Thread: Common Newbie experiences

Regarding blade sharpness. I like many here bought 2 shave ready razors. One new Dovo made shave ready by Lynn and one Double Arrow made shave ready by Ken. I was totally new at this shaving thing when I started using the SR razors. My technique was all over the place and my stropping was just as weak as my technique. That was over 2 months ago and at least 60 shaves with a straight. One problem as I see it is that a newbie right out of the gate has a really hard time appreciating the blade made shave ready because of poor technique And by the time the technique improves sufficiently the blade may not be shave ready any more, due to stropping or banging or who knows what. So what's my point? I think that it may be wise for a new str8 shaver to start with a shave ready razor and after 2-3 months or longer when other factors are lining up either get that razor re honed to shave readiness or get another shave ready razor. It will IMHO be a better comparison after a suitable shaving time than when you first start.
To site an example of what happened to me over the weekend. I have been honing a few used razors for the past couple months. I really thought that I was making the razors sharp. Last week I purchased a RS microscope and started looking at the blades. 3 were almost passable, IE without major chips, the other 4 that I have been shaving with were scary.. I re honed from the bevel setting stage one of my favorites, A Tennis razor. I worked on the 1200 grit DMT until I could see no chips or irregularities at 60x mag. I finished with the Norton 4k/8k progression and then the Chinese 12k to polish. Stropped on leather about 70x and shaved. OMG! I have never had the blade so smooth on my face and the shave was very clean and smooth. (I still get nicks tho). Now was this blade that I honed any better than the 2 shave ready blades that I purchased early on, probably no. I am not a honemeister. Did my shaving technique improve over the past couple months? Probably so.

Rediscovery along the journey is a great thing.

Happy Shaving!

Mark

Great post, Mark. Excellent points that I sure hadn't thought of before.

I would give my right arm to eliminate the term "shave-ready". Instead I would apply the term "strop-ready".

If you believe, as I do, that a razor's edge is actually applied with a strop and not by honing then you can see lots of opportunities for the classic problem of "but it's supposed to be shave-ready". Really? How did it get from honed to shave-ready? In the mail? Did the postman strop it for you? No, probably not.

I was reading an instructionable (sic) on knife honing (to a level of shave-readiness) yesterday and it said to oil a leather belt and strop the knife on the oiled leather for "as long as your patience would allow". I thought that was funny, and yet, deeply important.

Yes, honed blades are not necessarily stropped. There is also little evidence to suggest that a blade stropped on Monday and mailed to me arriving on Thursday is still "shave-ready". If it is its probably only good for a few shaves.

Notice how often we have new members say a blade was great for the first few shaves?

Woops! Looks like I replied to a deleted post . . . oh well. I'll leave the reply here anyway.

Sorry Alan! I realized I had not read the post you referenced

I was wondering why shave ready doesn't imply having been stropped, but now I understand what you were driving at, thanks

No problem Sir! I'm sure most find me arrogant enough to reply to my own post already!

OK , heres what happened to me, I bought a razor shave ready and the first time I used it I thought this sucks. The second time I used it I did not have a strop and thought this sucks even more. So I then I somehow found a small rough spot in my blade so I had it honed , I went home and used it not knowing I had to strop it, and again it sucked. So then I found out that I had to strop it even after honing and when I did that I had a great shave, no pulling or tugging. Now Im stropping everytime I shave and it's great, I just love the way it feels when I feel the razor slicing through my beard, I love the sound it makes. It's just great, God I feel like shaving now.

Originally Posted by Alraz

Rather than rationalizing the process, I would focus on getting comfortable shaving and letting these variables take care of themselves. You already know the role of each in shaving based on your description of the process. One thing to help the process is to keep expectations on the low side. It is hard to get excellent shaves with a straight after only a few tries and in some cases, after many. Try incremental shaving (start shaving the easy parts of your face first and later expand as confidence builds) to avoid disappointment from poor results. Keep your chin up and keep shaving.

Al raz.

Well put. I'm having all these "common newbie experiences" yet I am enjoying the process. My expections are low in that I know it will take time to master the technique but every shave I learn something new and every shave is a pleasure. I've only been at it 4 months now but it has changed my morning shave from what I do to before I leave the house to how I have time to myself, work towards mastering a skill, and, and, and I don't know... Its just alot of fun and my mornings are a lot less stressful.
Dannyr

Lots of great info here. I have many of the same problems as jleeg. I 1have altered my schedule to showering and shaving at night. I find it easier to spend the extra time learning this art. It amazes me how much one little thing can affect your shave. For example, today I decided to soak my brush in hot water from a tea kettle for about 3-5 minutes before lathering. This made a huge difference, it made the shave 10 times better than just running it under hot tap water.

The main point I am trying to make is to make sure you have enough time set aside to learn and enjoy it. Continue what you are doing and make sure to keep asking questions. Remember, all great things get better with time.

Originally Posted by AFDavis11

I would give my right arm to eliminate the term "shave-ready". Instead I would apply the term "strop-ready".

If you believe, as I do, that a razor's edge is actually applied with a strop and not by honing then you can see lots of opportunities for the classic problem of "but it's supposed to be shave-ready". Really? How did it get from honed to shave-ready? In the mail? Did the postman strop it for you? No, probably not.

I'll second that motion. Stropping is King.