my first shave, maybe not sharp enough?

hey guys,

Sunday night (actually about 2am) I finally tried my straight. It came shave ready, pre-honed so I didn't try stropping it (figuring not having done that before I'd likely make it worse rather than better). I even did the hair test and it worked, once, I couldn't get another hair to do it.

anyways, I practiced all week getting a lather built up with the hsaving cream, I think I go tit down pretty good, so I got all lathered up and...

first i was suprirsed how hard it was to hold my hand steady, I didn't expect to be that nervous. but I pride myself on my hands and did my entire neck, half my dominant side cheek (right handed shaving) and about a 3rd of the other, angle and holding it is still a thing to work on.

however, the whole time it was like I was using a dull disposable or I was shaving dry, it just scraped and soiunded pretty raspy. not a nice smooth cut.

do I have a question then? yes,

I think it was one of three things, or a combination. please give me your thoughts oh experienced shavers.
1. not enough cream, although I thought it was enough,a nd when following up with the mach 3 it glided through wonderfully
2. too much hair growth, i had about three days and even though I'm a redhead and have delicate skin my beard is actually pretty rough
3. wrong angle on the razor
4. razor not sharp enough

and did I mention that I didn't cut myself? :)

Thanks guys

Red

You gotta strop, you just gotta.

hmm, I don't think too much growth is your problem with a straight. I have removed over a week of growth no problem. I think people are conditioned to expect a crappy shave from a disposable since the blades clog up so fast with long hair removal.

Straight =>no clog=>no decrease in shave quality with longer hair. Actually, I get smoother shaves if I wait longer between shaves, I guess it gives my skin a chance to normalize again....or something.

As far as assessing razor sharpness: did it remove hair or just glide over the face and only remove shaving cream?

What angle where you holding the razor at? It should be approx 30d. from leading edge to face. The closer you get to perpendicular between face and razor, the more scrape and less cut you get. Sounds kinda like what you are describing... give some more info and the guys here can help more.

Did you strop the razor before hand?

I'd say strop your razor before the next shave, and try decreasing the angle a bit. It sounds like your using too much angle with the blade. Most importantly give yourself time. It takes time to learn to hold it correctly, get your angle right and get the passes correct. There is nothing wrong with doing a WTG pass and finishing up with your M3 while your learning. Experiment with the water/shaving cream or soap ratio to get it mixed right.


Patrick

Hi Big Red,

I'm a new straight razor shaver, with about 8 shaves or so under my belt. Let me just say that this EXACTLY like my first experience with shaving. The blade didn't seem super sharp even after getting it back from honemeister. Then it sounded like sandpaper when actually shaving even WTG.

I'm slowly getting better with my technique, but the things that I can suggest that helped me get a smoother shave so far are:

1. More prep work. (shower, hot towel, lather, rinse, 2nd hot towel, lather again, then shave). Get the bristles really soft.
2. Pulling the skin on my face really so it is really taut. This greatly improved the ease/closeness of my shaves. This is key I believe.
3. Decreasing the angle of the blade a little.

I'm nowhere near where I want to be yet, shaves are not what I would call comfortable, but they are getting better slowly.

Cheers,
Rod