First attempt

Attempted my first straight razor shave with my new (old) Cullinan 6/8 full hollow ground razor today. I'm right handed and my hair grain goes straight down my cheeks, left to right across my throat, and some diagonals on my jaw. What is the proper angle supposed to feel like? I'm a newbie and I know that I did not hold a constant angle but some angles feel like the razor is sliding and doing nothing and others feel like its really digging in. I also can't figure out how to do the left side of my throat with the grain. I'm right handed and I tried either hand but can't figure it out. While I didn't manage to cut myself except for some tiny nicks on my throat I didn't get a great shave either (srp member "english" honed my razor and I stropped it first) which I attribute to not having the angles/techniques down right. I actually finished up with my DE because I was concerned of irritating my face with a million passes of the straight razor (ironically I cut myself much more with the DE). Any advice?
Thanks,
Zac

Welcome Zac,

I would suggest that you take Lynn's advice and shave just your sideburns/cheeks slowly expanding the area as you get more comfortable. The recommended angle between the razor and your skin is 30 degrees, you can vary it in either direction and see what works best. As you get more comfortable with holding the razor you will find out that it gets easier.

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Originally Posted by gugi

Welcome Zac,

I would suggest that you take Lynn's advice and shave just your sideburns/cheeks slowly expanding the area as you get more comfortable. The recommended angle between the razor and your skin is 30 degrees, you can vary it in either direction and see what works best. As you get more comfortable with holding the razor you will find out that it gets easier.

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+ 1 Agree 100%

Hey Zac,

I agree with the advice youve been given, but I'd like to commend you on trusting that someone actually honed your razor. Too often we see first-timers post here that their razor didn't give them a good shave, so whoever sold them their pre-honed razor must have just taken their 20 bucks and shipped them a dull razor. Then the guy drags the honemeisters name through the mud here on the forums becasue they didn't get a shave easier than with a Mach 3 or whatever.

Mechanics often joke that the biggest problem with some cars is right between the driver seat and the steering wheel, and that's the way it is with straight razors. Some people do great their first time, others take a couple of weeks to get a good shave, and others still take much longer than that. You seem pretty level-headed and I'm sure you'll get the hang of it soon enough.

Kudos,

Thanks for the responses, gave it another go, get more comfortable handling the blade around the face and more ambidextrous use. Still haven't got the shaving part down yet though. At least I took everyones' advice and am using the hand-me down strop, I thought I was being super careful and I nicked it twice, pretty seriously, now I gotta go read the strop forum. At least I know a Christmas present to ask for!
Thanks,
Zac

Keep playing with your technique. It's different for everyone. My beard won't shave worth squat with the grain and I always finish up against the grain. Don't understand your problem with the left side of your throat. I look up to the right, pull the skin of my neck down and shave up. Do be careful and make sure the razor is well honed out by the toe.

My advice-just keep at it. A razor of know sharpness,proper prep and most of all PATIENCE. Shaving is not/or should not be-a RACE.

Personally, I change hands so I don't have to reach across my face and when I first started shaving using my left hand-being right handed,really was not a big deal,since I had no established habits.

Lynn's DVD, is a wealth of knowledge and I highly recommend it. Even as an experienced Str8 shaver, I learned ALOT.

Learning to adequately stretch your skin,will help immensely.For me if a second pass is required,generally adding a splash of soapy water and a gentle stroke will take care of errant whiskers.

Depending on your beard, it may be necessary to shave WTG,ATG and XTG to be absolutely BBS. But,that approach requires absolute confidence and will come with time.Walk before you run and most of all,treat yourself to the best shaving products you can afford and take your time and enjoy the task at hand. Make sure your razor is REALLY shave ready-and the rest will come with experience. Don't be discouraged. Good Luck.

I also recently received a razor honed by SRP member English. He put a great edge on it and I have found no need to do anything else to it other than strap it on leather before each shave

Good luck in your shaving endeavors - success comes with practice, practice, practice.