Shave Attempt Number Two

Hello,
I made a second attempt at shaving with my Gold Dollar razor after 40ish laps on both sides of the strop and a day and a half of growth, the shave was much better than the first time.Still not "smooth and relaxing" yet.

Being a leftie I was able come up with a descent blade angle and pressure to do a pretty good job on the left side. Working on the right side is going to be a challenge. I am either going to try to find a new grip with me left hand so I can see what I am doing or try to use my right hand which trust me will be a challenge.

Will try again tomorrow

Regards,

Jon

Keep it up. It get easier the more you do it. And being a lefty (me too) we have more times in our lives to use the other hand (right) so being a lefty makes it easier for us to learn how to use the non dominate hand. So in my opinion, use both hands from the start and you will be much better off then the rightys out there. Remember, there only so many of us in our right mind. :)

Not going to debate this but suffice it to say unless a really good hone guy has worked on the GD, then your trying to learn with a very poor edge, not to mention maybe not the best razor to learn on. But hang in there Tc

Glad to see you didn't add in the amount of blood lost :D

I'm also a leftie, and agree with Jerry and Tc. Use both hands, it's well worth the time it takes to get it right!
And remember, NO pressure, just shave the lather

Enjoy and have fun

My shaves were not close when I first started either. I quickly learned that less pressure meant closer shaves. It seems counter intuitive but it's true.

Also try to learn with your non-dominant hand. There are lots of people that don't and they get great shaves so it's not essential, but I learned with my left hand right from my second shave onward and am so glad that I did.

Good luck and enjoy the journey.

TC is right about that razor though, but, if the bug catches you, you will soon have other razors to try out.

Yes, heres hoping your GD was fixed and Honed from other than the factory or store.

I'm a leftie as well, it just takes awhile.
I find that now sometimes I'm better with the right than the left on some areas of my mug.

agreeing with what folks are saying here about the GD. I had one as my first razor too and VERY quickly moved to a vintage refurb that is what actually got me into wet shaving. I have that GD to this day... and i've never been able to put what i would consider an "acceptable" edge on it, even though it was sharp coming out of the factory. It's just not a good blade to learn with.
That Gold Dollar now? it's helped me open boxes from moving for the last month or so... if that tells you anything.
Keep at it! my advice is to move to a little more quality hardware though...

Attachment 268034

Not sure if this pic is good enough but supposedly this was made shaveready at straightrazors.com

The pennies are getting deposited in the piggy bank to make a razor upgrade as soon as possible

Jon

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?

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?

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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.

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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

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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?

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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.

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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

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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!!!

Quote:

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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?

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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

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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

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

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Originally Posted by JonnyM

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

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Painful failure can have it's own rewards..................lol!

ps chicks dig scars.........there is always that

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I'm still pretty new to the sport, but I'm on the path to being a one-handed shaver. These are the grips that I use to shave the right and left sides of my face.

Attachment 268114

To clean up my neck I rotate the scales to a straight-out position parallel to the blade.

I'm thinkin' that I've still got plenty of time to learn to use my left hand if If I don't get lazy.

:)

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Originally Posted by FWiedner

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I'm still pretty new to the sport, but I'm on the path to being a one-handed shaver. These are the grips that I use to shave the right and left sides of my face.
...

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I too am pretty new to the sport (despite having an Invicta razor for more than 5 years) and one thing I've learned is that the grip is very subjective. Like many things in the field YMMV and , concerning grips, I would say this: hold the razor in a way that gives you a steady and comfortable hold. Do not feel afraid to change the grip while shaving (just don't do it while the blade is touching skin) and move the scales as much as you need.

Maybe with experience you learn to maintain a single grip (I have yet to archive that) but yes, I vouch for steady and comfortable grips. In my case: Sideburns, cheeks, mustache and chin WTG are done with the classic grip (the one on your left photo) but when I move to the XTG I grab the razor as you do in the same left photo but my middle-index-thumb fingers are holding the sides of the tang and not top-bottom.
As I move to the ATG, my grip switches completely and I grab the tang between my thumb's face and the index' side (second and third phalanx). This is probably the most unconventional grip but it's the one that gives me the best hold and control.

@JohnnyM
In my experience, a 2day stub is optimal. The skin has healed enough and the whiskers are not too big to be an issue. I have found that the longer the whisker, the more problematic the shave (maybe my razors need a little bit of extra sharpening but that's a topic for another time).
As I said before, I think it's ok if you try another kind of grip. As long as you feel comfortable with it. Angle and stroke are quite important. In my specific case, I do not use the famous 30 degree angle, I use a "1x spine separation" meaning the spine is at a "spine's thickness" from the skin. I also use a guillotine stroke which I would *not* recommend just yet. I have some experience with this motion since it's the same I use when I DE shave (and I must say I am quite proficient with DE shave since that's how I started my journey nearly 10 years ago) but for beginners... I would say it's a bit dangerous technique.

Still, the stroke is not impossible and if tried with good care (I shave a cm or two of beard at a time, I don't slice through the whole cheek's whiskers) I think it can improve your shave. You can find help in youtube and also these articles will shed more light
Shave Like Grandad: Shaving Technique: Different Strokes for Different Folks
Shave Like Grandad: The Oblique Stroke with a Straight Razor

I hope this info helps you get a better shave and not better scars :P