Thread: Newbie Problems

Originally Posted by EasyE

After a clownish beginning (cheap made in china ebay purchase, honed by a knife sharpener), I forked out the cash for a restored dubl duck from vintage blades shave-ready and honed by Lynn Abrams.

My first shave with the new blade still felt fairly rough, but I may just not be used to the way a straight shaves and need to work on my shave technique, pre-shave routine, lathering, etc. But, the new blade still doesn't pass the supposed hanging hair test (it only cuts a hair that's taught but doesn't cut a loose hair), even after 100 passes on the strop.

1. Could it be a dull blade despite its reputable origins?

2. My strop is a faux-leather from a company on Etsy called Roosevelt Grooming. On the up pass, the stropping surface doesn't seem as perfectly smooth as it feels on the down pass. Could my strop be screwing up my new blade? Should I try to sand it down with sandpaper?

Thanks in advance and sorry for the long post!

I got into straight razor shaving because the typical drug store and department store fare never worked for me. My face was always irritated. It wasn't the prices, it was the discomfort.

Straight shaving for a beginner carries a lot of variables. The odds are that the Dubl Duck is shave ready. The strop is probably good because I have been pleased with things purchased from Etsy. So I would watch YouTube videos of people shaving themselves and practice with what you have for a while. My problem with strops, which took a long time to correct, was cutting up the strop, not ruining the edge.

I'm a bit suspectful of the strop, as it is faux leather. Don't lose your perseverance anyway.

Another point. The razor came to you with a little oil on it and that would prevent the hanging hair test from working anyway!

Originally Posted by Utopian

Another point. The razor came to you with a little oil on it and that would prevent the hanging hair test from working anyway!

Good Point Ron

The Hanging Hair Test Doesn't work for me as my hair on my head, arms and legs are very thin. You'd never know it by looking at my 'stash' and I'm Not About to start pulling hair out of my face!

I have been thinking about using some paint brush bristles to see if I can find a Baseline. If I do I'll post about it.

Actually, I use chest hair.

I guess I should clarify...I use MY chest hair!

If I did more honing, and cared more about the HHT, I'd probably have to go farther south!

How about I send you some Gorrilla hair Roy???

Originally Posted by tcrideshd

How about I send you some Gorrilla hair Roy???

Only if the Gorrilla Himself delivers it and 'preferably' on his Harley!

By the way, that Picture looks Very Familiar! : :

Originally Posted by tcrideshd

How about I send you some Gorrilla hair Roy???

looks like a girl I once dated. same smile

UPDATE:

Huge thanks to cudarunner for honing 2 razors for me and giving me great feedback. It's a big help to know what a well-honed blade is supposed to feel like before I screw it up, and I recommend him to anyone.

He may even have made a shaver out of my made in china (or as he likes to call it, the fine C.H. Ina corporation). No offense to the country or its people of course.

Thanks to all for their advice as well. At this point it's a matter of shave prep, technique, and practice.

I also picked up a synthetic Tony Miller strop at The Well Shaved Gentleman website. What a difference in quality an extra 20 bucks got me. Buy quality or buy twice so far has been the norm for my shaving experience.

Awesome! As Paul Harvey would say, "And the rest of the story".
It's always in the details.
And everyone has a bought a cheap product story when they started out.
You've just had your initiation!