first shave with a wedge

Tonight I tried my first shave with a W&B 5/8 medium hollow razor though it looks more wedge than hollow!

My other razor is a dovo 5/8 special. Didn't shower, just ran some hot water over my face and used a hot towel for a few seconds.

Had a good stubble going, last shave was friday morning. Man, I really noticed the difference., especially in the chin area-where the whiskers seem like wire. The blade didn't catch once-it just mowed right through them. Shave was smooth and close, razor was easy to work with.

I'm diggin' the wedges!

That's an excellent indicator that your technique needs a lot of work :)

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Originally Posted by gugi

That's an excellent indicator that your technique needs a lot of work :)

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probably why he posted in the newbies corner...

explain more on the technique needing work please

Well, imagine what a hair sees - a sharp edge. It knows nothing of the rest of the blade.
How the edge moves through the hair is determined by your hand, and the most significant thing your hand is affected by is the weight (aka inertia) of the blade.
If your hand can provide a smooth motion at the proper angle there will be no issue what blade you use. When you lack the skill, larger inertia of the blade can help a bit and cover for the lack of skill.

It's like driving a giant truck versus a sports car. If you lack driving skills you can't get a smooth ride from the sports car - it will just respond to your errors immediately, while the larger inertia of the big truck will cover them.

Sounds like you are having fun, that's great.

I'm not a pro either and have been trying a bunch of different razors. I like the wedge but also like the hollows., big and small. What I am learning is I like a sharp razor. That seems to have more to do with a great shave than anything.

Hang in there, using a razor you like is a great confidence builder.

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Originally Posted by kerik

Tonight I tried my first shave with a W&B 5/8 medium hollow razor though it looks more wedge than hollow!

My other razor is a dovo 5/8 special. Didn't shower, just ran some hot water over my face and used a hot towel for a few seconds.

Had a good stubble going, last shave was friday morning. Man, I really noticed the difference., especially in the chin area-where the whiskers seem like wire. The blade didn't catch once-it just mowed right through them. Shave was smooth and close, razor was easy to work with.

I'm diggin' the wedges!

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Quote:

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Originally Posted by gugi

Well, imagine what a hair sees - a sharp edge. It knows nothing of the rest of the blade.
How the edge moves through the hair is determined by your hand, and the most significant thing your hand is affected by is the weight (aka inertia) of the blade.
If your hand can provide a smooth motion at the proper angle there will be no issue what blade you use. When you lack the skill, larger inertia of the blade can help a bit and cover for the lack of skill.

It's like driving a giant truck versus a sports car. If you lack driving skills you can't get a smooth ride from the sports car - it will just respond to your errors immediately, while the larger inertia of the big truck will cover them.

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This is a useful post. I wanted to get a wedge to compliment my full hollow for this very reason.

With regards to the "medium hollow" bit; I'm almost certain that the medium refers to the size of the blade, not the grind. Most Sheffield "hollow ground" blades are about 1/2 to 1/4 hollow, and all the "medium hollows" that I have seen are around 5/8. Other "hollow ground" and "celebrated hollow ground" blades tend to be a bit larger. Again, these are just some observations from my experience.

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Originally Posted by Raudrive

Sounds like you are having fun, that's great.

I'm not a pro either and have been trying a bunch of different razors. I like the wedge but also like the hollows., big and small. What I am learning is I like a sharp razor. That seems to have more to do with a great shave than anything.

Hang in there, using a razor you like is a great confidence builder.

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+1, I love a sharp razor and I like all of the various grinds, sizes, blade profiles. Catholic in my tastes when it comes to razors if they're sharp. If they ain't I make 'em sharp. :)

^
You're right. It is a half-hollow. My mistake for referring to it as a wedge.

In regard to technique. I really wasn't having much of a problem after the first month of shaving. It has only seemed to resurface recently. As in, right after i tried to do a touch up on a 4k/8k. Hmmm.....

thanks for the responses

I hope you will forgive me if I repost here my post to another thread:

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I have been thinking about the hollow vs. wedge blades recently because my sympathies were shifting quite dramatically in the past three months.

One of my first razors was an extra hollow one and I had big problems shaving with it without cutting the heck out of myself. Then I got a 1/4 hollow Wostenholm wedge which felt like a miracle. It was much better for my bad angles and poor technique. But as I was getting better and my shaves were getting closer, I discovered the bliss of hollow ground razors. I cannot get as close shave from a wedge as from a hollow razor today; and I nick myself far worse with wedges. I guess I have to improve my technique more to get my "wedge skills" on par with my "hollow skills". Wedges do not forgive me any mistakes.

