Thread: Is it too difficult?

Originally Posted by AFDavis11

Wet your thumb pad for 30 seconds and then lightly touch your thumb pad down on the edge. The skin should break.

A quick question:

It sounds like this is a test one does after stropping, right? We're testing whether the blade is ready to start shaving. That is, this isn't a honing test: specifically, it's not the same as the "thumb pad test" that folks do to test their honing, where the thumb pad is passed lightly across the edge for a "tingly" feel.

Thanks for a great post. Finding ways to simplify the "message" for novice shavers is a great practice.

With everyone talking about the proper shaving angle I have to wonder, how many people have a protractor in their shaving kit? I just try to keep the spine as close to my skin as I did on my last good shave. I don't have enough hands to hold the razor, strech my skin and hold the protractor at the same time.

Originally Posted by ndw76

With everyone talking about the proper shaving angle I have to wonder, how many people have a protractor in their shaving kit? I just try to keep the spine as close to my skin as I did on my last good shave. I don't have enough hands to hold the razor, strech my skin and hold the protractor at the same time.

Maybe it is because I worked as a carpenter and an ironworker (oil & water) in my younger days but if someone says a 90 or a 45 degree angle I can see that in my minds eye immediately. How easy it is, for me anyhow, to translate that into visualizing a 30 degree angle especially when we are talking seeing the blade against the skin in the mirror.

I just wanted to know if using a high angle would ruin my blade's sharpness. I guess I will lower it a bit. I only use a high angle when going ATG on the neck and under my chin, not for the whole shave, don't misunderstand what I meant. My facial hair is very corse and I have been shaving since SIXTH grade. It also growths flat against my skin, making it hard for the blade to get under it sometimes. I think I need to try the stretching technique where you stretch the hair upward so it stands up.

Originally Posted by JimmyHAD

Maybe it is because I worked as a carpenter and an ironworker (oil & water) in my younger days but if someone says a 90 or a 45 degree angle I can see that in my minds eye immediately. How easy it is, for me anyhow, to translate that into visualizing a 30 degree angle especially when we are talking seeing the blade against the skin in the mirror.

Jimmy,

I was laying out a walkway over some duct work one day and playing with my square and a trig table chanced upon the 7/12 pitch is just about a perfect 30 degrees. So now I shave with a rafter square.

I've always thought I needed a plumb bob hanging off my ear. Afterall you can't declare something 30 degress until you really know where zero is!

Alan, I'm surprised you haven't come to the most obvious solution to this problem, or you may have been too careful learning to shave with a straight razor.
The ear itself is supposed to serve as a plumb-bob. May be yours is still too attached though, you need it to hang on a really thin strip of skin so that the gravity can do its work....

Originally Posted by ndw76

With everyone talking about the proper shaving angle I have to wonder, how many people have a protractor in their shaving kit? I just try to keep the spine as close to my skin as I did on my last good shave. I don't have enough hands to hold the razor, strech my skin and hold the protractor at the same time.

I agree that angles are difficult to judge, however, some angles are fairly easy, e.g., 45, 90, and 180 degrees. I can visalize 45 degrees and know that half of 45 degrees is less than 30 degrees, so that is the angle I use. Also, because the angle of the blade is difficult to see, I use the scales as an extensioin of the blade to measure my angle.

Originally Posted by deepweeds

A quick question:

It sounds like this is a test one does after stropping, right? We're testing whether the blade is ready to start shaving. That is, this isn't a honing test: specifically, it's not the same as the "thumb pad test" that folks do to test their honing, where the thumb pad is passed lightly across the edge for a "tingly" feel.

Thanks for a great post. Finding ways to simplify the "message" for novice shavers is a great practice.

It is the same exact test. Now, some opinion perhaps, but the TPT should be done after stropping only. This version of the TPT eliminates the worry over damage to your thumb by movement on a sharp blade. The "sticky" feeling described by the TPT process is due to the break of the first layer of skin. Thus, if you become attuned to the break itself there is no longer a need to search for the sticky feeling that it creates.

Originally Posted by AFDavis11

It is the same exact test. Now, some opinion perhaps, but the TPT should be done after stropping only. This version of the TPT eliminates the worry over damage to your thumb by movement on a sharp blade. The "sticky" feeling described by the TPT process is due to the break of the first layer of skin. Thus, if you become attuned to the break itself there is no longer a need to search for the sticky feeling that it creates.

Far be it for me to disagree with someone of your experience Alan on what the TPT is or is not but ...... I was under the impression that the TPT did not break the skin when done properly ? When I do the TPT I look for the edge to grab my skin. Of course if it does not my TP slides and I have a dull edge.

I also think that the amount of callus on the fingertips may have something to do with it. Some of my pursuits keep a layer of callus on my hands including my fingertips and that may account for my not breaking the skin, or perhaps I am breaking through the first layer and not realizing it ? I cannot see a break so the only other option is I am not doing the test correctly ?