Thread: Bloodied and sliced newbie

Originally Posted by abeduler

I think it's sharpened properly, it was done by the merchant. i got the good dovo strop.

I'm not sure what you mean with this statement...did the person who sold you the razor state that it was shave-ready or that they had honed it? For folks who have never used a straight, a utility knife blade would be considered shave ready. Straights are sharper than scalpels, many are so sharp that merely touching your face with the edge perpendicular to the skin will cut...but you may not feel anything. We have folks here who dedicate time to the perfection and analysis of the razor's edge that would make most research scientists envious.

When in doubt, spend the $20 and get the blade fine tuned by a honemeister....one may even volunteer to do it for you gratis, just to avoid vurther bloodshed.

Other things to look at:

Shave after you shower - the beard will be softer (please note my user name...I feel your pain where tough beard is concerned)

Make your lather with hot water. Lather and let it sit on your face for a few minutes to further soften the beard.

Keep the angle of your blade - in relation to your skin - shallow. Place the blade flat on your cheek and then raise the spine slightly, maybe 20 degrees.

Do not push or pull the blade - your hand guides the blade in a gentle, controlled slide down the face. You will have to use more control along the jaw and neck, but still, very little pressure. The blade is doing the work, not your muscles.

The grip on the razor should be firm, but not tight. Until you are comfortable with the razor being an extension of your hand (I'm sure there is a samurai metaphor in here somewhere), when you need to change hands or grips, do so away from your face, with a clear, full view.

Place the blade carefully with each stroke, taking care not to come down at an incorrect angle against your face, cheekbones, etc.

As you start, slow and steady is the rule.

You mentioned hunting - same rules apply as with making a good shot: solid grip, but not tight, steady breathing, no sudden moves, concentrate on the field of fire (in this case - shaving), as you need to move, do so slowly, but steadily, in a a straight line, observe proper safety.

Patience. Watch the vids on this site, look on YouTube for others, watch, practice.

You will not regret it - once you get used to shaving with a straight, nothing comes close (did that sound like a commercial?...sorry)

You have already made a blood offering to the razor gods...so you should be able to move ahead successfully!

Man, Listen to the advice here and make your expectations a little more realistic. BBS is not about bleeding & being in pain. It comes with ease when the skills are acquired & that will take a little time & safe practice.

the others have answered most of your questions... so here is my 2 cents... do not try to shave with any utensil until you heal up... any razor will catch the scabs and are likely to cause you to bleed again

get your razor honed buy a real honemeister... super glue will close up cuts on none facial ares and beat the hell out of bleeding.

take your time and relax.. the BBS will only come with practice... pain is just going to slow your learning curve.

also what sort of lather are you using? the goo in a can will not help you much.

A few more whacks couldn't hurt . . .=)

My contribution is to read through the other first shave threads peppered throughout the forums and check out the youtube videos - they're awesome. Also the files section has a few neat guides to walk you through everything. Anyway, I got my first straight 2 years ago and read damn near everything on the site and have been able to use and maintain my razor in all sorts of living conditions thanks to the wisdom on these boards.


The only other thing I think is important is technique trumps sharpness. If your technique is terrible your razor can't do its job well, no matter what.

That's it!

Cheers!

Welll, I think you have a boatload of advise so I just wanted to welcome you to SRP!!!
Congratulations on your tenacity.
Relax and enjoy... you will get there with your shave.

Originally Posted by WireBeard

I'm not sure what you mean with this statement...did the person who sold you the razor state that it was shave-ready or that they had honed it? For folks who have never used a straight, a utility knife blade would be considered shave ready. Straights are sharper than scalpels, many are so sharp that merely touching your face with the edge perpendicular to the skin will cut...but you may not feel anything. We have folks here who dedicate time to the perfection and analysis of the razor's edge that would make most research scientists envious.

When in doubt, spend the $20 and get the blade fine tuned by a honemeister....one may even volunteer to do it for you gratis, just to avoid vurther bloodshed.

