Been at it about a year....

Here's what I THINK I know, PLEASE let me know if I'm off base.

Seems that, as I get used to it/better at it, there are more and bigger areas of my face that are barber shop close. I THINK this means I'm getting the 'with the grain / against the grain' thing right in those areas, and not quite right in the areas that are less than baby butt smooth.

My face has definitely gotten used to the razor, much less burn, a LOT less weepers, and lately even some of the "oops" maneuvers don't raise a spot of red. So yes, there will come a time when your styptic pencil gets a long long break.

Stropping is HUGELY important. I restored an old Case strop that was in pieces, and it seems to do a great job. One side is flat, the other side sort of dimpled. 5 round trips on each side (been about 6 months since I had it honed) and i'm getting a real good shave. Haven't tried linen yet, nor the 5 micron stuff.

I like a heavy blade with light scales. Seems the blade tracks better on my face, and the light scales don't make me fight it quite so hard to keep the angle the same around the less than linear areas. Plus my beard is like a wire brush, so the lighter blades seem to really have to work to get through it, especially on the bigger areas like my cheeks.

I rinse my razor (Filarmonica 13) with very hot water when I'm done, then wipe it down. I figure any water left on the blade will get evaporated quickly, and the razor still looks brand new. Hot tap water, so I figure I'm not hurting the blade. True?

I tried the oil pre shave stuff, didn't seem to make any difference. I always shave right after a shower. Seems a waste of money, unless someone can give me a hint on better using it.....

'Shave ready' razors aren't, unless you are talking to someone who knows what the hell they are talking about. Based on this, as soon as the current straight razor fad wears off, I'm looking to pick up some very expensive razors at a VERY cut rate (no pun intended, especially one as lame as that...). If you don't spend some quality strop time, the razor (a Dovo from The Art of Shaving in my case, gifted to me) will feel like a cheese grater.

Just some random thoughts in between swigs of malted beverages. Any other folks out there got Helpful Hints for a fellow explorer, crack a couple beers and we'll figure it out!

paulie

Whew! Lots to comment on. I will give my beer soaked opinions as well.

I say try a linen/canvas strop, you may be pleasantly surprised. It can really smooth out a rough shaver, or make the difference between a sharp razor or a sharp razor. Also, less time between honings!

Razors, razors, razors. (I have heavy and dense growth on my chin and lighter on my cheeks so I get to comment on razor size vs. beard toughness). I think that a heavier razor does make plowing through the rough stuff easier, but scales don't bother me too much either way during the shave. Honing is another story altogether.

Hot water rinse: I do that too, and have had no rust problems at all!

Pre shave oil: I have some from T&H and AOS preshave oil and think it works pretty good if you need to be extra irritation free. It slightly improves good preshave prep, but doesn't save a bad preshave (or badly honed razor)

Shave ready...ha ha ha. Although my brother got an old NOS Dovo that was close. But not ready really.

Stropping in general: oh yeah, you could probably get a few shaves from an unstropped razor... but I don't want to try!

Regarding preshave oil: I find that Extra Virgin Olive Oil works just as well as any oil out there. I use a 50/50 mix of EVOO and cold pressed castor oil for cleansing the face so I just take a few drops and massage it into the beard. The othe thing I like to do to condition the beard is to massage a drop or two of hair conditioner into my beard.
I have been trying out the canvas side of my strop more lately but do not have enough empirical evidence that it helps yet. However, for touch up, I have applied some CrO to my TM apprentice and it really works well. I have another TM with the canvas and without any paste that I use for the normal stropping.

I don't use any pre-shave oil either. Don't really see the point when just lathering up does a great job and then an aftershave balm gets me feeling like I can take on the world, or get a kiss on the cheek, or both!

Your routine sounds just like mine, except I stop a few more times and like to give a few laps on my Swaty if I'm not in a rush.

I also whole heartedly agree with your "shave ready" opinion. I've received more supposedly "shave ready" razors that were as dull as untouched antiques than I have razors that do actually give a nice shave. It's kinda like anyone with at least a years experience (this now includes you!) loses that optimistic opinion of other people's honing skills. Anyone who owns any type of hone can technically "hone" a razor, but you really need to know what you're doing to do a good job. I'm not claiming to be a highly decorated honemeister like some of the fellows on this site, but I've done a few "laps" around the block. Congrats on your first successful year rockin' it with the straight edge.

Hi Paulie,

Affordable razors are still available from ebay.de and ebay.fr, occasionally also from ebay.co.uk.