Question after first attempt

Okay folks, this morning I had my first go at using a straight razor (this is after using DEs since later last year). I got a "sight unseen" razor from Larry at Whipped Dog, which is meant to be shave ready and even includes a note advising not to strop it before the first shave. All I did was wipe off the oil he had coated the blade with, using some tissue.

However, I'm a bit confused. I lathered up some CRSW Select, got it to what seemed like a nice slick point, then got going on my right cheek. Obviously it's a bit awkward at first figuring out angle and such. But the razor TUGGED. The friction surprised me; with a DE this sort of tugging or chattering tells me either the blade is dull or the lather isn't slick. But when I switched over to my DE for other parts of my face, the glide was just fine.

Oh, I should mention too that I had had a very close shave the day before, so this morning the growth was pretty minimal.

My first thought is that the razor just isn't sharp, but that would surprise me given Larry has a good reputation. Was I doing something wrong? Does SR shaving take significantly more cutting-direction force than DEs? I can't imagine that tugging feeling is normal.

For what it's worth, I didn't cut myself nor did I have any irritation or real alum sting, so at least there's that. But what's going on here?

It could go either way. Being new it could be lack of experience. Larry is a good honest person. Try contacting him first. It is possible the razor was not quite ready. Not by intent but by accident. We all have gotten interrupted and missed a step. It may just need a good strop. I am positive he will work with you. Good luck.

One thing that will cause a straight to "chatter" is too high a blade angle. Even a super sharp blade may not glide with too high an angle of attack.

Try lowering the spine so that the razor is nearly flat against your skin; you'll probably find that the best angle is somewhere between almost flat and about 1 1/2 spine widths off the skin.

Good luck!

Will the razor "pop, cut leg or arm hair at mid length". If the answer is no it may need some laps on the leather. These videos may help your shaving technique.

http://youtu.be/

http://youtu.be/r24ar_SSGVo

http://youtu.be/XIM0Coix6Gg

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Originally Posted by feltspanky

Will the razor "pop, cut leg or arm hair at mid length". If the answer is no it may need some laps on the leather. These videos may help your shaving technique.

http://youtu.be/

http://youtu.be/r24ar_SSGVo

http://youtu.be/XIM0Coix6Gg

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Thank You for posting these links. I use a DE razor daily and am going to switch over to a straight razor. My Uncle taught me how to shave with a Straight Razor when I was 16 or 17, before I went in the service, but I have not used one in many years. When my Aunt died, when we were cleaning out her house I got my Uncles Straight Razors.

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Originally Posted by Dzanda

One thing that will cause a straight to "chatter" is too high a blade angle. Even a super sharp blade may not glide with too high an angle of attack.

Try lowering the spine so that the razor is nearly flat against your skin; you'll probably find that the best angle is somewhere between almost flat and about 1 1/2 spine widths off the skin.

Good luck!

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Interesting. If anything I felt like I was erring on the side of a too-shallow angle (spine pretty close to my face), but obviously it was just my first go so I don't really know for sure. But I did try to change the angle a bit and still had the tugging, rough feeling.

I've emailed Larry as well to see if he has any thoughts. I suppose it's possible that the razor wasn't really shave-ready. It's so tough to gauge when I don't know what it's SUPPOSED to feel like.

from the reading i have done a good lather for a D/E may be a little dry for straight razor use. also as has been mentioned angle could come into it too. i think one partial shave is possibly a little early to jump to conclusions about equipment.

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Originally Posted by edhewitt

from the reading i have done a good lather for a D/E may be a little dry for straight razor use. also as has been mentioned angle could come into it too. i think one partial shave is possibly a little early to jump to conclusions about equipment.

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Agreed; I certainly am not making any assumptions. I was just surprised as I didn't expect that much tugging, roughness, chatter, etc. The good news is that I didn't cut or irritate myself, and using my left hand on my left cheek, while a bit awkward, was nowhere near as bad as I expected, so all of that bodes well.

No one expects it to be that way ,, but the simple truth is , it's your first go at ,, after a 50 or so shaves it gets to where your blades were better than you thought ,,mi think we all want instant effects , but it seldom happens that way ,, I use a razor now that was one of my first shaves. I thought it was dull, but I use it today with the same edge it had back then ,, time will get you there , good luck. Tc

Everyone has a different experience when starting with the straight. I went from 5/8 German to 4/8 German hollow ground and from there to 15/16 Sheffield . I went from actually being afraid o using a wedge to preferring one. just like tcrideshd said in the previous post I went from razors that I considered not very sharp to ha they're extremely sharp. As we learn we get faster at the game and more efficient. and we enjoy the experience more. Don't give up you'll get there. Remember relax and enjoy.

Thanks again for everyone's responses. I just heard back from Larry, and indeed he's being very helpful. Of course it's possible that the razor isn't honed properly, but he's saying it's far more likely that it's a technique issue. I believe it! One thing he suggested was doing an initial "beard reduction" pass where the blade is flat against the skin. I'm certainly willing to try it, but I'm wondering, is that the usual way the first pass goes? I can't remember that from any of the videos I've seen.

Also, my growth was really minimal this morning on my cheeks, so I didn't think I needed too much reduction as I was already working with very short stubble. But maybe I'm missing how that process works.

