OK - I am SO LOVING this - why did I wait so long???

I had the best shave yet today with the Dovo I bought from SRD.

I lightly stropped - maybe 15 laps on the the Tony Miller latigo strop and went to town.

My wife still shakes her head at me, and gives me NO sympathy for the small nicks I've had to date, but I'l tell you, THIS FELS GREAT!!! I can't believe I didn't take this up years ago!

the shave is close (other than my chin, which I am working on) and a spot under one nostril that I keep missing, and I get less irritation than with my various DE razors.

The probkem spot I have is the 'point' of my chin - the razor seems to tug a bit - I am working on the angle, and trying to push through the stubble, rather than pull the razor.

Also, long strokes or short? I find myself doign little, choppy strokes - is that a 'standard' way to do this? I know there is n o hard and fast rules - other than dont move the razor horizontally - Ifoudn that one out already.... but any advice woud be welcome.

Thanks to all here for the tips and stickies - its got this journey off to a smooth start.

Barry

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Originally Posted by bman40

I had the best shave yet today with the Dovo I bought from SRD.

I lightly stropped - maybe 15 laps on the the Tony Miller latigo strop and went to town.

My wife still shakes her head at me, and gives me NO sympathy for the small nicks I've had to date, but I'l tell you, THIS FELS GREAT!!! I can't believe I didn't take this up years ago!

the shave is close (other than my chin, which I am working on) and a spot under one nostril that I keep missing, and I get less irritation than with my various DE razors.

The probkem spot I have is the 'point' of my chin - the razor seems to tug a bit - I am working on the angle, and trying to push through the stubble, rather than pull the razor.

Also, long strokes or short? I find myself doign little, choppy strokes - is that a 'standard' way to do this? I know there is n o hard and fast rules - other than dont move the razor horizontally - Ifoudn that one out already.... but any advice woud be welcome.

Thanks to all here for the tips and stickies - its got this journey off to a smooth start.

Barry

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As a fellow newbie, i have found that short strokes are easier for me.

But yeah, i just happened by chance to start talking to someone about DE razors on a totally unrelated topic a few months ago. Not sure how he worked it in. But ever since then(dec.) i have been shaving DE.

Then once i started reading more about Straight razor shaving on the boards it peaked my interest. Then there was a great starter set posted for sale and the de has been lonely ever since.

The chin is tough. Short strokes. Remember your skin stretching. Don't be afraid to try different angles to see what works for you. I found that at first I was using too light a stroke on my chin. Once I gained a little more confidence in my blade, it went a lot better.

Welcome to the addiction.

thanks for the replies guys.

I think I too tentative on my chin - I have a mole just under the chin and I have cut it a lot with the DE, and I think I am just nervous there. Plus , the stubble there is tougher than anywhere else, and it just needs a more confident stoke, I think.

Barry

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Originally Posted by bman40

thanks for the replies guys.

I think I too tentative on my chin - I have a mole just under the chin and I have cut it a lot with the DE, and I think I am just nervous there. Plus , the stubble there is tougher than anywhere else, and it just needs a more confident stoke, I think.

Barry

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I had the same problem with a mole under my chin when shaving DE. Have not cut it with the straight yet, knock on wood.

Another way to make it easier to cut through tough stubble is the "scything cut" that barbers are taught to use. Imagine that you are shaving with the grain (downward) with the razor parallel to the floor. Instead of moving straight down, you also move slightly in the direction of the point. Another way to do the same thing is to shave straight down but with the blade not parallel to the floor, but at a slight angle. The effect is that you slice the hair like a tomato instead of bearing straight down on the tomato. Does that make sense?

it makes perfect sense...and terrifies me... :)

the idea of scything through my chin... yikes!

thanks I'll try it tomorrow.

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Originally Posted by bman40

it makes perfect sense...and terrifies me... :)

the idea of scything through my chin... yikes!

thanks I'll try it tomorrow.

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Take care! Better to leave a bit of stubble than to try forcing the blade.

I've found that areas that fight back one day can be easier the next day. And as you practice, moves that just don't want to work seem to become magically easier over time. Scything is a good example. Once you can do it smoothly it is fairly safe. But the first few times you can be over cautious, the blade can stall and move sideways causing a long nick. Or worse, you can be too aggressive, and get a deep cut.

