Thread: Almost ready to give it up

I am pretty proficient with my straight, now. Was where your at about 8 months ago. I am far from being an expert, but I would really suspect your edge is lacking. When one of my razors needs a refresh, I am still getting a pretty decent shave on my cheeks but the chin and neck are what tells me that it is time to refresh the blade. Just learning the state of your edge takes time, I'm still learning and that is one reason I enjoy a straight so much, it ain't easy.

I had no mentor to watch me and it took me about six months to really start doing a good job stropping. I started by hurting my edge, then not getting it any better but not hurting it and finally I was able to start improving my edge by stropping.

Keep trying and practicing and you will start getting great shaves, with just your straight. But as TC said go ahead and finish with your DE while you practice with your straight.

Don't give up, your most satisfying and close shaves are very near.

At two months I was still cleaning up with a modern razor. At three months, I was still cleaning up missed spots with a modern razor. It can be frustrating. What kept me coming back every day was how relaxing and enjoyable the whole process was for me.

If you are not enjoying yourself then maybe you should walk away from it for a while. Or just do it one day a week.

I wouldn't give up yet. It gets better. Straight razors can be frustrating. You've got to learn a ton of things and it takes time. If you put the time and effort in you will get the results you seek.

Like momma always said "effort in = results out"

It took me about a year to get a shave that I felt like WOW! I started with a Straight but also had a DE and a shavette. Go slow and build up certainty with practice. I dulled my first razor with bad stropping learned to fix it with data acquired here. Videos can help. But like others have said, don't rush it. You can notice getting better. If youre stuck check sharpness, technique, stropping, lathering. There are many factors that contribute to a great shave.

I've said it before...
Learning how to shave with a straight razor (the way we are learning) is like learning how to play the piano by correspondence course...
Not only is it a muscle memory exercise (and you don't really have a coach) but there are the variables...from lather to the all important edge and everything in between.

My breakout (about the place you are at now) was when I picked up a razor in the classifieds.
The razor was nothing fancy, a Chapplewhite Hardare Company (read: retail branded something from Solingen in the mid 1900s)
But it was the edge I was ready for..I could shave my chin in a smooth pass, my confidence shot up and "shave ready" really meant something to me for the first time.

Hope you can take a short break, look for some help and hang in there.
We are all enablers here so we will tell you it is worth the effort.

You can eliminate the edge question with a Feather SS, DX, RJ or something like it, but you will learn all you ever want to know about pressure, angle (low baby) and skin tension. Very YMMV.

Hope this comes together for you..

Common: yes, very common. Frustration is the oil that keeps us trying. We pressure ourselves to "be" straight razor shavers. Stick with the DE and come back to the straight when you want to. Remember that a shaving tool doesn't define who you are.

It seems so complicated at first (and I mean the first couple of months). It's like you're trying to fly a 747 without any instruction. Then, eventually someone, or an epiphany comes along, and it hits you. There is only a stick, throttle and pedals. All those other buttons are just fuses, and the navigation stuff is just there for guys that don't know where they are going. Straight shaving is the same. One thing that keeps you out of the game is making it too difficult. Or, rather, continuing to think its difficult.

First, you have to learn how to hone. The razor gets dull, a lot. If it's not sharp it won't be effective. A beginner with a straight razor has a thousand ways to dull a razor: stropping, shaving, drying it, etc. An expert can hone the razor biannually. He knows that one wrong angled pass is bad for his skin and the edge.

Second, it's gotta be stropped. Not stropped with the least pressure possible and the tightest strop on the planet. It's much easier than anyone gives it credit. Once the razor has been effectively honed, the razor can be stropped. Allow some slight deflection and use some pressure. Strop, the honed razor, effectively, NOT with trepidation, not daintily, but rather, strop -- like you mean it. To a beginner it often looks wild and careless. Check out my stropping video; you won't see any trepidation or concern about pressure. None! Why? I know I need the razor stropped and I know that it's not comfortable without being stropped effectively. Now, I know a thing or two about honing, and if I strop a razor that I've honed with no pressure, daintily, like a beginner might, I tear my face to shreds. The shave is terrible. Give me a little pressure and a little deflection all day long. That razor must be prepared to glide over your skin. In fact, it's about to.

