Thread: Fist shave epic dissapointment

I think I've really lost my ability to diagnose these problems from just a post. Too much time spent teaching this stuff in person.

My immediate thought, and its a little bit of a guess, is that your not stropping enough. I think you used such a light touch that it simply didn't do anything.

Lynn shaves with each razor he hones, as I think everyone else does too. I think you should try a little touch of pressure when stropping to realign the blade edge if you've rolled it and to strop in more effectively if you haven't.

I suppose a rolled edge should be visible in a microscope. I don't see why not.

If that doesn't work try stropping with the strop flat on a table using even a little more pressure.

Failing that I think it'll need to be rehoned.

Lynn will almost certainly redo any razor you've screwed up if you ask nicely. He is quite the gentleman. If you still have problems you can send the razor to me and I can fix it too. I know it can be embarrasing telling a master craftsman you screwed up his work.

If you have to use pressure to cut a hair with the HHT I'd say its waaaaay dull. My razors cut hair if they so much as touch the hair slightly. It sounds like a serious problem occured. I wouldn't be surprised if some guy in the mail distrobution center in Ohio has some wicked nice shaves by now. Who knows what happened to your blade on the way to NJ.

Originally Posted by mikemar42

...I bought a dovo inox razor and sent it over to mr.abrams for honing, an Illinois strop, and a standard brush. I stropped the razor .....

OH!

I found it! I found where it all went wrong!!!

VERY common mistake. It is amazing how many people under estimate how tricky it is to really know how to strop. Almost as, if not as, difficult as honing a razor properly. Both are equally important, a learned technique, and if taken for granted, where you dull the edge.

The third tricky learning curve, how to shave with the blade properly (angles and angles! No, literally, there are at least two angles: One the spine away from the skin with the edge on the skin, one parallel with the skin in which the tip is slightly angled forward - this will slice the hair, rather than push trough it).

Fourth, the prep!

Good luck!

C utz

You see thats the problem. people go out and buy the best of everything and do great prep and they think they will get the perfect shave the first time. It just doesn't work that way. If you did your first shave and didn't seriously cut yourself your doing real well. I wouldn't even begin to try and diagnose what the problem is because there are so many things. You just have to keep at it and thing should get better. After maybe two weeks of eveyday shaving then we can maybe narrow things down and see what the problem is.

Well as far as this stropping nonsense. When I got the razor back, I pulled out a piece of my hair and tried the hht right out of the box. I mean this razor did not touch a thing before the hht, and I was not able to get it to cut the piece of hair without having to fold the hair over the blade and pull. I guess didn't mention this. That was 2 days ago, thing is when I got the razor had just shaved, and I didn't get time to try it until today. Today was when I stropped it for the first time. To be honest I can't tell the difference between having it sharpened and from when i first got it. When I first got it I tried one shave and it was really poor then, so i thought must need sharpening and sent it out. I still think the blade is not sharp enough. I can run it down my finger lengthwise and not have a big gaping cut.

Ok, that sounds blunt. If you can't cut yourself with it then it just aint sharp. You should be able to shave off your arm hair with absolute ease. I can't always get the HHT to work for me, but you shouldn't have to stretch the hair over the blade.

The following thoughts are from one newb to another, they're just observations from my few weeks of shaving.

When it comes to the actual shave, your technique takes time to develop. I started off shaving just my cheeks, and finishing the rest with my cartridge razor. As I got better results, I'd move on to the next easiest part, the sides of my neck and so on - as my confidence grew my shaves got better and now I feel comfortable doing a full shave. Don't expect to be able to shave your whole face from the outset, it can be really painful! (trust me)

Also, don't underestimate the effectiveness of keeping your skin tight, this makes a real difference, and prepping well with a good lather.

From what I understand the HHT doesn't always work even though a razor is sharp. Lynn does not do the HHT, he shaves with it to ensure sharpness, so he hasn't sent you a dud. If you can run it length ways along your finger (why you would even think about doing that is beyond me) and not get cut, then I have to agree that it was from poor stropping.
Don't give up though, no one gets it right first time round.

Originally Posted by OLD_SCHOOL

If you can run it length ways along your finger (why you would even think about doing that is beyond me) and not get cut, then I have to agree that it was from poor stropping.
Don't give up though, no one gets it right first time round.

Running a sharp blade down my finger s not the worst thing I've done. I'm going to have to figure out this stropping, no doubt. I guess it is honed correctly since everyone has such faith in Mr.Abrams. I'm just hoping that he didn't forget to hone it and sent it back my way without doing anything. Everyone makes mistakes, especially if they are very busy and have a lot of things moving around. But I am a noob, and I'm going to figure this out. Being a college student I have all the time in the world to dedicate to shaving. I will persist, and I am going to get the technique right. Maybe once I get it down I can convince my dad to stop using the same bic from 1983. Honestly I've never seen him buy a razor.

Originally Posted by mikemar42

...To be honest I can't tell the difference between having it sharpened and from when i first got it....

Hmmm. I can do this!
I need to open a razor sharpening deal
"OH sure the razor was sharpened....it must have been something you did"

Originally Posted by mikemar42

...I can run it down my finger lengthwise and not have a big gaping cut.

Now this you should not be able to do!

AH! I see the problem....the blade is not sharp!



C utz

Originally Posted by Kriton

my reply was based upon a) the fact that if Lynn sharpened it, it must have been sharp - b) Stropping is the easiest way I am aware to get the results you have indicated -
K

+1 Kriton
I thought the exact same thing and for the same reasons. Seems to be the most likely scenario. Of course, I'd like to remind Mike that Lynn will always rehone the razor for him at no extra charge if it looks like he needs it. If you end up going that way, I'd recommend the first shave unstropped so that you can try it without danger of rolling that edge for your first go at an enjoyable straight shave.
Stick with it!

This razor was a piece of crap. It looked like an old 5/8 Dovo Inox that had been cut down to between 3/8 and 2/8. It also had a large amount of flattening on the spine. The edge was uneven an felt flat from being cut off. I sent it back and instructed Classic to give you a refund. I also thought I put a post it on it indicating "not honed".

I would recommend a better razor. The one you have needs a huge amount of work and then in my opinion, will not be worth shaving with.

All the best,

Lynn

Originally Posted by mikemar42

Well, for the pas month I've been getting the proper tools together for a straight razor shave. I bought a dovo inox razor and sent it over to mr.abrams for honing, an Illinois strop, and a standard brush. I stropped the razor got a nice warm lather built up, and went for my first shave. It felt like dragging a dull knife against my face and there was very little hair removed. I've watched all the videos and read a lot of the threads here. But it seems like I cannot remove the small amount of hair on my face with any number of passes. I have to dig into my face with this razor to get any progress. Whats the deal ? I shouldn't have to use this much pressure. I am holding the razor at like a 45 degree angle, and I am holding my face taught. Is this razor just crap or whats up ? I want a super shave and I seem to have bad luck. If I try to do the hht it won't cut it and it takes some pressure if I fold the hair and pull it over the blade. I thought after a honing this razor is supposed to be super sharp.