I would like to apologize!!!

I'm assuming there are shaving gods much like golfing gods, and after feeling like I had shot under par for my first shave with a straight yesterday I was put soundly in my place for the second shave!!! I would like to atone for my over confidence and pray for forgiveness and hope that tomorrow is a better day, lol


There was blood and a lot of it I hope my penance is paid. I cut my cheek, bad angle with off hand and 3 weepers on the neck cleaned up with the de razor and while shaving my head cut a serious chunk out of it, which i have never done.


Why? I am not sure, I changed soap from Proraso to a Sandalwood from Stirling which seems to be a slicker soap to me so I thought that would help but the razor was sticking and skipping from the start, muddled through the first pass wtg with it and regrouped, tried stropping again with a lighter touch and the second pass went better so I'm chalking this up to bad stropping technique. I'm going to endeavor to persevere, but today was rough.


Any advice would be appreciated as I am definitely not the prodigy I thought I was.

You are on the right track about stropping pressure. It seems to be human nature to feel that we should really bear down so it feels like the strop is "doing something" but the opposite is true. Stropping is not grinding but straightening, smoothing, burnishing the edge and no more pressure should be applied than is necessary to maintain even contact of the spine and edge. Improper stropping can dull a razor in a hurry, resulting in that pulling and skipping you reference. As you found, if it's not too bad you can bring it back with good technique. Strop the dickens out of that blade.

I suspect that using too large a blade angle is responsible for most cuts since that almost forces us to apply more pressure. Again, "light is right". Of course, carelessness can bite even the most experienced shaver.

Props for the Lone Watie reference too.. Chief Dan George was one of my favorite actors and that scene from Josey Wales was priceless. Keep at it but declare war on your whiskers, not your skin.



rs,
Tack

Nobody is a prodigy at straight razor shaving. We all made mistakes, and still do. Learning from them is what made us better, then good, straight shavers.

Josey Wales is one of my favorite movies of all time.

You're not unusual but I would recommend not changing a lot of things while you're still learning. Find what works and stick with the same prep & process until it becomes much easier. Then play with changes.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Brenngun

You're not unusual but I would recommend not changing a lot of things while you're still learning. Find what works and stick with the same prep & process until it becomes much easier. Then play with changes.

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+1 to this. I always tell beginners pick one brush, one soap, one razor and one strop for the first couple months. It allows you to master that combination then you can sub things in one at a time.

Also don't be overly confident about your lather. I see you use a de which probably means you have been making lather for a bit. However I have found that I can make a subpar lather a still get a decent comfortable shave from a de but not so with a straight.

Agreed! overconfidence is asking for trouble with a straight, we all need to remember that a straight razor demands respect, attention, and that we remain humble, no matter how many shaves you have under your belt.

I might ask how you prep? Are you stropping properly? A big load of Proraso should be massaged into the whiskers with the brush. Try a very hot-wet towell on the face and over the lather for 1 minute, repeat.
Now lather up and shave. It works for me. Skip the prep, pulling and bad shave. Every time!
:)

my prep is a hot shower, use conditioner on the beard let that sit for a couple of minutes rinse for a couple of minutes then get out and lather the face then I stropped the razor relathered and shaved

Quote:

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Originally Posted by joed65

my prep is a hot shower, use conditioner on the beard let that sit for a couple of minutes rinse for a couple of minutes then get out and lather the face then I stropped the razor relathered and shaved

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Sounds like you have good prep.
What about razor/honing/stropping? Same razor? What? Perhaps some thinking about blade angle? Looks like you are on track to learn and share. I would say to always incorporate things which work. Go back to the Proraso and see? Any variable should be considered. Take them one at a time! JMO

thanks definitely going back to the proraso, but I think I may have rolled the edge with to much pressure on the strop. i don't have any stones yet so I'm going to do a lot of light strokes on the strop and see if I get better results. thanks for all the help

Been there done that. You're not alone. Maintain your concentration and remember when the blade first touches your skin use light pressure. If you have a pasted strop that might be a good place to start. Use a magnifier to check the bevel.

Hang in there, I pretty much did what you did at the start, rolled the edge of my first shave ready razor, and carved myself up a few times too. It does get better, but a big learning curve. It has taken a while, but now getting great results, and had a lot of fun along the way. Skin heals, and chicks dig scars.

Well shave number 4 and it was a lot better, did 3 passes wtg, xtg, atg no cuts a little irritation, bbs on the cheeks and just good enough on the neck didn't even have to touch up with the de razor.


got the edge straightened out by stropping on newspaper and lots of strokes on the leather also believe my angles were better and definitely stretched the skin more all and all very pleased.