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I was wondering, ive found it to be a little easier to make the angle more acute on my upper lip when going ATG, i dont know if its because the blade isnt sharp enough to cut the hairs just by touching it, or if its because thats just the prime angle for that area of the face, but i know if i go for a 45, or even 35 degree angle it feels like the blade hits a brick wall, and if i push it... it hurts like hell... lol anyone care to share their technique with going ATG on the upper lip?
I find that success ATG on the upper lip comes from the following (assuming your blade is good):Quote:
Originally Posted by Warlockdlx69
1. A nice close WTG pass
2. A nice close XTG pass
3. An acute angle like you are describing
4. An oblique stroke (instead of straight up, the blade is angled slightly and has a bit of outside to in movement)
5. Moisture, wet lather. (ATG on the upper lip is the last thing I'm shaving and I'll often relathre there if I don't feel that I have the appropriate lubricity)
I shaved 8 hours ago and I'm still BBS smooth. I'm sure I'd pass a cotton ball test ATG but I don't have one handy and don't want people staring at me in my cubicle.
Watch out for your nose!!Quote:
Originally Posted by Warlockdlx69
I never do ATG on the upper lip. :nono:
Best to avoid! Try XTG if you must.
My technique on the upper lip is quite advanced and not for the faint-hearted..... I grew a moustache :p
James.
ive never had any issues with my nose... im very careful... but if i only do WTG and XTG i always have rediculous amounts of stubble... why you think my blade catches :roflmao it has a lot to catch onto...
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jimbo
thats very encouraging............. thanks..... :roflmao
Hey man - "helpful" is my middle name :tuQuote:
Originally Posted by Warlockdlx69
James.
If you have ridiculous stubble after ATG and XTG passes, I'd say that your first two passes aren't close enough. That will come in time.Quote:
Originally Posted by Warlockdlx69
ATG on the upper lip is tough to do and I don't feel the need very often if ever. Why don't you try to pull the side of your mustache toward your ear. This will make the hairs stand up and will make your downward pass much more effective. If you still don't feel that this is close enough then do this same pull and go sideways on the mustache and maybe add a little upward motion to it. Even with a very sharp blade, there will be a fair amount of resistance if you go directly ATG in this area and you will have to drop the blade angle and be very careful not to cut your nose at the top of the stroke.
I agree with this statement. Skin stretching, a good blade angle, and confidence are very important. The better you get the fewer the passes it should take to get a close shave.Quote:
Originally Posted by BrianP
things are getting better... definitely... dropping the angle has helped in a few of the tougher areas, but its still a barbaric shave lol makes my DE with a feather look like a mach3 with a wire guard.... (O_O) LOL but yeah, hey heavy, if i DO decide to continue with ACTUAL straight razor shaving, you got a nice wedge for me? i would ask ivo, but i remember what he showed me before and they were pretty much all hollow, with the exception of a joseph rodgers that A: was worth more than i am willing to spend and B: wasnt up for sale anyways lol
I am planning on having a LOT of razors up for sale in the near future, some of which will be stiff grinds and wedges. Right now I am holding a big wedge with a smile and a barber's notch; unfortunately it is just a blade right now so I need to wait for my scale materials to come before I can hone and sell it. It is very cool looking though. I also just got what look to be a few very cool wedges on the way from ebay, so we will see what shows up in the next few days. I really would like to start a basic website too because I am planning on offering more shave ready razors and would like to make it easier on myself and my customers. Unfortunately I don't really know how to do this yet, so I need to do a lot of research before I can get it up and running.Quote:
Originally Posted by Warlockdlx69
David
websites take money... thats it :) you can get a place to host a pretty decent site for a small sum of money per month.... but if you are making a business out of it, it will only help you more.
but, in all honesty... with all the straight razor forums out there, who needs a site? all your doing is giving the members here another place to be redirected to lol we got plenty of people with RAD bad enough to keep anyone in business....
so how much you think that smiling wedge you got is going to go for?
One of the reasons that I would like to make a basic website is so that I could make shave ready razors available to people that are not yet members of this site, plus I think that it would be a fun thing to do. I have not really calculated the costs in terms of time or money though, so it might not make sense to do. We will see.
I expect the smiling wedge to be around the $55-75 dollar price range when it is done, but that could change depending on the amount of work that it takes to get the blade up and running and the type of scales that I choose to put on it. Bigger razors and thicker razors generally just sell for more because people think that is what they need :shrug:
i think all i need in terms of width is 6/8... ive actually found that the 9/16 wapi you sent me wields itself a little easier than the 6/8 boker i got, but the boker strops a little easier... tough decision (O_O) lol how big is the one your talking about? and what make is it?