Other things to look at:

Shave after you shower - the beard will be softer (please note my user name...I feel your pain where tough beard is concerned)

Make your lather with hot water. Lather and let it sit on your face for a few minutes to further soften the beard.

Keep the angle of your blade - in relation to your skin - shallow. Place the blade flat on your cheek and then raise the spine slightly, maybe 20 degrees.

Do not push or pull the blade - your hand guides the blade in a gentle, controlled slide down the face. You will have to use more control along the jaw and neck, but still, very little pressure. The blade is doing the work, not your muscles.

The grip on the razor should be firm, but not tight. Until you are comfortable with the razor being an extension of your hand (I'm sure there is a samurai metaphor in here somewhere), when you need to change hands or grips, do so away from your face, with a clear, full view.

Place the blade carefully with each stroke, taking care not to come down at an incorrect angle against your face, cheekbones, etc.

As you start, slow and steady is the rule.

You mentioned hunting - same rules apply as with making a good shot: solid grip, but not tight, steady breathing, no sudden moves, concentrate on the field of fire (in this case - shaving), as you need to move, do so slowly, but steadily, in a a straight line, observe proper safety.

Patience. Watch the vids on this site, look on YouTube for others, watch, practice.

You will not regret it - once you get used to shaving with a straight, nothing comes close (did that sound like a commercial?...sorry)

You have already made a blood offering to the razor gods...so you should be able to move ahead successfully!

EXCELLENT!! That's what i wanted to hear!

I got the razor on Ebay. It looks almost barely used, i'd say no more than a handful of shaves on it. The box has a taped message that says "Your Dovo razor has been honed to perection by Lynn Abrams, founder of Straight Razor Place" Whoa... i guess that's someone here. Just put together the two.

I know I don't know the usage of the razor (or even how to spot the usage/dings), but in all it looks practically brand new. Saved 70 bucks or so on the razor, so i thought i got a good deal. Should i send it to someone here to hone? Who can do it, and i'll tuck $20 in the box when i send it.

Update:
Shave this morning. With the grain only. a bit less painful, but not very close shave. I used 'art of shaving - shaving oil' and Tabac soap. A bit disappointed. maybe this razor is dull? I may have knocked it on the faucet last shave (surprisingly a bit disoriented when shock sets in I found out - blood gushing from face and finger).
Maybe i'll send it to someone with good stones, or those one ceramic 16k stones or something? Any volunteers? I'll pay. I'd like to know the current condition of the razor also to learn a bit what i'm looking at and should expect.

Thanks.

so hopefully you don't make CNN at 8 . my first shave was with just one days growth and i moved with the speed of a quadrapoligic hurdler. i understood that what was in my hand was sharper than anything in my kitchen. did you really comprehend the gravity of the choice to switch to a straight? try taking your time and put the razor down to switch hands. when you get done, make sure you can count to 10.

You may want to have your razor sharpened by Lynn so that you don't have to wonder if razor sharpness is an issue.
Straight Razor Honing By Lynn Abrams - Straight Razor Place Classifieds

Am I the only one here who cringed upon reading the OP's post ?

Talk about pain threshold!

As you can see by my number of posts, I am very new here. My razor is waiting for my at the post office. I purchased it from Straight Razor Designs.. But after reading this post, I'm not so sure I want to go get it!!

J

Originally Posted by kljr

so hopefully you don't make CNN at 8 . my first shave was with just one days growth and i moved with the speed of a quadrapoligic hurdler. i understood that what was in my hand was sharper than anything in my kitchen. did you really comprehend the gravity of the choice to switch to a straight? try taking your time and put the razor down to switch hands. when you get done, make sure you can count to 10.

Yes, i underestimated the gravity of the situation. Good news, i may not need to go for stitches. Razor cuts this deep is hard to heal, but it looks like it's healing from the bottom up, i just keep it covered.

Shampoo,
Don't be deterred, but use this as an example i lacked in that do things real slow. plenty of soap and oils and water. I know i will like doing it this way, it just hasn't come yet.