Thread: Shave Attempt Number Two

Its funny i watched a guy on youtube who bought one on ebay for like 3 bux and the first thing he did was grind away the stabilizer before he honed it/, then when this showed up i did not see that same amount of metal at the heel so maybe straightrazors.com took care of that issue?
Again i am speaking from just about zero knowledge on straight razors. Learning fast here though

Take Care,

Jon

I'm a right-hander in the "both hands" camp and love not having to contort my right hand to get around places it's not well suited to be. Unless your non-dominant hand is totally useless, I say start learning to use both hands now. You'll be thankful that you did.

I'll also say be careful and only use enough pressure to shave away the lather. If you try to force a close shave, bad things will happen.

Keep an eye out on B/S/T when your piggy bank is full. Plenty of great deals on shave ready razors there.

There are a lot of south paws around. The right and left dominate thing is pretty much the same challenge for everyone that shaves with either hand. Some people simply cannot do it and that is fine too. Learn it if you can and if you simply cannot get it find a different path. I think stropping skills are as important as shaving skills. Getting stropping correct can make a giant difference in the smoothness and life span of your edge. I am also one of the people that strop in much larger numbers than you are. 50 on linen and 100 on leather is pretty common numbers for me. Also, how is your strop?

Originally Posted by Speedster

I'm a right-hander in the "both hands" camp and love not having to contort my right hand to get around places it's not well suited to be. Unless your non-dominant hand is totally useless, I say start learning to use both hands now. You'll be thankful that you did.

I'll also say be careful and only use enough pressure to shave away the lather. If you try to force a close shave, bad things will happen.

Keep an eye out on B/S/T when your piggy bank is full. Plenty of great deals on shave ready razors there.

Current plan is to practice good stropping technique. Then when shaving make first pass using both hands then second pass with the Merkur DE to clean up anywhere i did not get close or did not feel confident about getting with the straight. Save the money watch B/S/T like a hawk.

Regards,

Jon

Originally Posted by RezDog

There are a lot of south paws around. The right and left dominate thing is pretty much the same challenge for everyone that shaves with either hand. Some people simply cannot do it and that is fine too. Learn it if you can and if you simply cannot get it find a different path. I think stropping skills are as important as shaving skills. Getting stropping correct can make a giant difference in the smoothness and life span of your edge. I am also one of the people that strop in much larger numbers than you are. 50 on linen and 100 on leather is pretty common numbers for me. Also, how is your strop?

The strop is the one that came with the "Beginners Kit" https://straightrazors.com/shave-rea...ium-shave-kit/

I cannot speak to its quality but using it did make a big difference between attempt number one and two

Thanks,

Jon

I started with 2 Gold Dollars before I started getting top quality razors. I'll be the first one to admit Gold Dollars are not Dovos, Wackers, or Thiers Issards, but they can serve the purpose for which they are made. For me, now 2+ years into this art and hobby, I advocate the Gold Dollar razor for the beginner learning both to shave and hone. I'm more from the Anthony Eposito (The Stallion) school regarding Gold Dollars and their naysayers. I no longer generally use Gold Dollars to shave my face, but have moved them to shaving my head rotation; and they shave (and hone up) just fine, thank you very much.

Let me say, progressing in this hobby will take time. Most say 100 shaves. Give yourself 6 months. Then another 6 months. You'll be amazed how far you've gone in a year.

Originally Posted by JonnyM

I cannot speak to its quality but using it did make a big difference between attempt number one and two

Thanks,

Jon

Hope the difference was a better shave. Practice your stropping with a butter knife. It will save your strop and help create muscle memory

Shave on!!!

Originally Posted by Gasman

I dont see the double stabilizer that is normally on a GD? Anyone?
Maybe a new design? If its been fixed i can see where it was reground. Maybe im just missing something?

On the website that sells this kit - they show a before and after picture of the GD with the stabilizer ground down. It looks like they do that as part of the homing process to shave ready before selling.

Adam

Being severely right handed, I learned to use my left hand by lathering up and removing it with a butter knife, it safely built up some muscle memory and it felt a lot safer when I tried the real thing

Originally Posted by rodb

Being severely right handed, I learned to use my left hand by lathering up and removing it with a butter knife, it safely built up some muscle memory and it felt a lot safer when I tried the real thing

That there is a Great idea!!,, one i will most likely not follow for i learn by painful failure lol