30 shaves in.... update.

Hello All,

Yesterday I had my 30th straight shave in 5 weeks. I have learned a lot, and I still have a lot to learn. Having said that I am really enjoying the journey.

As discussed in a previous post I was ushered into the world of straight shaving by my mentor Razorfeld. He showed me how to shave with a str8, and sent me home with a couple razors to try, a strop, and a lot of information. I tried to shave every day with the srt8. Also forcing myself to use both hands even when it felt like my left hand would not follow my instructions. As everyone that has been down this road knows I continued to make headway. I soon progressed to the point where I could tell things were going well by feel and sound. In fact because of the direction of growth on the bottom of my neck when making a XTG pass I can't see the razor in the mirror due to my stretching hand. I usually close my eyes and shave this area by concentrating on my hand movements and listening to the razor cut hair. It results in a smooth shave, and a real feeling of accomplishment!

As Christmas was approaching my Wife wanted to get me something shaving related. She got me a Ralf Aust razor from SRD. I already had two razors my mentor let me borrow. This gave me an opportunity to try different razors of different shapes and styles. Once again pretty cool stuff happens with this group of people on this website. As I continued to shave everyday my other related skills were progressing too. My stropping became better. I could also tell the difference between a good stropping session and one that was not good enough. Several times when I start to shave I can tell the razor is not keen enough, and I will strop another 50 or so strokes. I can tell is is better! I also have become better and building lathers, and more importantly how to tell when it is too dry and needs more water.

The results of all of this is I am getting the closest shaves of my life. More importantly, and the reason I started on this wet shaving journey to start is the ingrown hairs on my neck. This problem is gone. The bumps on my neck which has been a problem for the last 30 years is clearing up nicely In fact right now I don't have any active bumps, just areas that are still healing. I still have much more to learn and I look forward to it.

There are days when I Just don't have time for a str8 shave. On these days I just use my DE. While not as satisfying it gets the job done. Additionally there have been a couple days when I feel I just don't have the level of concentration required to do a str8 shave. Again the DE comes out on these days discretion being the better part of valor.

I also wanted to learn to hone my own razors. I already had a set of Norton water stones 1K, 4K, 8K. I also picked up a Naniwa SS 12K for Christmas. I contacted Razorfeld and we setup a date for me to come over and begin learning to maintain my own equipment. I picked up a couple of vintage razors off Ebay that I liked the look of. I met at Richard's house bringing the equipment he let me use, and my own sharpening stones. I might add here that when Richard loaned me two razors he told me I could keep which ever one I liked most. I selected a very nice vintage Torrey 5/8 barber notch razor. Very nice of him.

Richard looked over the two razors I bought off the bay. One a Genco had an issue with edge twist. He suggested I send this one off to be honed by someone who could deal with advanced issues. The other a razor made in Germany with English steel we decided to have a go at. The razor could shave arm hair, so it did not need a bevel reset. Richard showed me the different strokes. Japanese half strokes, circles, and X strokes. He also showed he how to develop my own method for detecting the development of the edge with my thumbnail. We went through the 4K and 8K stones until the edge was developed. The mechanics are not intuitive and require concentration until muscle memory is developed. I had to try to remain aware of my elbow position. We took a much needed break before returning to tackle the 12K. This was followed by CrOx, and stropping. I then shaved with the razor I honed. The shave quality was pretty good. Especially for the first time I honed a razor.

I shaved with this razor the next couple of days and continued to get very good shaves. I wanted to practice my new skills,so I did a pyramid on the razor. After stropping the edge seemed to be even more refined. I am really getting used to telling the difference in how keen the edge is. One tenet of honing that Richard stressed it that there are many different honing schedules out there. What works best for you will probably be some hybrid of those, and you will have to develop it through experimentation.

So here I am 5 weeks after starting. Not only shaving competently with a str8, but I have also learned the basics of honing. I am getting the closest shaves of my life with a razor I honed, and no ingrown hairs or irritation. What's not to like. This journey has been make easy due to the efforts of many contributors on the website including of course Razorfeld. I continue to learn and enjoy the journey every day.

Shaving used to be a chore, now it is a luxury!

Ron, being someone with your methodical background and nature made it easy for me to give you the information and guidance you needed. The main reason I went to maintaining an edge so early with you is because of your nature. You instantly understood that razors and tools/knives are different worlds. That made it easy to impart information. I know that you will let me know if additional sessions are needed for any area of the craft/art/hobby that peaks your interest.

A teacher is only good and successful when he has an open and willing student. Thank you for being that student. I learned from the experience as much as you have.

Sounds like you are going at it full steam ahead. Great job getting in contact with Razorfeld. One on one sessions are a true blessing and speed up the learning curve dramatically.

I've been on a few forums in my time, but I must say, this forum is probably the most newbie friendly forum/community I've ever run across.

I started my straight razor journey before discovering this forum. And here is a list of things I've mucked up in the short 3 weeks time. bare with me.

1. I sliced up my face pretty good. LOL. nothing serious, but my wife was a bit concerned at first about my new hobby. nothing good comes without shedding some blood and sweat right? amiriteboys? haha.

2. I unnecessarily applied stropping past on my daily strop turning it into a permanent sharpening strop. I applied it unevenly too, causing some ugly discoloration.
it went from this
Attachment 190851

to this.
http://i.imgur.com/BfUqzei.jpg

3. Bought a new daily strop because I unknowingly dedicated my previous strop into a sharpening strop, cut my new strop with bad technique AND damaged my blade. I used too much pressure. I did this immediately after opening it from the mail.
http://i.imgur.com/wLE2gAP.jpg

4. I chipped my brand new blade rinsing my blade on the faucet. new guys, don't rinse your blade. just keep a towel next to you to wipe the cream or soap off. not worth it. oh yeah, the chip on the blade scratched up my brand new strop as well. see picture above.

I did all this in a 3 week time frame. Looking back, its almost comical how bad I managed to screw things up. Oh yeah, I bought all my gear from The Art of Shaving. Not a bad brand, but back when I bought my kit, I thought they were the only game in town when it came to straight razors. After I buy the stuff, I find out that they are actually pretty marked up on prices compared to other brands. I think I ended up paying like 200 or so more than I needed to. I guess thats fine, because if not for the art of shaving advertisements, I would have never found out about straight razor shaving anyways. Plus their wet shaving products feel amazing. It's been a bumpy road, but I have to say, the therapeutic shaving sessions I've had were actually worth all the hick ups along the way.