Thread: From butcher to barber . . . stil need help with transition

This one is an eye-opener:

http://straightrazorpalace.com/begin...nt-shaves.html

Welcome! Enjoy!

1. Begin with quality tools, properly prepared. Don't be tempted to go cheap. 2. A good lather. Keep it moist. Moisture helps a good blade glide across the skin. 3. Stretch the skin. This is a must to get those whiskers to stand up. 4. Strop on quality leather. I wouldn't go less than red latigo. 5. Patience. What is your current expectation? Double it. Most say 100 shaves to get competent. Took me longer. Give yourself a year. 6. Sharp blade. Make sure your razor is always as sharp as necessary. Learn the basics of honing and refreshing. First get a quality finishing stone. Use your first, cheap razor to practice. 7. Study the art. YouTube videos, this site, other sources, but learn the hobby.

Whipped Dog Strikes AGAIN!!

#Noticing that she had folded the blade in backwards with the edge out #
My God that's madness, but funny

After a thorough review of your responses and watching video I decided that my lathering was more of a painting effort just trying to cover everything. Consistency was just a matter of way too watery or not. Other than that there had not been much effort there. This morning I worked toward an admirable lather prior and during application. The act of lathering as applied was slightly satisfying. I'm not going to say it was exciting because that would be going a little too far. Still, it was different in a positive way. I put particular focus on maintaining a 30 degree angle and finding just what would actually shave instead of going over multiple times hoping one of the swipes would get something. The stretching? I thought it was nuts when I first tried as my face was slippery. Then I thought about stretching as suggested earlier by moving my head upward to do the stretch for me. I also added a bit with my spare hand and realized that I was grateful nobody walked in on me. I think I resembled a contortionist with just my face.

The result! This was one of the better shaves I've had since my start. The lathering seemed to really be the biggest change but stretching also made the shave more comfortable. Watching my skin roll with the blade coming always made me a little nervous. This solved that as well. I still gave it two passes and a third on the trouble areas but it wasn't with strain. I didn't even really need the second pass as I could have just gone with the trouble spots. Overall, it was success. Thanks so much. I'll keep working on each area suggested so I can get to that holy grail of BBS. Right now I'm closer to BS but I'm pointed in the right direction. In addition to the suggestions I want to thank you for the encouragement. I definitely do not feel alone in this and believe that asking questions and practicing will get me to that supreme level of everyone trying to kick me out of the bathroom because I want to shave even when not needed.

Thanks,

Andy

Originally Posted by Longhaultanker

1. Begin with quality tools, properly prepared. Don't be tempted to go cheap. 2. A good lather. Keep it moist. Moisture helps a good blade glide across the skin. 3. Stretch the skin. This is a must to get those whiskers to stand up. 4. Strop on quality leather. I wouldn't go less than red latigo. 5. Patience. What is your current expectation? Double it. Most say 100 shaves to get competent. Took me longer. Give yourself a year. 6. Sharp blade. Make sure your razor is always as sharp as necessary. Learn the basics of honing and refreshing. First get a quality finishing stone. Use your first, cheap razor to practice. 7. Study the art. YouTube videos, this site, other sources, but learn the hobby.

I have kept my expectations on the low end I think. My original goal was simply to use a straight razor without killing myself and still appearing that I had actually shaved. Give myself a year? If that's a reasonable expectation then I am pretty happy with where I am at right now. Do most really do their own honing? That is currently the scariest part of everything to me.

What do WTG and XTG mean?

With The Grain

Across The Grain

The LIBRARY has a long list of acronyms.

Thank you. The library answered several others I had wondered about.

Originally Posted by PaulKidd

This one is an eye-opener:

http://straightrazorpalace.com/begin...nt-shaves.html

Welcome! Enjoy!

This was a good read.