Thread: Best Shave Ever

As a beginner I want to share this experience with other beginners.

I purchased a beginner set years ago. I did many of the beginner mistakes, nicked my strop many times, dulled my blade, and as a result cut myself a couple of times and quit.

I read all these posts about great shaving razors but I really didn't have a point of reference.

I recently decided to try again. I sent my beginner razor a double arrow to ken rup and had him hone it so I knew it was done right. And I started shaving again. Now, I performed beard prep, I was careful stropping and I had successful shaves, but I didn't have a shave to right home about. I would do multiple passes, and I felt like I needed to re strop the razor between passes for things to go smoother.

Now years ago, when I started I also ordered a Thiers Issard Le Grelot. It had been sitting around in a closet. So I contacted Ken Rup and asked him if I came down if he could take a look at it and make sure I didn't damage it right out of the gate. Ken showed me the edge of my Double Arrow as well as the Thiers Issard and a few others and I could clearly see the difference. It turned out that my Thiers Issard probably could have been used straight out of the box, but Ken kicked it up a notch and after a little honing said it should be an excellent shaver.

I took it home and I have to say I now have a frame of reference. The Double Arrow was a ok shaver. The Thiers is amazing, it was so smooth, I can shave once and not have to do multiple passes. I can shave areas like my chin and neck that I was having trouble with before.

I have to give Ken Rup the credit he deserves, he is an amazing individual and an incredibly knowledgeable honemeister that honed a razor for me that created an entirely new appreciation of straight razors for me.

So, as a beginner if you are getting frustrated and you think your technique is ok but you still aren't getting an amazing shave, you might want to finding a way to establish your own frame of reference.

Thanks for sharing. The Thiers are amazing shavers if honed properly, they can be a bugger to hone, but once dialed in will produce a wonderful shave.
More important for newbs is to know that you have a truly honed shave ready edge to begin with to appreciate the great shave you can achieve from a straight

You've just described the difference between a good razor and a shavable razor. Theres plenty of difference in the two. Good to hear your on a good razor and getting those shaves that keep you coming back for more.

Well done and fine thinking on your part.


Mick

perserverence pays!! Well done, zzz999!