Hello members,
I'm very new to the world of straight razor shaving, 6 shaves under my belt and I have to say the first 6 shaves were not my best experience. Honestly, my face looked like a battle field. Before I purchased my first SR I did a lot of research, read and watched numerous videos on how to shave, prepare my face, stropping, etc...
The razor I received, I was told was "Shave Ready". I practiced stropping the razor, preparing my face and for the first 6 shaves I cut my face up, it felt as if the razor was pulling my beard not gliding through it, so I thought that I was doing something wrong. I talked with a buddy of mine who also uses a straight razor and he told me that the razor cannot be sharp enough. He suggested getting a shavette, try that to see how it shaves with it's blade and then go from there.
Well, I have to say, the shavette was a great experience. I didn't cut myself once and the shave was incredible, smooth, felt like a babies bottom!! lol!!
So, I've come to the conclusion that the SR I purchased wasn't even close to shave ready. I've gone ahead and purchased a 4000/8000 sharpening stone along with a 12,000 sharpening stone. Once I receive them, sharpen the blade I'll report back to let you know how my first shave goes after the sharpening.
If anyone has any suggestions let me know, I'd like to hear back from you!