Thread: First straight razor shave.....OUCH!!!!!

looks like a really nice setup there

Good luck!

Originally Posted by Al_72

That really sounds like my situation with my 5/8 Thiers-Issard. A superb piece of craftsmanship but even after beeing treated by 2 well known honemeister, can't get a shave with it.

Thought my technique was bad and got discouraged until, one day, decided to buy a cheap disposable straight (Ustura). What the heck, its only 20$?

Well, the surprise is that I could get a babyskin after only 2-3 shaving sessions with this instrument.

Good luck...

What did you end up doing with the TI? and did you have Lynn give it a try?
If you still have it, I'd be tempted to take a whack at it to see if I could get it shaving for you... sounds like an interesting challenge.

Well I made it through shave #2 tonight. I managed to shave my entire face but the experience was fairly unpleasant to say the least. Took me nearly an hour to do two passes WTG and the end result was far from BBS. I couldnt even imagine going ATG or XTG with the razor.

Before shaving, I spent a while trying to hone the razor for the first time. I received my Norton 4000/8000 combination hone today and did about 20 passes on the 4000 followed by 20 passes on the 8000 and checked for sharpness. Still didnt seem like nearly enough so I did an additional 20 passes on the 8000. I followed up with 40 laps on the cloth side of my strop followed by maybe 30-40 on the leather side.

In terms of honing technique I let the stone soak underwater for a half hour and then went to work on the 4000 side using a blade forward stroke - making sure to keep even pressure across the blade. I would use my second finger on one hand to lightly hold the tip of the blade down while letting the weight of the handle hold the other side flat. Both the spline and the blade edge were flat to the stone at all times and I only used just enough pressure to keep both the blade edge and the spline in contact with the stone during the honing strokes.

I would say the razor sharpness improved slightly vs. right out of the box but not nearly enough for a comfortable shave so I guess its back to the hone this weekend (when my face recovers!). I'm sure part of the issue is my newbie technique but the razor just feels very dull to me still.

I suppose I will give it one more hone this weekend and if I cant get a satisfactory shave I'm sending it to a honemeister.

I'm sure everyone else had the same issues starting out but wow this is much more challenging that I thought it would be.

Personally, I'd recommend sending it out to a honemeister for professional honing. I doubt that, straight from the factory, your razor is shave ready. Yes it may cut arm hair, but that does not mean it will give you a comfortable shave.

I'd get a cheap razor like a wapi or a double arrow to learn honing, as, like most, there is a good chance you will ruin it before you become proficient at it. Also, you will have the shave ready razor as a point of comparison in your honing attempts.

Hi Ray,

Where are you in Connecticut? I live in Stamford. You are probably right, I should end the pain and just have it honed by a honemeister. At least that way the blade will start off perfect and should be easy to maintain. Trail and error using my face as the testbed isnt so great.

Originally Posted by CTnewbie76

Hi Ray,

Where are you in Connecticut? I live in Stamford. You are probably right, I should end the pain and just have it honed by a honemeister. At least that way the blade will start off perfect and should be easy to maintain. Trail and error using my face as the testbed isnt so great.

On the other hand, you'll definitely learn from your errors.

I agree with the notion of having your razor sent out to a honemeister. Then get a cheap razor off of someone here and use it to practice honing. Having at least one razor done by a honemeister will let you have a feeling of what to aim for.