Thread: Fist shave epic dissapointment

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.

If it was easy to do, everyone would do it. It takes some practice. 45 degrees sounds a bit steep to me. 20-30 degrees angle is the norm. Its also possible that you've rolled the edge while stropping. Try just shaving the flat parts of your face first (like sideburns/cheeks). It should get better as you work at it. Once you've got the hang of these areas, expand.

Be patient and you'll get there. Also, buy Lynn's DVD if you haven't already. Its the best $$ a newb can spend. Good luck and enjoy the process!

Jordan

Also, be very careful with your stropping. Keep the razor flat on the strop or you may knock the edge off.

X

Every step of this activity is a delicate art man...

As soon as I read your post, and saw that you had stropped the razor prior to use, I knew what you were going to say.

Yes you need to strop the razor, but you have to learn how to do that too - those Illinois strops are narrow and require (in my opinion) a whole new skill set to do a proper x-pass to cover the whole blade - and rolling the blade on a strop is very easy to do if you are not very careful...I have done it, a half dozen times when I first started, and I still have the tendency if I am not careful now...

Don;t give up though, it is worth it and cool when you get the hang - use the bic for now, go back and strop the blade after reading the multiple posts on here about how to do it (look for my Eureka post on my personal stropping discovery) and try again.

K

So I've watched the youtube video on proper stropping, and read some more. My question is if i have dulled the blade do to incorrect stropping is any amount of correct stropping going to fix this or does it now need to be re-honed. I have heard alot of different opinions on using the canvas side of the strop, alot of people saying they only do if after honing and before stropping. What should i do ? I am defiantly keeping the razor lightly on the strop and I have nice X pattern going. I never lift the spine and I don't have a loud scccchwttt sound moving the razor. Will correctly stropping this razor allow me to get a close shave ?

I don't think that you should automatically assume that you dulled the blade if you were careful when stropping. If you kept the spine down the whole time and kept the strop tight then you are most likely ok. It sounds like you are using much too steep of a blade angle. Drop the spine down closer to your skin (like 30 degrees or less) and see if this helps the glide.

I agree with Heavy, BUT - 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 -

Frankly, I didn't respond to the angle comments because I have never seen or heard or been able to replicate a 45 degree angle on my face with a sharp blade - youch! That would not just shave you, that would start separating derma wouldn't it? I would have thought that, with the pressure described, that the razor (even if dull) would still be slicing and dicing?

Hence my assumption that stropping was culprit; oh and because I did the exact same thing myself with my first razor(s).

K

Originally Posted by Kriton

and rolling the blade on a strop is very easy to do if you are not very careful...I have done it, a half dozen times when I first started, and I still have the tendency if I am not careful now...

Like mikemar42 I'm curious as to what's needed to recover from a rolled edge. I shaved for the second time with a straight last night. With both my first shave and last night's shave I had a bit of drag. Being so new to straight shaving there's many things I could be doing wrong to cause the drag - blade angle, poor stroping, etc. When stroping I've tried to pay extreme attention to the amount of pressure I'm using and have tried my best to only be using the weight of the blade. Before my first shave I think I tried to err too far on the side of caution and the blade started to lift up off the strop a few times. Last night I did a little better. How does one tell if they've rolled the edge of their blade? Can it be seen with the hand-held microscope from Radio Shack that's commonly recommended? I haven't picked up one yet, but have been meaning to. And, if one does roll the edge of one's blade, how does one fix it?


Thanks,

Kevin

Originally Posted by dokpm0

Like mikemar42 I'm curious as to what's needed to recover from a rolled edge. I shaved for the second time with a straight last night. With both my first shave and last night's shave I had a bit of drag. Being so new to straight shaving there's many things I could be doing wrong to cause the drag - blade angle, poor stroping, etc. When stroping I've tried to pay extreme attention to the amount of pressure I'm using and have tried my best to only be using the weight of the blade. Before my first shave I think I tried to err too far on the side of caution and the blade started to lift up off the strop a few times. Last night I did a little better. How does one tell if they've rolled the edge of their blade? Can it be seen with the hand-held microscope from Radio Shack that's commonly recommended? I haven't picked up one yet, but have been meaning to. And, if one does roll the edge of one's blade, how does one fix it?


Thanks,

Kevin

If you stropped your razor as carefully as you describe then I really doubt that you would have rolled your edge.

It's your first shave -- you can't get discouraged so easily. It can take months of practice to even get remotely effective at handling a straight razor -- it did in my case at least. These guys will get you through it though, and then you'll love it, so stay calm.

We know the honing was done correctly, so yeah, I'd say your stropping is the culprit. On a properly honed/stropped blade, it doesn't really matter whether I hold the blade at or below a 45-degree angle -- it cuts smooth regardless. I prefer 45 degrees though.

I'd personally try a few passes on the linen/canvas side to freshen up the edge, then keep it to a minimum on the leather -- maybe five or ten round trips and try shaving. Also, when I was new to it, the "x-pattern" technique screwed me up more than helped. I didn't have the necessary feel/control to keep the blade perfectly flat. Since you're new to it, it might be best if you didn't do an x-pattern and just go straight across the strop, but just shifting the blade up-and-down every stroke or two. Check out the "diagonal" method too -- that's what I use almost exclusively now -- kinda works like a more fluid x-pattern.

I usually start with a very small amount of pressure, then lighten towards the end. Pretend you're dragging a baby's face across the leather. Be no less gentle.