Thread: Any Advice will be gratefully received

Hi Cudarunner,

You’re right, Outback has been amazingly generous and has 3 razors in the mail to me.

I can send my razor back to Phil at Classic Edge for a re-honing. My razor came with a ticket for a free re-honing but if I don’t need to worry too much yet I might save it for when it really needs it.

I ‘be only used it 14 times so I doubt I could have messed it up already, I hope.

I have a new hanging strop on order so I am thinking of using my stropping board with paste to freshen my razor up occasionally.

Sounds good in theory anyway.

Steve

Originally Posted by STF

Hi Cudarunner,

You’re right, Outback has been amazingly generous and has 3 razors in the mail to me.

I can send my razor back to Phil at Classic Edge for a re-honing. My razor came with a ticket for a free re-honing but if I don’t need to worry too much yet I might save it for when it really needs it.

I ‘be only used it 14 times so I doubt I could have messed it up already, I hope.

I have a new hanging strop on order so I am thinking of using my stropping board with paste to freshen my razor up occasionally.

Sounds good in theory anyway.

Steve

UNTIL YOU SEMI MASTER SHAVING I'd forget about any pasted strop. Damage to an edge can happen on just cloth and or leather. Pastes can multiply the damage many times over.

Again my counsel is to SLOW DOWN:

This age old art takes time and most importantly 'Patience' to learn and without patience you will fail and I for one don't want to see that happen!

I agree with Roy. Get,100 or more shaves under your belt before getting fancy

Point well made guys.

I was just hoping to be able to refresh my blades but I will wait until I get more experience.

Thank you for your advice.

Steve

Hi Guy's'

When I started this thread I included a video of my 12th shave and you were all really supportive.

I had so much advice and guidance that I really feel I learned a lot.

At that time I said I would record my 20th shave so you could see if I had improved and let me know what I was doing wrong and where I could improve.

As you are all no doubt aware Outback sent me 3 razors at no charge which was amazingly generous.

I have used two of the razors but saved one to use for the first time in my 20th shave vid.

Today I will be using a square point for the first time ever, a Demon Square point from Krusius Brothers.

So here is my 20th shave video, todays shave is in Mikes honour and any advice will be welcomed.

https://youtu.be/XssafPeRSnk

Steve

Lookin good, Steve. Everything has improved.
The only thing I might add, and this may just be me, but I would try to stop flicking the razor at the end of each stroke, and moving your arm, instead of wrist, to move the blade across your skin.

Again, its just a personal preference. Weather its right or wrong, IDK. If it works for you, it might be part of your own style, coming from an ever lessening fear of the razor.
Just don't forget to respect the razor.

Your far surpassing me, at twenty shaves. Twernt no thank called ta internet. Just me, an ol leather belt, my 4/8 Torrey razor, and a can O goo. Honed it as best I could, on my only stone of unidentified grit. (Not a finisher, for sure )

Stood in front of the mirror, shaking like a dog crapping glass, as I took my first pass to a full face shave. And they were nothing , compared to the shaves your enjoying now.

That's what this forum brought to me, the guidance to improve my shaves. I'm just sharing what I've learned in over 30 yrs with a straight, and what the fine gents here have shared with me.

You have clearly gained a lot of confidence since shave 12. You are much less likely to cut yourself if your hands aren’t shaking while you shave ; )

I am impressed that you are so adept at shaving with both hands this early on in your SR journey. I didn’t start shaving with both hands early on and as a result generally shave using only my dominant hand. Well done.

I noticed that you frequently cleaned your blade using a towel. If your lather is well hydrated, it should easily rinse off the blade under running water. That and the appearance of the lather on your face indicate to me that you could still work more water into it. If it sticks to the blade like a paste, it’s too dry.

I spend much more time working the lather into my face with the brush than you did, even when I build the lather in a bowl, and I add a couple of drops of hot water to my brush before each application. That works the lather into the facial hairs and hydrates the hairs more completely. It takes only a few additional minutes, but there is a big payoff in softening the beard hairs and lubricating the skin.

I really like that Cognac and Cuban Cigars soap. Great scent. Great slickness. Canadian makers!

Try shaving with longer strokes. Some of your short strokes looked like they used a slicing action and that can be dangerous. THe straight razor shaving action pushes the sharp blade through the hairs rather than slicing them off like a knife through bread. That’s why SR honers strive to remove as many striations from the edge as possible - to eliminate any “toothiness”.

The angle of attack you use seems about right. I find I use about 30° on my cheeks WTG and reduce to about 10° ATG and on my neck.

You scared me a few times as you were struggling to change your grip - you were moving that Outback-sharpened blade awfully close to your face and it was wide open.

Thank you for sharing your journey. New SR shavers will learn a lot by watching your videos and following this thread.