My 2c...

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Originally Posted by gugi

That's an excellent indicator that your technique needs a lot of work :)

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I read and re-read the first post, and I don't know how you can jump to critiquing the poster's technique, the smiley face notwithstanding. Some razors are more fun to shave with than others, and I definitely have better results with some than others, and variances in results on different days. I believe noobs need encouragement, not putdowns.

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Originally Posted by igitur55

the smiley face notwithstanding.

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No, it is definitely standing right there.

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Originally Posted by igitur55

Some razors are more fun to shave with than others, and I definitely have better results with some than others, and variances in results on different days.

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Yes, same thing here. and the subpar results tend to happen exclusively when I switch a razor.

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Originally Posted by igitur55

I believe noobs need encouragement, not putdowns.

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Yeah, you should perhaps reread my post as many times as you read the first one, may be you will change your opinion of it.
A person shaving 3 months with straight razor is not exactly the same as person shaving 3 times with one.

everyone has a learning phase but nothing that practice, patientce and time wont cure

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Originally Posted by kerik

I'm diggin' the wedges!

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Me too!

I shaved with a cartridge razor for 15 years without needing to tweak my technique and have no regrets other than for the money I spent on them

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Originally Posted by jszabo

everyone has a learning phase but nothing that practice, patientce and time wont cure

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That's right, I have not found any way around the necessity of practice for improvement of shaving technique

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Originally Posted by gugi

No, it is definitely standing right there.

Yes, same thing here. and the subpar results tend to happen exclusively when I switch a razor.


Yeah, you should perhaps reread my post as many times as you read the first one, may be you will change your opinion of it.
A person shaving 3 months with straight razor is not exactly the same as person shaving 3 times with one.

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I don't think gugi was trying to put anyone down.

It's a common experience - and often posted - that a relatively new shaver will try their first wedge be amazed at how smoothly it shaves. They, then often think they "like" wedges better than full hollows. Very often, after a few more months or year or whatever, they realize that the full hollow can be just as smooth as the wedge and gives much better feedback and control - at the edge. They conclude that the wedge is not better than the full hollow - just different. This happens all the time and I think gugi was pointing to that. Correct me if I'm wrong, gugi.

EDIT: I went through this process myself, so this isn't a criticism of anyone.

Jordan

so, after a year or so as the technique gets better, do you generally prefer to use one type of razor over another? or is it some days you feel like steak and some days you feel like pasta?

The way jnich67 explained it made better sense than gugi.

I still enjoy using razors of various grinds. Typically, I like full hollows for daily shaving because I'm only shaving stubble and the thinner blade allows me a more delicate touch. If I've gone a few days, and want to get that "mowing through" sensation, I'll go with a heavier blade. But it depends on my mood. :D


Jordan

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Originally Posted by gugi

Yes, same thing here. and the subpar results tend to happen exclusively when I switch a razor.

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OK, I haven't found that. My experience seems a little more random than that. But, these days I am finding I am rarely surprised when I have a bad experience. If I look back, it seems my disposition, stress level, etc. going into the shave kind of pre-disposed me to a good/bad shave.

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Originally Posted by gugi

Yeah, you should perhaps reread my post as many times as you read the first one, may be you will change your opinion of it.

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I'll try not to--it's easy to read too much into the written word. You seem like a helpful guy, so I have no reason to doubt it's as you say.

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Originally Posted by kerik

I'm diggin' the wedges!

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+1 on the wedge experience. I have an old Frederick Reynolds frameback that is essentially a wedge with a ledge. It delivers the hot-knife-through-butter shave, but it's easier to hone than straight wedges.

See, that's why everybody has to post - a lot of people can explain things far better than me.

Is it pasta? I'd say it's more like steak vs. sushi for me.
As long as it's sharp and smooth I like it. Wedges, hollows, framebacks I have them all from under 4/8" to just over 1", made from 200 years ago to few months ago. and they're all different from each other. I could be happy with just one of them, but I see no reason for such restriction.
Wedges are definitely different animal and I don't consider them a standard razor. At least not nowadays they were once the only thing available.

As Lynn says, have fun.