It is 11/16 at the heal then gets bigger to 13/16 at the toe; I guess that it is not really huge but big enough. The blade is heavy because it is an absolute full wedge though. The make is F.Fenney and the model is TALLY-HO from Sheffield England. I did a search and there is one member that has one (don't remember who) and posted about liking it a lot in the shave of the day section. I also have a big restoration W&B on the way that will most likely be more work and more money.Quote:
Originally Posted by Warlockdlx69
damn the W&B's.... DAMN them!!! lol seems like it would be my best bet too... i like the design, its a wedge, and they are usually pretty big...
edited to add: what is it with you and the word "ho" in your razors? :roflmao remember the one you sent me with the wapi? the old HO-MADE :roflmao
That 6/8 1/4 hollow that I sold to WireBeard was the first W&B that I tried, and it was an AWSOME shaver. It was one of the most smooth shavers that I have used. Definately lived up the reputation, so I decided to try to get some more. They also sell for more money than other razors when they are restored so that is another plus.
I am quite the pro when it comes to websites Heavy. We might be able to work out a deal in razors for time or something. If you are interested. here is one I am working on for a realtor company, logo and all are my design. Here is one I did as a sample for a fitness company. Here is one for a Doctor I am working, this is his current which I did not design!Quote:
Originally Posted by heavydutysg135
And here is one I was working on for myself, but have kind of abandoned for now. So, there is a quick portfolio if you will. Let me know if you are interested!:)
damn you scalpers too! :roflmao
well man, if you got a nicely priced W&B wedge one day, let me know... doesnt have to be a smiling blade or anything, but hell... why not :D :roflmao
I would definately be interested in working out some type of trade! If I do decide to go ahead with a website it would be something very simple and something that I could periodically update myself. Because of this, I almost think that it would be worth it to learn about how to use a basic program (I think dreamweaver is popular) and learn to do something myself. Maybe you could offer a little simple consulting and steer me in the right direction in return for razors and or honing services/lessons. Lets stay in touch about this.Quote:
Originally Posted by ijerry
David
If I see the word HO then I have to have it for some reason :roflmao . Seriously though, JohnP. was nice enough to give me that HO when I was first starting out. I did not really want it because it was a little dirty so I thought that I would return the favor and give you your very own Ho. Everyone should have at least one HO lolQuote:
Originally Posted by Warlockdlx69
yeah i agree... at least one :roflmao
but yeah man, like i said... keep me posted if either you have one or you know of someone or you see an ad for a nice wedge, doesnt HAVE to be W&B, but i think im best off with a wedge... im feeling like i appreciate rigidity in a razor...
Sounds like a plan. I keep my code simple, so you should easily be able to learn. What OS do you use?Quote:
Originally Posted by heavydutysg135
this thread has gone quite a bit off topic, but it seems warlock doesn't mind it and he already got answers...
David, i think having a simple website would be great. i'd talk with the other vendors and see what works for them. You definitely need adding/removing products to be as simple as possible, esp. since you don't have multiples of the same product. i think that's the most critical part, so talking to people that have tried it in practice would really help. (you don't want to end up with a qed-type of thing.) and i'm thinking if you would be targeting newbies from outside of srp you need to figure out how to take pictures as good as those of traveller or wirebeard. your descriptions are amazing, but they may not be enough for that extra target group you are trying to reach. and it looks like jerry can help you a lot with this and the overall design and making things look profesional.
(i hate dreamweaver and contribute, but it may work for you, esp if you have few pages only and small traffic and would conduct the actual transactions via aditional emails and paypal. but that would be like qed, won't it...)
Sorry, didn't mean to hijack the thread, just trying to help out a fellow member in a barter system. Great points on how the site should work, I have an idea for this also! I am a professional photographer as well, the photo of my wife on my personal site is my own, so the photos of the blades can be made to look professional even if I have to send some photos and give a brief class on how to do it:). I believe Heavy will be easily taught!:tuQuote:
Originally Posted by gugi
yeah you screwballs... quit hijacking my thread... dammit! :roflmao lol j/k
warlock - one phrase for you "thy shalt reapeth what you soweth... ", true despite that you're enjoying it :)
yeah jerry, i noticed your avatar few weeks ago - not the usual fare :)
then i saw your website too - i'm sure you guys can do great stuff.
Between your Wapi and your Boker, you have two blades that perform well. I understand that you would prefer a wedge, but if you cannot get good results from the razors you have (again, assuming that they're sharp enough), you're probably not going to get good results from a "nice wedge". My first oh-yeah-THAT'S-the-kind-of-shave-I-should-be-getting were with a Wapi with the original steel scales. They're a pretty stiff razor and give very different feedback than a hollow ground. Save your money for now because I don't think a wedge is going to give you the immediate success you are looking for.Quote:
Originally Posted by Warlockdlx69