Thread: newbie with questions

I got my first straight in the mail today (freshly honed by Lynn). It was a decent shave however I did have a good bit of pulling. Seemed as though I really had to pull the blade down to get it to cut the hair. Does anyone know if Lynn strops the razors after he hones them. I did not strop before I tried the razor so I thought that may be one thing. My lather was also a bit questionable. Prep was the usual that gives me a good DE shave. Over all the shave was good and I can't wait until it gets better.

He does strop them.......lol.

Keep me posted on your progress. What kind of razor was it? Angle is key too. It is really better to start off with just a part of the face vs. the whole shave until you get used to using the razor. Don't worry about messing it up as I can always rehone it for you. Take it a little at a time until you get used to it and you should do fine.

Have fun,

Lynn

WOW, thats some fast reply. Its a dovo 5\8 speacial. I figured you did strop them before sending them out, and I am pretty sure that my lather was a little lacking. I had a similar pulling experience with a DE and the lather was the culprit. I suppose I got a little anxious and forgot about lather quality.

Hey there. Congrats on your first shave (they're never perfect). FWIW, here's my advice... I'm on my second week and the shaves have improved tremendously.

1. Preparation is very important, i.e. get your whiskers super moist and soft for easy slicing by the razor. This usually requires more than just dabbing cream on right before. Many folks on here stick a wet washcloth in the microwave for about 25 seconds (or as hot as tolerable), then apply that to the face for a solid 2-5 minutes. You may even experiment with lathering up and THEN applying a hot towel to encourage your face to soak up even more moisture. Or, just soak in the shower and shave after you get out. Either way, this is very key to easily popping off facial hair.

2. Technique. One member described it elegantly by saying you should try to shave off all of the hairs without ever touching your skin. A super light touch combined with a good shave angle and skin stretching (exposing a greater length of hair) will eliminate some of the pulling you are experiencing. Of those three, the angle of the blade against your skin is the most important when it comes to pulling it seems. The best way to learn the correct angle is just experimenting, but 30 degrees seems to be the sweet spot.

Oh and a tip on the lather - use more water than you think Try experimenting with whipping some up, and then slowly add small increments of water until it becomes soupy, and you will discover how much water you can take before you have too much.

The guys have it right so now just be sure to strop that razor for 50 laps just before each shave.


Just my two cents,

I had my second shave. I am still having lots of drag. I made a good lather and prep was good (when I did my neck and chin with my DE it was smooth sailing). I did hit the strop before the shave this time and got the same results. Since Lynn honed the razor I can't imagine its not sharp but it will not pass the HHT with my hair but I read that this can sometimes be due to the hair. I think my stroping technique is good, very little pressure on a taught strop flipping over the spine. I suppose my angle is not to great but I feel like I ere on the side of < 30 degress instead of getting to perpindicular to the face, is there a good way to find the angle? Any suggestions?

Unless it's actually causing irritation I think you'd be best to give it a few more shaves and see if things improve. It may be wrong angle, too much (or to little pressure), etc. If you're expecting your first or second shave to be ideal you're probably setting the bar a bit high.

Given that the razor was honed by Lynn you'd have to guess technique is the most likely culprit.

Originally Posted by roughneck

. I suppose my angle is not to great but I feel like I ere on the side of < 30 degress instead of getting to perpindicular to the face, is there a good way to find the angle? Any suggestions?

Put the razor flat on your face. Lift the spine up, for about two times its thickness. That approximates a good angle.

Another method to find it, is to lay the razor flat and lift the spine till it starts cutting hair. The smallest angle that will cut your beard is best.

Later on, you 'll learn to experiment with the angle and see if different angle work better at different parts of your face.

Good luck,
Bart.

Third shave today was much better than the first two. Gave the razor 40 linen passes and 30 on the leather. Still aways to go but getting there

This has been discussed before, as have most things, but it might help for you to consider not just the angle of the blade but also the cutting motion. Just as you cut bread with a sawing motion rather than pushing is straight down, the cutting action of the razor is dramatically enhanced by moving the blade at an angle. Do you remember your geometry enough to know what a rhombus is? If you consider the shaved region defined by your starting and stopping point of a shave stroke, it should be a rhombus rather than a rectangle. That is, the path of the razor should not be straight down but instead angled in the direction of the point of the razor.
I hope that helps.