This morning was my first go with a straight. I purchased a Dovo Red Bismarck, sharpened by Lynn Abrams, from Jim at Vintage Blades.

Now for the good; the bad; and the ugly.

The good: I didn't pull a Van Goh and cut off an ear. In fact, I did a pretty good job on my left cheek; not BBS but pretty good for a first time with a straight.

The bad: I did a terrible job on the right side of my face. No cuts and minimal burn, but very few whiskers cut. I know it was blade angle that was causing this.

The ugly: Everything associated with shaving the right side of my face.

I was excited about my first shave; but also anxious about the first use. My blade strokes on my left side, with my left hand, were pretty good. I think I had good blade angle and let the weight of the razor do the cutting. I had nothing but trouble with my right hand and the right side of my face. Poor blade angle; periodically too much pressure on the blade.....pulling not cutting, etc. Under my nose, my chin, and neck areas were not too bad.

I finished up with my Merkur Futur and ended up with a fairly decent shave overall.

I look forward to really learning how to use "Bismarck" on a daily basis and have shaves of the quality that I get from my Merkur.

Thanks for this forum. It is fantastic!

WaterBoo