Thread: How to get the closest shave

Okay answering a lot of questions:
-I had my razor sharpened by the person at SRD, which people suggested. (I put the blade through my thumbnail about a week ago, but I don't think that would dull it that much)
-I have shaved probably 60-70 times
-I feel only tug at my chin, which i don't know if that is normal. Safety blades do the same to me, so I assume so.
-I do WTG/ATG, and stratch the skin both times.

The TNT is not recommended past the 1K grit or beveling. Some say it is alright after the 4K but never past that. I think you might have dulled the blad doing that test and need to have the razor honed. You might try a hard strop with CrOx and then stropping but the TNT could have ruined the sharpness enough to not make it recoverable IME.

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Ray

One of the keys to a close shave with a straight is a correct shaving stroke. Think of how you would slice a loaf of bread - not by pushing the blade straight down into the loaf, but by angling the blade tip down and sawing down into the loaf. This is the correct way (according to barber texts) of shaving with a straight. Imagine that each hair is a loaf of bread. There is only a push stroke, no pull stroke. Some use a "scything" stroke which is a modification of the "sawing" stroke. Both will work, but the "sawing" is the surest way to get a close shave with a single WTG pass. You might think that you will get cut, but only those surfaces that are perpendicular to the edge will get sliced (beard hair, moles and pimples if you're not careful). Since your skin is tangential to the blade it is not cut. Just be sure you have enough lather/ water against the skin for lubrication otherwise the skin may catch and then get cut. This is why it's also important to stretch the skin.

Originally Posted by bradkerry

Okay answering a lot of questions:
-I had my razor sharpened by the person at SRD, which people suggested. (I put the blade through my thumbnail about a week ago, but I don't think that would dull it that much)

Ouch! I am pretty sure that could have dulled it. I wonder if stropping is enough to bring the edge back after having been dragged through a thumbnail though?

It is best not to fiddle with a shave ready edge if you expect it to remain shave ready - stropping and shaving are all it should be exposed to

Have you touched the razor up using pastes or a hone or some other method since you've got it? With 60-70 shaves on it, and a trip through your thumbnail, my guess is that it's no where near as sharp as when you started/ as it should be... You ought to send it out to a honemeister for a touchup/resharpening. It should be a night and day difference that you'll really notice now that you're getting your technique down.

I have not honed on it, but have stropped every time. This is what I am think is the problem. Thank you for the advice.

60-70 shaves, you may need a 4 sided pasted strop .5/1.0/3.0 or a 5.0 for the forth side plus the strop to get it sharp enough to be an effective shaver.

If the stropping alone does not get the sharpness where it needs to be an effective shaver, then the pasted strop is an intermediary step before the need for honing and I used it to postponing honing, so for indefinitely.

Perhaps you should invest in a disposable straight and some blades since they are inexpensive and they will always let you know the standard for sharpness and effectiveness to measure your straights effectiveness. This experience gave me a reference to keep my Dovo Tortoise tuned properly.

Pabster

Attention All,
Thank you for your help. have honed the blade, and am proud to announce the best feeling shave that i have had since i first got the razor. The blade now is a very nice smooth cutting tool, that handels well, even around the chin. The only complaint I have now is the fact that I can no longer feel it if I cut myself, but that is ok.