Thread: razor pull

Hi everyone. I've recently started shaving with a straight blade, but I cannot seem to get the edge as sharp as I know it should be. It pulls, and is damn uncomfortable, though I do get a close shave in the end. I've bought Lynns DVD, and I'm stropping as i should. Any ideas what I might be doing wrong? I'd be grateful for any help.

Many thanks,
Colin

did it pass hht?

Originally Posted by Colin

Any ideas what I might be doing wrong? I'd be grateful for any help.

Many thanks,
Colin

It could be your shaving technique - wrong angle of blade, wrong angle of direction, pressure, speed, visibility, insufficiently stretched skin, wrong angle against grain, etc etc
It could be your pre-shave prep - low water temperature, poor lather quality, incorrect lather application, short length of time allowed for lather to soak into hair, poor brush, etc.
It could be the sharpness of the razor - is it dull, and if so, why? Has it been insufficiently stropped or honed? Has it been improperly stropped? Has it incurred damage? Is it poor quality steel? Are the handles weighted and balanced correctly? Is the blade efficient with your beard type?
It could be any one of these or a combination of these things. For me, none of the razors I have ever used has been a primary or even secondary problem. To know for sure, you could send the razor away to an expert to sharpen it.

If you are new to straight razor shaving (like I am), there are so many things that could be wrong that it can be impossible for one to know exactly what is wrong. Practice will iron these things out.

Practice, practice, practice!

And enjoy it!

Tell us a little more. Did you buy the razor new? Have you had it honed yet?

It could be your stropping and it could be your shaving technique, ie - angle.

Not just the angle of the razor to the plane of your face, but also the sloping angle of the razor heel to point. The classic straight razor technique is short point leading strokes.

Stropping is an art. Just watching a DVD, or online video, will give you a good start. But only practice, trial and error, will result in perfection.

The main points for stropping are taught strop (of course you will read differing opinions here on just how taught or how much sag is allowed. My experience is not to use a death grip, but fairly taught. Let's say it should bounce a quarter)...and, flat razor (press the back of the razor down onto the strop first. Maintain that pressure and roll the edge down onto the strop. Try and keep most of the pressure at the back while stropping, and the remainder at the edge)...with diagonal stroke, point leading. Use firm enough pressure to feel drag. (See photos from old barber manuals included in recent posts to actually see the positioning).


Keep at it.


Scott

+1 on the fact that it could be and probably is due to multiple factors. This straight razor shaving bit has a hefty learning curve. But.....anything worthwhile usually does.

My first few shaves were brutal. DON'T do what I did: get frustrated about it and push through the shaves. Sakes alive did I have irritation; I even gave myself a mean crop of ingrowns on my chin, which had never happened to me before.

Prep is huge. A factoid that originated from I don't know where says that dry male whiskers have the tensile strength of copper wire of the same thickness.

What's helped me a lot recently is making my own pre-shave oil in a pinch.

Take about 1/2 teaspoon of olive oil, add about an equal amount of water and mix with your finger just to emulsify the oil, then after your shower or washing your face, rub the oil in on a wet face. Then, lather and shave. Doing this has virtually eliminated nics and cuts and leaves my face conditioned post shave rather than utterly dry and stripped.

Oh and the reason I mentioned this.....it also helps DURING the shave and makes it easier for the razor to move across the face.

One other bit of advice: If you're drawing the razor across your face straight down or "head-on" into the whiskers, change your passes a bit. Rather than have the blade hit the whiskers perpendicular to them, tilt the blade either heel down toe up or vice versa whichever is easiest. I'm not talking about raising the blade up off your face or tilting the blade angle any more than recommended, I'm talking about skewing the blade for your pass. Woodworkers skew chisels and planes when they are pushing either over the wood. A skew cut rather than a straight on cut provides for more cutting surface hitting the object (whiskers) resulting in a shearing rather than a chopping.

Chris L

Apologies, but I don't know what hht is.

Thanks so much. I guess this is trial and error to a certain degree. The razor is a new dovo bismark. I've honed it when it probably didn't need it, and am worried that I've done some damage. I think, also, that judging by what you say my prep is not good enough.

Thanks so very much for your replies. How smooth should a straight razor shave be compared to a good quality safety razor? My point is, is a bit of pulling something that is just part of straight razor shaving?
Thanks

And do I have to do anything to a brand new razor? Does it need stropping or honing etc?