Thread: Cancel the appointment with the Plastic Surgeon

Originally Posted by jbcohen

I think that you will need to work on your stropping a little bit more than you have. The pulling that you described indicates this.

The razor was pre-stropped for me by the seller so I would have 1 less thing to worry about for the first shave. I'll definitely keep that in mind though for future shaves.

Originally Posted by Quick

maybe not. He said it was pre-stropped for him just for that reason. I'd guess more like blade angle. Next time try holding the razor almost flat against your face. Just lift the spine a little bit. It is possible to get too little angle but much more common to use too much angle.

I think that may have been my problem. I was trying for 1-2 spine widths as suggested in other threads. I went back and rechecked the blade angle by laying the razor flat on my face and then rotating it out and I was probably 3-4 spine widths away from my face when I shaved earlier.

Tuff beard needs tuff prep. Hot towels & good lather essential.
Sounds like you pressure is good seeing you're irritation free.
Always drop your angle if you feel resistance rather than pushing thru.
Remember the aim is to cut hair not scrape skin.

I think the emoticon describes the shave better than I can.

Glad the razor is working well for you so far.

Originally Posted by onimaru55

Tuff beard needs tuff prep. Hot towels & good lather essential.

As someone with a tough beard; definitely can never spend too much time on prep.

More stropping might also help. I stropped the blade before it left, but I posit that during shipping the edge could shift a bit because of temperature changes. (it's below freezing up here in the north). It might not have been 100% when it arrived.

I received my TM Strop in the mail today; absolutely gorgeous. I stropped the razor about 30 times on the cloth and 75 times on the leather. The stropping combined with lowering the angle helped with the pulling quite a bit.

The shave today wasn't quite as good as yesterday but I kept all of my blood on the inside which is my primary goal for the first few weeks. I should have probably waited until morning to let my face recover a bit more but it needs to learn sooner or later. The neck has a nice red hue to it about on par with a bad cartridge day.

LordKappa, should I keep the razor in the freezer so it feels more like home? I fear the 60 deg F (15.5 C) weather today may make the razor homesick . No one should ever have to shave with a homesick razor.

sounds like a great first shave it sounds like your blade angle may have been to steep and it was pulling the hair try experimenting with different blade angles and make sure your beard prep is good if the hair on your face has not been softened it will be harder to cut and last but not least make sure you pull your skin tight