Thread: It shaves but it pulls a little too much

Aww man, Rochester?! Now I want a DiBella's Dagwood....

Originally Posted by dinnermint

Aww man, Rochester?! Now I want a DiBella's Dagwood....

You will not believe it, but never tried DiBella

Thanks guys.
Yes I have the free honing coupon. I was just thinking that maybe it was too soon.
I prep my beard with pre shaving oil, also wash it with hot water for long time, spend a lot of time on applying soap/cream, wait some minutes (in the while I strop the razor) and reapply the soap/cream. All things I did even when I was shaving with disposable razors for the simple reason that I also have a delicate skin. Really bad combination that I will never wish to anybody; rough beard/delicate skin.
I checked the blade with a magnifier and I don't see any damage, the edge looks perfect. I always stropped the razor rolling on the spine and properly and the only doubt I had about it was the pressure on the strop.
That's why I am asking, I can't really find anything wrong except the pressure in stropping.
I think I will send it soon, just to see the difference I would be surprised if it is just my beard.

Originally Posted by Kloss

You will not believe it, but never tried DiBella

I've driven back to Rochester "to visit friends," but in reality it was for DiBella's and the garbage plates. I have never found bread half as good as theirs in the midwest...

Back to razors, sending it in sounds like the best route. It's too bad that this connection wasn't made a few months ago, I was there for my old roommate's wedding...

It's not the beard my beard gets mowed down with the edge being right,mand I have a very tough beard, it's technique too. In the beginning learning to shave is tough to find what works, I know I felt that my edges were dull in the start, but as I got better the edges turned out to be fine, but it took sometime to actually improve an edge from stropping. So get it rehired, and spend some time to really learn to strop. Maybe look for a mentor to see your process. Tc

I think we all have tough beards and sensitive skin when we start shaving with a straight razor, then our blades get more efficient, our beard seems to get softer, and our skin less sensitive. It was the same way when I first started shaving. I can get more out of my edges between refreshing now, and quite honestly re-hone just for fun, experience, and maintaining the skill of it. Personally, I would use your free re-honing now or you'll wind up like me with 5 coupons in the drawer after you learn to hone your own. It sounds like you've eliminated beard prep as a variable, so why not continue to eliminate the edge as well by using the free re-honing, especially in the beginning.

Go with your gut, if you think it's the stropping, then it probably is, so do less and work up from there. In woodworking, you can also cut more wood off, but you can't put it back on very well. You can always strop lighter, with a more taught strop and for less laps. If that doesn't get your edge better than it was after honing or keep it the same between shaves, then start adding more laps on the strop. If you get to a ridiculous number then start messing with your strop tension then pressure.

When I look back at how I stropped in the beginning, I thought I was doing it right. Then I went to a meet and Glenn told me I wasn't using enough pressure. After using more pressure, I was able to maintain my edges longer between refreshes. Then somewhere in there, I started to add too much pressure on the spine and the edge and was having to refresh more often. Now, I find that I add a light to medium pressure on the strop with the spine, and I use enough tension that the strop deflects just enough to hit the edge, but I just let the edge follow the spine and kiss the strop (so light pressure on the edge). That's what seems to work for me.

Hope this helps!