Thread: What do I do now?

I've been at this since the start of the new year, and I've acquired three, nice razors that shaved great when I got them. All were made shave-ready by tenured members here. I finally got to the point where I no longer was consistently nicking myself, and the shaves were great, but now I'm running into razor burn and a hint of pulling, and I'm beginning to think the razors need to be tuned up a bit. Would more experienced straight users make the same assessment? For some reason I think it might be too soon for the razors to need a tune up, but I don't have a benchmark here, so I'm a bit lost.

If that's the case and it sounds like they need to be tuned up, should I take the TM practice strop and turn it into a pasted strop?

I have an unlapped Norton, but I don't want to learn to use it on three razors that are great shavers...not to mention it's not lapped, and I don't have a finishing stone.

Thanks!

Your stuck! Send all the razors to me, I'll keep em! But first, tell me what your avatar is. . .

Oh, wait . . .

Yea they could use a touch up probably. I mean at some point you gotta learn right?

I might try to study up on the honing stroke and try 10=15 passes on the 8K side of the Norton. It shouldn't really hurt too much and it might fix em up nice.

Just keep the blade flat and move it smoothly, slowly, down the hone maybe with a little heel leading stroke.

Just try it with one razor, it won't do a lot to it.

Thanks much. I'm getting a Norton lapping stone tomorrow from Vintage Blades.

The avatar is a photo of a piece of my mama's peach pie, taken just before I ate it. I took a picture of it as a joke I sent to a friend (long story). I have no earthly explanation as to why I use it for my avatar other than it reminds me of my mama's peach pie.

My only other solution that I came up with was to keep buying shave-ready razors, but that would really piss my wife off, and while I wear the pants, I still don't like pissing her off.

Hmmm... just to eliminate some other possibilities

1. How many laps are you using on the plain leather hanging strop just before each shave? Approx. 50?

2. How much pressure are you using when you shave?
Light pressure I hope, perhaps you have become a bit heavy handed?

3. Do you have an abrasive pasted paddle strop? Pasted with 0.5 micron? That might be all your razors need for awhile. Practice your honing on some Ebay junkers.


Just my two cents,

Thanx. It was getting annoying because it keeps making me hungry, and since I didn't know what it was I was afraid I was getting hungry for no good reason.

Now I'm really hungry, for peach pie.

Originally Posted by randydance062449

Hmmm... just to eliminate some other possibilities

1. How many laps are you using on the plain leather hanging strop just before each shave? Approx. 50?

2. How much pressure are you using when you shave?
Light pressure I hope, perhaps you have become a bit heavy handed?

3. Do you have an abrasive pasted paddle strop? Pasted with 0.5 micron? That might be all your razors need for awhile. Practice your honing on some Ebay junkers.


Just my two cents,

1. I was doing 25 on the canvas and 30 on the leather, but now I'm doing about 10 on the canvas and 50 on the leather.

2. Not much. I'm adept at using a DE, so I've got the pressure thing down, and I've been paying attention to it. That is not to say, however, that I haven't been down that road...I used a fair amount of pressure when I first started and subsequently paid the price in poor, painful shaves.

3. Unfortunately, no. When I bought my Tony Miller strop, I did take him up on the practice strop option, and I thought I'd make a paddle strop out of it. Now I'm thinking of making a pasted paddle strop.

Thanks for the feedback.

Originally Posted by AFDavis11

Thanx. It was getting annoying because it keeps making me hungry, and since I didn't know what it was I was afraid I was getting hungry for no good reason.

Now I'm really hungry, for peach pie.

There's none better. My wife is an excellent cook and loves to bake, and she has learned to make it. The keys, we've learned, are my mother's crust recipe and fresh peaches. Without fresh peaches, we don't even bother.

I noticed, and your experience may differ, that after I started to get more comfortable shaving with a straight, my expectations of the shave went up. Without realizing it, I tended to use a little more pressure and made a few more passes. This resulted in irritation. It helps to remind yourself to go for a comfy shave and let the closeness follow on its own. Just a thought.

Jordan

Originally Posted by jnich67

I noticed, and your experience may differ, that after I started to get more comfortable shaving with a straight, my expectations of the shave went up. Without realizing it, I tended to use a little more pressure and made a few more passes. This resulted in irritation. It helps to remind yourself to go for a comfy shave and let the closeness follow on its own. Just a thought.

Jordan

I need to think about this one...you may have a point. I don't think I'm increasing my pressure, but where I was using a DE to clean things up I'd missed on my chin, I started shaving those areas successfully using my straights. As I gained more confidence, I started wanting a closer shave, and I started going over areas numerous times...not really thinking of them as multiple passes. My chin is where I'm getting the nasty razor burn, and last week I had burn that I felt all day. I've gone back to shaving my chin and mustache area with a DE: the chin because of the burn and the upper lip because of the pulling.

I'm taking receipt today of a new DOVO Perlex honed by Lynn that I ordered from Vintage Blades, and I'll be shaving with it tomorrow. I hope to use it to determine if it's the dulling of the razors I already own or if it's just me shaving my face away with a sharp razor.


Thanks,
Trent