Originally Posted by DZEC

You have clearly gained a lot of confidence since shave 12. You are much less likely to cut yourself if your hands aren’t shaking while you shave ; )

I am impressed that you are so adept at shaving with both hands this early on in your SR journey. I didn’t start shaving with both hands early on and as a result generally shave using only my dominant hand. Well done.

I noticed that you frequently cleaned your blade using a towel. If your lather is well hydrated, it should easily rinse off the blade under running water. That and the appearance of the lather on your face indicate to me that you could still work more water into it. If it sticks to the blade like a paste, it’s too dry.

I spend much more time working the lather into my face with the brush than you did, even when I build the lather in a bowl, and I add a couple of drops of hot water to my brush before each application. That works the lather into the facial hairs and hydrates the hairs more completely. It takes only a few additional minutes, but there is a big payoff in softening the beard hairs and lubricating the skin.

I really like that Cognac and Cuban Cigars soap. Great scent. Great slickness. Canadian makers!

Try shaving with longer strokes. Some of your short strokes looked like they used a slicing action and that can be dangerous. THe straight razor shaving action pushes the sharp blade through the hairs rather than slicing them off like a knife through bread. That’s why SR honers strive to remove as many striations from the edge as possible - to eliminate any “toothiness”.

The angle of attack you use seems about right. I find I use about 30° on my cheeks WTG and reduce to about 10° ATG and on my neck.

You scared me a few times as you were struggling to change your grip - you were moving that Outback-sharpened blade awfully close to your face and it was wide open.

Thank you for sharing your journey. New SR shavers will learn a lot by watching your videos and following this thread.

Thanks DZEC,

I do feel more confident than I did, maybe too confident eh?

I really enjoy shaving now I don't use a cartridge any more. I actually threw my cartridge in the trash the day my Dovo arrived, I hadn't even tried it. Yes, I am that stupid LOL.

When I think back only 8 shaves to my 12th, I used to stand in the shower nervous because I knew I was going to shave soon. Now I wish I could do it twice a day.

If any new shaver benefits from my journey I will consider it an honour. I have had so much help and advice I would be very happy to help in anyway I can.

Steve

Originally Posted by outback

Lookin good, Steve. Everything has improved.
The only thing I might add, and this may just be me, but I would try to stop flicking the razor at the end of each stroke, and moving your arm, instead of wrist, to move the blade across your skin.

Again, its just a personal preference. Weather its right or wrong, IDK. If it works for you, it might be part of your own style, coming from an ever lessening fear of the razor.
Just don't forget to respect the razor.

Your far surpassing me, at twenty shaves. Twernt no thank called ta internet. Just me, an ol leather belt, my 4/8 Torrey razor, and a can O goo. Honed it as best I could, on my only stone of unidentified grit. (Not a finisher, for sure )

Stood in front of the mirror, shaking like a dog crapping glass, as I took my first pass to a full face shave. And they were nothing , compared to the shaves your enjoying now.

That's what this forum brought to me, the guidance to improve my shaves. I'm just sharing what I've learned in over 30 yrs with a straight, and what the fine gents here have shared with me.

Thanks Mike,

I was nervous about using a square for the first time especially in front of the camera but as it turns out, I really like em.

I wasn't aware that I was flicking my wrist, I'll have to watch for that.

Do you ever find that you get red cheeks or rather cheek bones?

I don't feel that I'm shaving too hard there.

Now I've shaved with a 5/8 round point, a 5/8 smiler and a 5/8 square point I think I might give full reign to my RAD and look out for a cheap bigger blade. Does 7/8 sound good or is that too much of a monster?

If you saw the pic of the 2 I bought from Bouschie, you will notice I have a really little blade too.

I am really lucky that I started with a SR after the internet because if I had been forced to figure it out alone I'm pretty sure I would have given up at the second cut.

As an aside, I haven't cut myself since before my 12th shave. I don't actually need to shave everyday, but I'm gonna. Wish I would grow faster so I could do it twice a day.

Steve

Hey Steve,

Congratulations on shave 20.
You're well on your way and doing a great job.

I did notice the shakiness and a little bit of uncertainty when you were trying to decide how to hold the razor and where to go next. This will all come together with time and experience. If you're not sure about something I suggest you put the razor down for a second, take a breath and plan what you are going to do next. Don't juggle the razor around from hand to hand right next to your face. That's only a recipe for trouble.
I would also suggest that while learning you rinse the lather off of the blade rather than wiping it on a towel. If you move the blade on the towel there is always a chance that it moves in a funky direction. This could easily slightly degrade the edge during the shave. No chance of that happening when you rinse.

Keep up the great work. It only gets better from here.

Pete <:-}