Thread: My first time...

Today was the day. The Wapi kit from kenrup and my face. WOW. Took about 40 minutes to complete with one WTG pass and one XTG pass, and only 3 nicks (all less than 4mm!) I'm hooked. I did notice that I had to change the blade angle depending on what I wanted to cut, but I was surprised to see the hardest thing to do was stropping. I strop all my knives and chisels, but my strop is glued to wood, so I'm not used to pulling on a strop and having to watch closely to not roll the edge. I do hope that speed will come with practice, though. 40 minutes is a long time for me in the morning... And a ATG pass is beyond my abilities right now, but soon... soon...

congratulations! what do you think of the razor handles?

Stropping (or strapping, as some like to say) may become enjoyable to you in the future. I smile as I strop, imagining the razor's edge bending and conforming to the pinnacle of sharpness and smoothness.

I look forward to hearing about your upcoming progress I use a wapi too, great blade

I like the scales. Shiny gold. The stropping wasn't bad, it was just awkward. I realized I had to take shorter strokes diagonally, rather than the longer, vertical ones I'm used to. I realize also that a Wapi isn't going to be enough. MORE BLADES!

Congrats on your shave!!!
You made a great choice for an initial razor.
Looking forward to hearing about your continued progress on your shaving... and your addictions!

Well done!
Stropping can be awkward at first. Just take it steady & you'll build muscle memory. It'll become reflex before you know it!

Originally Posted by netsurfr

Congrats on your shave!!!
You made a great choice for an initial razor.
Looking forward to hearing about your continued progress on your shaving... and your addictions!

The next purchase is going to be a scuttle from classicshaving.com unless there's someone that has a lead on soap scuttles somewhere else I can look at. And I do hear a seven-blade set calling my name, but that's going to be a LONG while... have to save the pennies...

Congrats, it only gets better and it sounds like you got a GREAT start.

I to loved the wapi. I need to work on it though, as my strop skills need to be worked on. I believe I rolled the edge badly. Rather than learn how to hold the leather strop correctly, I've chosen to learn how to shave and hone. My solution was to place the leather strop on a flat piece of bass wood and use it like a paddle strop. Once I've sufficiently learned to hone, I'll work on the strop. I won't have to send of the blades as often this way.

Originally Posted by Lt.Arclight

Congrats, it only gets better and it sounds like you got a GREAT start.

CURSES!!! It didn't get better today, it got worse. Took me just over an hour to get everything clean enough for morning formation. I'm going to have to get faster or I'm going to really be miserable getting up earlier. One nice side effect from yesterday was my beard was not as thick as it is in the morning after an electric shave.

Like everything else in life, learning is an experience that you must go through. Hey, I've had a grand total of 11 shaves with my straight. I have had my ups and downs, and some pretty significant cuts along the way. This morning I branched out from just the sideburns, sides of my face and cheeks to get to my jawline and neck area. And not one nick today!! Take it in stride. Work on small areas first to learn how to manipulate your hands and blade angles.