My First Shave: Why Did I do It?!

Hi everyone!

After a long wait I finally got my shaving equipment last night.

I has 1/8" growth and I decided to cut it clean this morning.


My shaving background:
Schick Quattro all the way

My [new] equipment:
(all of it is new)

7x SFK Wapienica 5/8razors
1xStrop
1xBadger brush
1xMST hone
1xArkansas stone
3xdiamond paste (3,2,0.5 in medium)\




(1) I stropped for a bit (blunt edge first, flip, do it again)
(2) I checked the sharpness with the nail and then with the thumb method
(3)brushed on some Barbersol cream with the rush (I took my time)
(4) then I started my WORST shaving experience of my life: by first going down (30 degree angle) and then after some hairs came of my cheek (nice and bloody may I add) I did the up motion at the same angle.

It felt like I was dragging the coarsest grit sand paper over my face.
I had to do minimally 5 passes in one direction to "make it count"
It got worse quickly.
Blood guts cuts
all this time i'm brushing more cream on my face.

(5) I started stropping the razor again and the next 3 passes were pretty good

then it all went back
I tried it all
I stretched the skin (the best I could...cream is slippery so..heh)
I did it nice and light

(6) I inspected the razor and stropped again

Next few passes under my nose went very well then it turned.
I was bleeding, major razor burn everywhere , but was not ready to give up.

(7) Against all odds and logic I went over the face again added to the burn and cuts and then washed it all off.

The shave equaled to 2-3 passes with my Schick Quattro.

(8) I took the Schick Quattro and gave it one pass and as usual I had a silky smooth face (minus the cuts and burn from the straight razor).


:gth


http://img337.imageshack.us/img337/7333/s4031439xa1.jpg
Red is for blood.

I'll leave it to others to guide you in the right direction, but I must ask, did you hone it? I see no beveled edge from the picture. And I'm certain it is not shave ready unless you bought it from someone from here.

Also, buy Lynn's DVD.

Kilowattkid

Welcome to SRP.

heres the number 1 question everyone wants to know. Did you have the razors honed by a professional? I.E Lynn.

i know you may want to say when you bought them they said shave ready, 98% of the time that is not the case unless you bought them here. If you tried to hone them yourself, thats another problem.

My recommendation, send them all to be professionally honed, you can contact Lynn he is Adjustme69 or contact Joshearl, he too is a great honemeister.
While your razors are away check out all our invaluable threads, there is a wealth of knowledge to be absorbed.

P.S I notice your list didn't include Lynn's DVD, a must have and only $20.

Thank you,

I do not know if they were professionally honed.

I did not hone anything myself even though I have the right equipment to do it.

I feel like the honing is not going to be cheap...another $100 for the 7 razors? That would hurt. How often should I be sending the razors for honing if I use each once a week?

Is the DVD really worth it? I mean can't I just read about all of this? I watched few YouTube videos and those were pretty good.

I will sell all my razors if I can’t do the honing myself. Period.
This investment was supposed to carry strategic advantages over the long run including never having to pay for shaving again other then the shaving cream.

Typically honing runs $15 - $20 per razor but if you're sending someone that many at once perhaps you'll get a better rate. The time between honing depends on a lot of thing - most people say 2 to 6 months. With a 7-day set to use it may even be longer. You'll still need to strop every time before use and learning to hone yourself isn't that hard - it just takes time. Lynn's DVD is well worth the $20 cost - he covers a LOT of territory on the DVD and provides a ton of useful information.

The razors are SUPER sharp.

As I mentioned they passed the nail and thumb test with flying colors. Nice smooth deep cut digs in instantly with no roughness.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Why_Did_I_Do_It?!

Thank you,
Is the DVD really worth it? I mean can't I just read about all of this? I watched few YouTube videos and those were pretty good.
.

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Yep!

I went to it today to help with another issue and once again, with Lynn's guidance, I had an excellent shave.

There is so much information on the DVD you don't get online.

I feel your frustration as do we all. You want it to work and it will if you keep at it.

Get one honed at least as a standard, its only twenty bucks.

Randy

Super sharp and shaving sharp are different. The wapi from sharp222 or wotjec (same source) are NOT shave ready.

owwwww!!!

sorry,
Bob

First, welcome!

Second: Ouch!!!!

Third: I'm confused, how exactly did you come up with this list of things?
Yes, it includes everything that you need (and then some more), but wherever you found your info, there wasn't (or you missed it) enough advice on what to do with that once you buy it.

Your razor needs to be honed before it can shave - you notice the difference in experience with the Schick - well these blades were sharp and your razor was dull.
The leather is not sharpening it - that's why you have the hones and the pastes, they contain abrasive particles hard enough to cut steel. Then you need the skill to make it sharp - it takes time and practice to develop.

As others have said, your best course of action so far is to mail the razor to some of the honemeisters to put proper edge on it. Lynn (adjustme69), JoshEarl, David (heavyduty135), Alan (AFDavis11) are few of the guys who offer this.

Then read the threads in this section, start with the stickies, there is a FAQ in development... that'll give you some ideas of what went wrong.

As to why did you do all this - I have no idea - I'd think you'd have stopped after the first stroke. Even after you have everything properly - there still is a learning curve, eventually the results are superb, but getting there isn't automatic.


Good luck.

Well, if you ran the edge along your nail you may have damaged it slightly. Usually the nail test is used before finishing the edge for that reason.

There are exceptions, but most people take a few weeks at least to get a passable shave from a straight - there's a lot to learn, and experience. After all, if it was easy disposables would never have gotten a look in in the first place.

What about just sending one of your wapis out for professional honing? It will eliminate sharpness as a variable and allow you to concentrate solely on your shaving technique.

James.