In any event, I'll give it another try tomorrow and also possibly try stropping on the oxide balsa strop Larry included in the kit, as he suggested.

have you mapped your beard? with the grain is rarely straight north-south. also what is your stretching like? there are other useful techniques such as guillotine and scything strokes, but I would start with the direction and stretching.

stretching can also encompass skin manipulation i.e. pulling your skin diagonally to "change" the direction of growth so with the grain passes are possible more easily, and also moving your jawline up or down to a flatter surface.

One thing to also keep in mind is that the blade is 2 - 2 1/2 times as wide as a DE blade, so you are taking much more whiskers per stroke, you will feel more resistance as you cut them. Lather and prep are very important with a straight, try and do the best prep and lather you can and give it a try. For the angle, lay the blade flat against your face and raise it just off and try that and slowly raise the angle until you find the sweet spot (you'll probably know right away when you find it)

I do feel like the angle must be a lot to do with it, as this morning I erred on the side of shallow (spine almost or literally touching the skin), and I felt a bit less tugging. On the other hand, I'm not sure that I was cutting very effectively. These were WTG passes on my right and left cheeks, by the way.

I've definitely done the face mapping thing, as it was a big help when I first started DE shaving. To be clear, my DE shaving has become really good and satisfying, which was probably what prompted giving a straight a try: I think I wanted more challenge.

So, still some feeling of tugging this morning, but less so. Perhaps it's just that a straight will always feel different, in the stroke, than a DE. I certainly accept that technique and great prep will make a difference.

Speaking of prep, I had a great lather from Cella this morning, to the creamy slick point where I'd stop for DE shaves. But I added more water, going off the suggestion for SR shaving, and ended up with lather that dried out much faster than I've ever seen before. So I feel like I'm still doing something wrong there. Maybe I'm over-thinking "straight razor lather," and should go with what I already learned of slick lather with my DE shaves?

What is the blade width (5/8" e.g.?) anything under 9/16" can be an issue for a new user as it is harder to maintain a consistent angle. Anything under 4/8" can really be hard to control

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Originally Posted by rodb

What is the blade width (5/8" e.g.?) anything under 9/16" can be an issue for a new user as it is harder to maintain a consistent angle. Anything under 4/8" can really be hard to control

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I'm not sure; I'll have to measure. Not sure if you can tell just from the picture at the start of this thread.

BTW, to have something to compare the Whipped Dog razor to, I just placed an order at SRD for a Ralf Aust 5/8"; despite these rough, slow-going first few tries, I'm motivated to stick with SR shaving until I get it down.

BTW, to have something to compare the Whipped Dog razor to, I just placed an order at SRD for a Ralf Aust 5/8"; despite these rough, slow-going first few tries, I'm motivated to stick with SR shaving until I get it down.[/QUOTE]

Excellent choice, you won't be disappointed.

If you can, try leaving a couple or more days between shaves so that you have a bit of growth to play with.

+1 on the Ralf Aust, I've honed and shave tested a couple of those and they are really nice.

I'm not seeing the picture for some reason

Also remember that starting off a new to straight shaving will more than likely not have the angle right. once you do have the angle and prep right the shave is a lot smoother and easier on the face. I have made many jokes about shaving with a straight razor . I would say it's no different than scraping a hog (I grew up on a farm many years ago) but in truth it's completely different. after the prep it's all about the angle.

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Originally Posted by rodb

+1 on the Ralf Aust, I've honed and shave tested a couple of those and they are really nice.

I'm not seeing the picture for some reason

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Oops, sorry—I'd posted the picture in a different thread. Here it is:

Attachment 195776

Beginners have a big mistake, they are not enough to moisturize the face. When the foam dries on your face, then you can not shave. Everything will be fine.

It looks like a 9/16" at the smallest, that should be fine

I had a similar question, I hope this information helps me too. I am getting my straight razor out again after a bit of a hiatus after my international move back to the USA a few years ago.

I wanted to report back now that I've just finished by third shave. I went with Larry's suggestion to use both oxide sides of his balsa refreshing strop, then did a good 60 laps on the leather strop; this was just to make sure it wasn't the edge that was the problem from my first shave. I don't think it was (I guess that's not news to most of you!) since this time the strokes on my cheeks definitely felt better. It seems to be a matter of angle, but also adding the right momentum to the stroke (in the cutting direction I mean, not into my skin obviously). I think I just had different expectations of what the resistance factor would be based on DE shaving.

Since it was going better, even though my left hand is still awkward, I continued onto my neck, chin, and a bit of my upper lip, too. This wasn't awful, but honestly, not great; I was missing spots, gave myself a half dozen nicks in various places, and once again my lather started to dry and crack despite it starting off shiny and slick (I think because I'm taking longer than I realize).

What feels trickiest right now: sight lines (how do I see the blade at the top of my side burn? wow); left hand control and when to use which hand where; and lather drying out as it sits on my face.

But, I will say that my cheeks were the closest they've been from the SR by the time I got to my DE clean-up. That's encouraging! Even though I still feel like a complete oaf with the razor, at least each of these shaves has shown small improvements!

In my first shaves, I was taking 40-45 mins and the lather kept drying out. Someone suggested to instead, only lather up a section at a time, so I tried it, doing 4 areas, and now I no longer have drying lather. I'm getting a little faster, and now I can do about half of my face at a time, so I'll lather one side, shave, lather the other, shave, rinse and repeat for the next pass.

I've also been applying pre shave, before applying lather, and that seems to help. Lastly, I've had times when I apply too much water and the lather wasn't coming out slick.

Some things to try....