Newby Newbster!

Hi guys! I'm new to this site, I'm over at The Shave Den on the same nick but this is my first post here. I just purchased a Wapi with Violet Scales from Invisible Edge in Eng. I have shaved with it about 4 times now. Luckily ( knocks on head"wood") no major cuts a few tiny nicks here and there. Well, anyways right to my list of questions. I have been browsing this site quite a bit, and I'm having a bit of trouble.

I had some decent first shaves, I went ATG/WTG and Across the Grain too. I almost got a BBS on the second try, however my skin started to get irritated and red with razor burn
I noticed the blade jumping and skipping against the grain, not on my cheeks or neck, but on my lip and chin
I should note that I have an extremly heavy "tough as nails" beard. I mean I shave with a Merkur Futur with Feathers and Feather's only last 3 shaves with me, and their toast.
MyEquipment is as follows

American Made Latigo and Cowhide strop 28 long 3 wide
Wapineca Shave Ready razor.
I have many brushes (some I've made)
Lots of creams and soaps.
My favs being my Puter 24 Silvertip ( knot from Goldennib)
Fav creams are my C&E West Indian Sandalwood.
Pinaud Classic Clubman Aftershave.


Ok so I recently ordered two diamond pastes .5 and .25 and I decided to paste my cowhide side of my strop with .25 diamond paste to hone my edge a bit as I notice its nowhere near as sharp as my Feather blades. I get a no nick BBS shave each time with my Feathers but my Straight causes me topush to hard and get razor burn.

Ok so I stropped last night about 20 times on the .25 and then about 40+ on my Latigo.
I noticed the edge appeared sharper I havent shaved with it yet.


Sorry this is so long winded ugh.
My question is with a heavy beard like mine is .25 and .5 diamond paste enough to keep a prehoned razor in tune. If not what stones would you reccomend I get to hone up my razor without going for my lungs ( I'm thinking 50 -75 bucks tops) I mean eventually I want all the gear but with one razor I don't see the point right now.

Thanks for looking and reading this bloated post lol I promise my next post wont be nearly as long, Ijust wanted to get all my info out there upfront:gaah:

cheers
D

Hi and welcome to SRP. You will find that stropping is the most important ingredient to keeping a razor in shaving sharp condition. Wapis have great steel and they will hold an edge for a very long time. To tune up the edge, 0.5µ paste is sufficient to keep that edge up to speed. A barber's hone would be the most economical stone to grab to get the edge up when the pastes don't anymore. Eventually you will need a fresh hone but that should be a long time coming. Again, it all depends on your stropping.

Kenrp, Thanks for the words of wisdom, so do you think I should repaste my strop with the .5 instead of using the .25 or should I wait and see how it shaves with the .25 ?

cheers
D

Welcome to SRP ! I have been shaving exclusively with a straight for a year and I don't do ATG on my mustache or certain other areas. If I did razor burn would follow. My first couple of weeks into it I did as Lynn suggests in this thread and finished with my Merkur Slant and a Feather.

If I only wanted one hone and had a shave ready razor that I just wanted to maintain, and knew what I know now, I would probably call Howard at the Perfect Edge and get a Belgian coticule and a slurry stone. A 6X2 natural combo if $$ were no object. :gl:

Hi mate,
If you're only 4 shaves in & going XTG, let alone ATG it's not surprising you're getting irritation. You're skin won't have had time to adjust to the straight. It exfoliates far more than a DE. ATG on the lip! :eek: Not for me thanks.

I've heard that the finest diamond pastes can cause irritation too. I guess the blade simply becomes too sharp, if you can believe crazy talk like that!

I'm guessing you know the importance of stretching the skin, but it really does make all the difference with a straight.

Finally, not entirely sure on the prices, but if you wanted stones for around those figures, you could get a Norton combi, or i like the BBW/coticules. The latter would have to be a vintage from the bay & some luck, or the classifieds.

Thanks for all your warm welcomes. I'm glad to have joined already!:D

Hmm, so you guys don't do Against the Grain on the lip? Maybe I'm confused, but isn't the straight when used right supposed to give you a BBS shave? Did I miss something err.. Im confused now. I actually did ATG on my upper lip 3 out of my 4 whopping shaves.lol

Ok I did ATG on my cheeks, neck,chin, soulpatch and upper lip, only thing was blade skipped and jumped going ATG on my lip, I figured it was from being dull or from bad form ( probably the later) lukcily thought no cuts...:rofl2:

Do you ever do ATG on the lip? Is this just a bad idea? I do it everday with my Merkur and Feather, to a nice BBS which I love.

I only plan on using my straights on the weekends if that makes more sense, right now I'm using it daily to get my skill set down. I'm a pro with a Merkur and Feather, but straight razors are the real deal, my skill set just isn't up to snuff, well 4 shaves is super newbville :rolleyes:

So .25 micron diamond paste may give me a too sharp of an edge? Ok I havent shaved with my razor since using the paste. I will if the blade is too sharp use the .5 micron diamond paste to rehone it, but I need to give it a try first with the .25 and see if its for me.

