Thread: Help!

I know this says that Ive been on for awhile, however I dont have any real experience with a "real" straight. This is what I have as of now.

6/8 Le Grolet
5/8 Vintage Restoration from Bill Ellis
DTM 8k
1200 Grit No-Name Japanese Water Hone
3" Red Latigo from Tony Miller

Both the razors were shave ready when I got them. The 6/8 was honed up by Joel on B&B as part of the LE group buy. However, I cant get a shave out of either of them. So, they have sat for months in my cabinet while I have used my feather AC and DE's. I need some help. Id like it if one of the senior members here can tell me what is going on by looking at my razors. I THINK Ive rolled the edges with really bad stropping technique. Help!

Did you try shaving with either of them before stropping? it's a good way to know immediately if you're stropping wrong because as soon as you strop then try to shave you'll see the difference.

I'm sure one of the guys on here will offer to check them, in the mean time maybe watch the stropping demo videos and see if you did in fact have a problem.

You're sure it isn't a technique problem? what happens when you try to shave with one?

Red

If you think you might have rolled the edge, perhpas contact one of the honemeisters from the classifieds, see if they'll take a look at it, and fix it up for you. When you get it back, try a shave without stropping first.

This isn't the JohnnyO from CigarPass, is it?

i'm not senior member. but i'll post anyways
did you get ANY good shaves from them before?
if they came shave ready from reputable honemeisters and you never gotten a good shave with them then it is probably technique. i know when i first started i wanted to blame everything but me (and this may not be your case) but in the end it was me.

if you don't mind, can you describe your attempts to shave, ie pulling, razor burn, nicks, etc

Originally Posted by chee16

i'm not senior member. but i'll post anyways
did you get ANY good shaves from them before?
if they came shave ready from reputable honemeisters and you never gotten a good shave with them then it is probably technique. i know when i first started i wanted to blame everything but me (and this may not be your case) but in the end it was me.

if you don't mind, can you describe your attempts to shave, ie pulling, razor burn, nicks, etc

Im pretty sure it was me. But, my stropping technique is to blame, not the shaving technique.

During the shave, it just seemed to pull on the hairs, but not cut them. Really disappointing. I needed to use alot of pressure to get the razor to cut hairs. This left my cheeks with alot of razor burn. So, I stopped and finished up with my Feather.

Although it may be caused by improper stropping, a lot of shaving has to do with the angle in which you hold the razor to your face. If you have the angle off, it won't cut very well, and will tend to pull and be uncomfortable. Just try to keep a 30 degree angle relative to your face, a good rule of thumb is that the spine should be 2 spine-widths away from your face when shaving.

There are a lot of factors (i.e. stropping, shaving technique, etc.) in straight razor shaving, and with more practice you'll know what factor to blame if something goes wrong!

There was ways to examine the edge to see if rolling has occured to bad stropping. I'd see what suggestions everyone has about examining the edge before you send it out in the mail. The razors can be fine and you'll be sending out for no reason.

The #1 thing I have found while learning how to shave with a straight is that the razor, or stropping, or the honing is the first thing to be blamed. My first razor is a Wapi I bought from Ken at Ruprazor and I couldn't shave with it. I thought the honing was bad, that the razor sucked, that MAYBE ken wasn't as skilled as they say he is,etc.

Two weeks later I am getting near BBS shaves with the straight. It was ALL MY FAULT, I didn't know what I was doing. Angle is the biggest problem for me while I am learning. It can make or break the shaves, and cause cuts on your face. When it's all said and done you'll blame everything else but yourself for not knowing how to use the razor.

I would check out the blade edge, strop it about 50 times (Watch videos and make sure you do it right) and then practice with the razor. Your angle and stretching can be way off and then you're not going to get any kind of shave out of it.

Click on HELP files on the top of the page here. There will be a 40 page booklet with photos on how to shave with a straight. I forgot the member who made it, but it saved me big time.


Learning how to use a straight where it actually cuts your beard is HARD.

When you say you are shaving with a Feather are you referring to a Feather in a DE or a straight with a replaceable blade ? If it is the latter then I would say shaving technique isn't the issue. I've never shaved with a Feather straight but I hear they are unforgiving of lapses in technique.

I would suggest sending your razors out to Lynn or gssixgun for honing and in the meantime practice stropping with a butter knife or your Feather.