I've found that scything works best if you start the movement in an easy area and continue it smoothly into the tougher beard growth. That way you avoid having to move at the correct angle from a standing start "in the rough". :gl:

Done correctly, the scything stroke brings whiskers to their knees. Done incorrectly.... yeeesh. It's the only way I can get true BBS on a couple parts of my face, though.

The most important part of doing a scythe stroke: pressure. Or rather the lack of it. Use only enough pressure for the blade to actually contact the skin. Nothing more. I can't tell you how important this part is... NO PRESSURE! This way, if you over do the scything stroke, the damage is non existent or at least very minimized. Besides, using a scything stroke does not require any pressure to get fantastic results. And did I mention you shouldn't use any pressure? :)

When I use the scything stroke, usually also on the chin. I've found that if you plant your thumb on your jaw and use a short precise stroke similiar to whittling you are alot steadier.

The hardest thing about the chin is keeping a 30 degree or less angle. The chin for some reason is an area where you just naturally flatten out the blade. Short strokes are how I shave all areas of my face with a little longer stroke on the clean up pass.

Have fun,

Lynn

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Originally Posted by bman40

it makes perfect sense...and terrifies me... :)

the idea of scything through my chin... yikes!

thanks I'll try it tomorrow.

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Its OK, the razor will stop when it hits the bone. A little more advice, when you look at your chin or any other contoured area of the face, break it down visually into smaller flat planes, adjust your stroke accordingly.

for my chin i find a good skin stretch makes all the difference. i found that going WTG straight down with my thumb under my bottom lip pushing up and then doing the same WTG but putting my thumb and pointer on either side of my adams apple and just up a bit and pulling down on the skin. then i finish with XTG goin from the middle of teh chin and out. i find that if i set the razor flat on my skin first and then adjust my angle up at this point i get less nicks. there are many ways to do it, this is mine.

good luck
Wes

This works for me: 1st pass - lather, straight down strokes, stretching skin on my neck. For the second pass, I use shaving oil (King of Shaves) + lather. I do two directions on my chin (left to right and right to left - jaw bone to jaw bone) with a LOT of stretching (insufficient stretching => 100% nicks), short scything strokes. I finish the area under my chin with a few short straight up strokes; raising my head usually stretches the skin well enough for that.

What's scything? I didnt understand Chimensch's explanation. Is the edge at a 90° angle?

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Originally Posted by Cornelius

What's scything? I didnt understand Chimensch's explanation. Is the edge at a 90° angle?

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it is when on a totally normal stroke instead of pulling the blade straight down you go down and slightly across. i must stress the slightly part as you don't want to go too far. so the angle of the blade compared to the skin is the same but it is the angle of the stroke that is like 5 degrees off. i suspect many people do it without even knowing it to a certain degree.

Oh, ok, I get it, thanks! 5° horizontal deviation doesnt sound like much, I'm surprised to hear it makes such a difference!

If your razor is really, really sharp and the lather and possibly some shaving oil you are using are good and slick I think you'll find that that area comes off pretty easily. In the beginning I had difficulty with that area and thought it was technique. I found the solution was using the right 'stuff'. There is no substitute for SHARP! That's my two cents worth.

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Originally Posted by ddoblar

If your razor is really, really sharp and the lather and possibly some shaving oil you are using are good and slick I think you'll find that that area comes off pretty easily. In the beginning I had difficulty with that area and thought it was technique. I found the solution was using the right 'stuff'. There is no substitute for SHARP! That's my two cents worth.

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Actually I think there is no substitute for technique and there is no substitute for beard preparation, just as well.
Everything is important and for different people at different times the bottleneck is different. One can compensate a bit for deficiency in one component with the others, but that goes only so far.
I think in this case the razor is not the problem. Lynn has more experience than anybody honing razors and the Dovos are pretty decent razors.

Anyways, for many of us this is probably a pursuit of perfection. Glad you're enjoying it.

I think that the length of stroke depends on personal preference and area of face. On my cheeks and sides of my neck I prefer long slow strokes. This seems to work well for me because I end up being more consitent and steady. However, around my jawline and tougher spots to shave I use short strokes because its where my razor usually gets 'stuck' if i take long strokes. Plus with short strokes in the hard places I feel like I am less likely to cut myself.

here's my chin advice. stop
wait until you get good at shaving the rest of your face then try shaving your chin again. that's how i got good at it.

This is how I always thought of a scything stroke, and is what I do. Is it right? The blade is kept level, but the stroke moves to the side.

Excuse the picture - the frown wasn't intentional!