Thread: New to this

Well, as mentioned above the razor I had was a RSO. Thanks for the try cudarunner, and I missed out on the Wade and Butcher. But picked up a John Williams from Doughboy68. So far I've shaved with it every night. It was truly shave ready and didn't even require stropping. Started with a day old shave and started with a partial shave as per the info found here. I held off the strop for the first two shaves, but tried it tonight. Though a slowed motion, so as to not mess up the edge. I supposed I did it correctly as it shaved better today than yesterday. I managed to nick the same spots, so guess I'm at least consistant. I may need to take a day or two off so as to let this one heal up a bit. Having trouble with the sides of my neck, but getting better there with practice. No cuts, but missing spots. The advice of mapping the growth of my beard is a good one and is helping. I think I will be needing a different aftershave till I get a little better at this though.

Keep up the good work, and remember that some days will be better than others while learning. You may find yourself on a "winning streak" so to speak, then have a crappy shave that bursts your bubble. It's all part of the learning process, so don't let it get you down. Keep your old method of shaving around as a back-up (DE, cartridge, electric, etc.) so you can still shave if your not getting it that day. It took me six months before I could confidently retire my electric razor for good, although I hadn't used it in months. Remember, sometimes it's okay to just put the razor down and step away before you get too frustrated. It'll still be there when you're ready to come back Give yourself plenty of time; the less pressure you put on yourself to MAKE it work, the more fun and relaxing the whole process will be.

Good luck! You've found the most involved and helpful forum on SR and wet shaving that I've come across on the internet.

Well, its been a while and while some of you may have thought I passed from this world. I am still around and still learning. So far the John Williams has been producing a nice shave on a daily basis. There are a few trouble spots that I haven't quite got figured out yet, namely the side of the throat, under the jaw line. Seems that no matter which way I stretch the skin or the direction I shave I still miss the biggest part of it (to feel not see). But no matter, I will figure it out someday.

Shaving with a square edge blade, is a slight trick in itself as its easy to slice your face with the tip of the blade. Makes shaving an absolute concentrated effort. It is very nice in order to pinpoint those hairs you want to cut. I have a goatee and mustache so has been working out great.

Using my starter (Ebay Strop, the John Williams (Square Edge), a Vegetable Glycerin & Shea Butter Soap (cre8soap), china badger hair brush, and Old Spice Aftershave.

I already discussed a special Paddle strop with my local Leathersmith and will be making a few for my knife making and 1 to use with the SR.

I am thinking of ordering some stones and the green paste for these two hobbies as well. Looking at the Naniwa Super Stones. still deciding the grits. But definitely think I want the 12000 for the final polish. I also believe that it is mentioned in the library for stropping and maintaining the edge. Thinking I want to go 1k, 5k, 8k, 12k then pasted strop and regular strop.

I do happen to have a SRT razor (as discussed above) that I can practice honing with. I will also be searching the fleamarkets for addl ones to learn on. Who knows, I may even find something worthwhile.

I must say that this has improved my daily appearance and also the edge I am getting on my knives as well. I am taking them that extra step forward from sharp to "be careful".

Welcome back
Have you tried guillotine and or scything strokes on the difficult places? I found it helped.

It really is different strokes for different folks. Just make sure that you make note of what you do. Nothing worse than getting a great result and not knowing exactly what you did.

I had to look those up, haven't stumbled onto that. I actually do use the guillotine stroke on part of my face, just was a natural motion i picked up that worked well for me. Haven't tried the Scything stroke, but will try on that area the next shave.

Well, finally cracked it. A combination stretch and sideways guillotine stroke got that area. Now just to learn to keep that square tip away from the spot right below my ears. Half temped to round that tip with my waterstone, but half afraid to get near it with a stone yet.

Originally Posted by technoid

Well, finally cracked it. A combination stretch and sideways guillotine stroke got that area. Now just to learn to keep that square tip away from the spot right below my ears. Half temped to round that tip with my waterstone, but half afraid to get near it with a stone yet.

Takes time, but well worth the wait, congrats!

In my opinion, I'd leave that spike point alone...as you get more familiar with the blade, you'll find angling that spike point comes in really handy getting the sideburn area and other spots. I find you can use just the point of the razor to do certain spots quite easily, the spike points do have a purpose and I found once I got used to the dimensions of the razor, it's never been a problem.

Personally, I prefer spike points....hope this helps!

If you do do anything to the tip, it doesn't need to be major, not that I have done it, but i have read several times about muting the tip even just with a stroke along a window. All you are looking to do is get rid of the very corner, that way it can be honed back in pretty easily. Or as phrank says just learn to live with it until you are comfortable using it.

Well, as a friend told me using a glass bottle I blunted the tip slightly. It still is sharp and will come back over time and a slight hone, but I removed the very tip and no more slices to the face on my non-dominant hand side.

Side note, over christmas grandma handed me a razor. Its the one my grandfather used, she stumbled onto it in the bathroom cabinet. He has been gone for around 20 yrs. Turns out when I told her I was using a straight razor to "shave like granddad" she thought I might want his actual razor. Not a Straight, but a Schick single edge safety razor.