A Barbers hone is a SWATY right? I saw one onhere for like 50 or 60 bucks so that might be my next bet if the pastes fail me.:rolleyes:

Cheers
D

So I started shaving with a straight razor about 2 months ago. I have found that on my upper lip I go with and across the grain but not against.

I second the norton hone. You could do a 1000/8000 combo and have all the stone you would need. Or you could get the full set. I have a norton and it is a great stone.

Will--

Quote:

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Originally Posted by undertakingyou

So I started shaving with a straight razor about 2 months ago. I have found that on my upper lip I go with and across the grain but not against.

I second the norton hone. You could do a 1000/8000 combo and have all the stone you would need. Or you could get the full set. I have a norton and it is a great stone.

Will--

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Welcome to SRP ! If I was going Norton I would suggest the 4/8 rather the the 1/8. The kit is cool too.

I tried ATG on the lip with a straight once. It wasn't for me! I couldn't do it with my Merkur Futur & feathers either. Just too sore after. Each to his own. It may work for you. If the only problem is the skipping & you have it well stretched, then either you need a sharper blade, or more passes WTG & XTG to mow it down a bit more before the ATG.

A lot of guys plan on using the straights for the weekend, me included. I wonder if you'll manage that, or you just won't want to waste a good shave by not using the straight?:D

Swaty is just one brand of barbers hone. There are countless variations. Swaty's seem to get top money. You could try a Chinese 12k for touch ups. They work much faster with a slurry.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by JimmyHAD

Welcome to SRP ! If I was going Norton I would suggest the 4/8 rather the the 1/8. The kit is cool too.

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Yeah, I bought the kit with the 220/1000 4000/8000. Works great.

Another thing for sirshavesalot: you could try stropping during your shave. I find that when I go with the grain, then strop again, and then shave across the grain I get a better shave with less irritation and I don't have to do against the grain. Just a thought.

Will--

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Sirshavesalot

Kenrp, Thanks for the words of wisdom, so do you think I should repaste my strop with the .5 instead of using the .25 or should I wait and see how it shaves with the .25 ?

cheers
D

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Try it with the 0.25µ, it's very fine and will work. The 0.5µ will works faster. Many razors can not handle the 0.25µ as it is finer then the edge they can take.

Ken, & Ben,
Thanks, I really appreciate the help. I will use the .25 for now and see how it goes. I will strop again today with the paste and back to the leather to see if it improves any. I'm going to do a WTG pass only with the straight and move back to the Feather/Merkur combo for ATG, until I see a noticeable improvement in the straights blade ( ie: being much sharper) I'm really trying to make sure I get the best edge out of this Swedish steel. Wish me luck.

cheers
D:rock:

ps. Will welcome to SRP, even though I only arrived about 1 post before you lol...

Give it plenty on the leather after the paste.:gl:

Ok, so I stroped on the paste, you could see it shimmer silvery from the metal taken off the blade, I then stropped about 60 times on the leather, and started shaving.

I mixed up some C&E Indian Sandalwood with my home made 24mm Silvertip brush in my Ikea Remikin to a nice creamy and slightly more water lather then I used for my DE. I do this because otherwise the blade sticks as it takes me a long time to shave, roughly 40+ min with a straight.

Ok the results:
Well it was definately a bit sharper then before, it was cutting faster and with less passes and irritation, albeit this is only one shave. I still couldn't get my chin bbs smooth and basically I gave up on ATG and went with across the grain on that and my stache.

I polished it up with a Futur and a Feather to a totally smooth BBS.

Again, no nicks so I'm feeling good.


My neck and cheeks come out very smooth, or well smoother then before.


I have an extremly odd hair pattern on my neck the hair grows towards my ears, meaning across the grain is really ATG for my neck, which is weird. I know. lol

Anyways, I got pretty damn close to bbs on the side of my mouth and down to chin, which was good.

Why is it that the Feather just mows down the hair like a breeze and the straight feels like I'm plucking the hair out on ATG passes near my chin, and jawline and even worse on my stache? I'm trying to just get the sharpest blade I can, so that in the end if its my technique then I know its user error and I just need to improve.

cheers
D

I think the 0.25µ paste would make an edge that's too fragile for a tough beard.

DON'T shave ATG on the upper lip! If you refuse to heed that advice, please read this:
Shaving against the grain on the upper lip - The Fool's Pass - Straight Razor Place Wiki

X

I do a second WTG pass on my lip and it is pretty darn smooth. I can do a third pass ATG and it will be BBS but I will tend to razor burn. My wife likes the second pass and doesn't notice a difference If I go ATG so I usually don't bother.