

Article from the Fort Collins Courier.

What brought you to straight razors?

My first straight razor came to me when I was in college. It was a yellow handled German hollow ground blade I found in my Grandpa’s garage. I quickly found that the ritual and closeness of a straight shave was incomparable. Thereon, I kept collecting and restoring antique blades as a hobby, and years later, started blacksmithing and grinding my own line of razors.

There is a great amount of detail that goes into your craftsmanship – what does it mean to you to work with your hands on a daily basis?

My work takes my mind and puts it into my hands. How I feel at the time is a direct result of what I craft. There’s a great deal of respect involved. Often I’m restoring someone’s great grandfather’s blade,  or putting the finishing touches on a razor that will be around for 100 years after I’m gone. It’s humbling and rewarding.

 

How would you describe straight razor shaving to a beginner?

With a straight it’s all about ritual. Shaving becomes an event, fun, and exciting. You take your time, enjoy the scent of the leather strop as you true your blade, and you learn that shaving cream can smell botanical and natural. It kick-starts a healthy perspective to start your day. There’s great satisfaction in wiping away hair with keen steel you’ve maintained for years. With a bit of practice, using a straight becomes second nature – the shaves get quick and smooth. Eventually, you get good enough that you can take a whole beard clean off in one swipe.

 

What have your clients and other members of the straight razor community taught you about shaving?

Everything. My customers are among the best people I’ve encountered. We share life stories and I often catch up with them like an old time barber. I would have never thought that taking the time for a close straight shave could have such a positive impact on my life.