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I'm 45 days into SR shaving and although I'm experiencing shaves with little or no cuts I occasionally cut myself like this. Is it a matter of blade angle or placing the razor on my skin before its moving? Id appreciate any thoughts.
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For me, placing the blade against the skin _before_ beginning the stroke led to more cuts than I get currently. Start the motion of the shave stroke before placing the blade to your skin and see if you fillet yourself less. ;)
Of course, keep the blade angle at 30 degrees or less, depending whether you are doing WTG, XTG, or ATG strokes.
One final note. Until I had shaved for several months, I frequently nicked myself. Something to keep in mind as I believe this just comes with the learning curve.
I have to agree with everything said above.
And a lower angle does reduce cuts and gives a much better shave in my experience.
Also starting your motion before touching the razor to your face will dramatically cut the cuts down
Shave on and also be sure to just shave the lather. Many times the lighter touch will also help in the situation
It looks like when you place the razor to face, the angle is too great, with too much pressure. At 45 days into things, and assuming around 30-45 shaves to your belt, it can be easy to sometimes get a little lackadaisical with technique, which can result in mishaps. No matter how proficient one becomes using a straight, you sill have to keep mentally into the game, and stay on task.
All good thoughts above. In my case the final piece of the puzzle for eliminating nicks came down to paying more attention to stretching the skin being shaved.
Seems I forgot to mention my worst cut came from using way too much pressure. A straight razor with a shave-ready edge requires a light touch, thus the saying:
“Shave the lather!”
Stretching the skin was also something that took many shaves for me to realize the importance of doing so.
How many besides me have had the skin stretched tightly only to have it slip from under the fingers just as you start your pass? If you have, then you know what's about to happen.Quote:
Originally Posted by Speedster
That i a matter of not pulling back properly on the skin.
I've had it happen more than once.Quote:
Originally Posted by cudarunner
That is also a reason I am picky with my shave soaps. Some leave your skin too slick to get a good stretch
Sorry but no cigar as the skin was properly stretched, what causes the problem is quite similar to what Dieseld said. 'Slickness'.Quote:
Originally Posted by ovidiucotiga
I haven't had this happen in years now as I quickly learned to keep the finger tips dry and be careful of what soaps I use.
:tuQuote:
Originally Posted by Dieseld
I don't use alum on my face very often, but always on my fingers. just wet the alum and rub my finger tips on it. It really improves the grip on my razor, and fingers tend to grip, even on slick soap.
Without it everything seems slick to me, even just a wet face...
The one bad cut I ever got was maybe two weeks into shaving with a straight. I was just too cocky and confident. I was doing the side of my mouth on the upper chin area and for some inexplicable reason I jerked the razor laterally and the jerk manipulating the razor got a doozy of a cut. I didn't need stitches but it was awfully close to needing a few. I still have the scar and that was probably at least 15 years ago.
The biggest things I learned, were blade angle, not using a dull razor, and most importantly.... Don't move your face, while the blade is on it. :tameshigiri:
in my opinion...
Cuts are are from a couple things.
Angle.
Inadvertent slicing motion.
OK more than two.
For the angle I like to lift the spine one spin thickness from my face to start.
The normal bevil of a straight is close to 15 degrees as set by geometry of
spine to width of the blade. Thus the thickness of the spine is an important
guide no mater which blade. You want it to lift from the face so the spine
does not pucker skin that the blade nicks by pushing from behind. A big angle
is hard on the razor's edge and also slides down a whisker to the skin.
A slicing motion almost guarantees a nick -->| an open blade shaves best with a near pure
push motion.
Pressure--- too much will make for a harsh shave with nicks.
Stretching -- a bit is important. From behind or in front of the blade both work.
Soak time -- about three min to soften whiskers. Without softened whiskers the razor catches then
releases when the whisker is cut. That little snap action contributes to a harsh shave and nicks..
As already mentioned, alum on the fingertips does wonders for me in being able to keep the skin pulled tight. When I transitioned to a shavette from a safety razor, almost all of my nicks/cuts were attributed to the motion and not the angle. The safety razor allowed me to develop a bad habit of adjusting direction mid stroke, this swooping motion would induce a cut almost every time with my shavette. I learned the hard way to only move the razor in a direction 90° to the cutting edge and to make sure that my wrist stays firmly "locked" during the pass.