The harder you make stropping in your mind the WORSE you'll strop.

Use a hot towel to prep your beard.

The actual shave with a straight razor is a whole different ball game from a DE. You need to secure the skin with you're off hand. The common wisdom is to stretch the skin, but it's actually better to put a little wave of skin in front of the razor. You need to prevent the skin from moving and pulling too tightly creates a concave hole that'll lead to irritation. Either way, the open blade has to pass over the secured skin, gently, and at an angle. Notice, I didn't say 30 degree angle? Again, we make it really hard, 30 degrees is optimal, yes, but it's hardly the end of the world to shave at 40 degrees, or 20, or even 10. You need to prevent the blade, with the first direct contact of any blade in your life, from controlling the skin. Your hand needs to hold the skin in place.

You need to shave lightly, but if the razor is honed right and stropped right, I can shave at 70- 80 degrees and use quite a bit of pressure and still get a decent shave. My point is not that you should try this at home, rather that you should know that a straight can tolerate much more inaccuracies than we give it credit, because "we" want you to learn the right way.

This need to secure the skin, use a light touch, and use the right angle (and even good prep requirements) begins to add doubt in our minds. Is the straight somehow ineffective for shaving? I don't need to do ANY of this stuff with a DE! No need to hone, strop, or even use good prep. No, it is very effective. It's sharper and smoother and more effective (in the right hands) than any DE. But, it's gotta be in the right hands and this is the coolest part of straight shaving.

So, do not fear using a DE, nor should you fear getting bad shaves from a straight. It's never an all in, or else, proposal. I use a DE to this day (but I often want to add that little bit of buttery smooth closeness you get from a straight). But, DEs are still a quick, easy, shave. Blades are still cheap.

The straight requires you to be able to hone, strop, and shave. Using a DE does not prepare you for honing or stropping; it does however, teach you the wrong way to shave with a straight razor. It gives you some bad habits. The safety bar on the DE is a crutch that acts like a "simple machine". It's magic. It secures the skin and produces a slight wave of skin just in front of the blade, which, thanks to the safety bar, is holding the blade pressure off your skin. Straights have none of that. The straight only has you. You've got to use your off hand as skillfully as the hand with the blade, perhaps even more so.

So, go back to your DE and do some more research, find someone to show you the straight shaving ropes, watch a master barber shave -- closely. Eventually, you'll start to get it. It'll take a while as long as there is too much swirling in your head when you do it. But, kick back a bit and stop trying too hard and it'll start to sink in.

It's no where near as hard as you think. It is three steps: honing, stropping, and shaving. All three are new to the beginner. All three need to be 80 percent correct. Don't get bogged down trying to make one piece 100% right, or even get frustrated because all three are not 100% right. Only when you get all three at least 80% right will you see how much superior the straight is over the DE. Most of the guys on this forum, and most of the guys who self-shave would find it easier to shave with a DE. There is no loss in choosing to shave exclusively with a DE. The straight razor will always be here when you want to come back and learn a little more about it.

Welcome to SRP

Getting with a Mentor or other knowledgable shaver will be a BIG help.

Here is a link to find one near Melville.

http://straightrazorpalace.com/memberlist.php?do=search

Check out my stropping video

Link please?

Braz

Originally Posted by Braz

Link please?

Braz

I think this is the one he is referring to:
http://straightrazorpalace.com/strop...ing-video.html

I was there just a week ago, I had the most horrible experience of my shaving life. I fealt as though I was a teenager who is shaving for the first time. I had the worst razor burn in the history of razor burn. My face looked like a plump juicy red apple.

I re-read a bunch of posts and tweaked a few things and followed advice. I tried again, concentrating on pressure mainly. I only did one pass with very light pressure. My pressure was so light it fealt unnatural and I thought there was no way I am taking off hair. It was comfortable though and I was surprised that I was shaving. I ended up with closer, more comfortable shave than I had to date with my straight. I have a lot more work and more practice but I fealt that I am actually moving forward.