Feather DE much sharper than a straight

So, I've been shaving w/ a Merkur Progress for over a year now. My favorite, most comfortable, and closest shaves ever have been with Feather blades and the Progress at a setting of 5.

I got my Gold Dollar razor and strop from ruprazor.com and I'm two shaves in--I have to say, shaving with that thing is tough on my face. If it weren't for my DE shaving experience I would have surely cut myself w/ the Gold Dollar by now.

So, why is it that the Feather blade is so much sharper? Is this expected? If so, I'm afraid I'm going to have to give up on the straight razor shaving business.

What am I doing wrong? What else can I do? Any tips or advice would be greatly appreciated.

My first thought is if its been honed properly. Was it hand honed to be shave-ready?

It's a different blade. Stropping is very very important and took me ages to perfect (that should probably read, get right. Still think it could be better). Do as earch on stropping or follow the visible links. You won't regret it. Welcome to SRP and good luck.

@JonnyO, Others at SRP, including mantic, have recommended or have themselves ordered razors from ruprazor.com. The razor comes nicely wrapped, oiled, hand-honed, complete with documentation and a 3-month honing warranty. I can't possibly complain about Ken Rup's professionalism and/or expertise, not to mention the faith placed in his ability by the SRP community.

@AlanII I'll readily admit that my stropping is abysmal. I did nick my strop a few times, as is expected of a newb like me. Is it possible to mess up a razor so badly with poor stropping that no amount of good stropping will bring it back w/o a re-honing? If so, I may have to send the razor back to Ken and cash in that warranty.

Thanks for responding so quickly.

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Originally Posted by ctavplay

@JonnyO, Others at SRP, including mantic, have recommended or have themselves ordered razors from ruprazor.com. The razor comes nicely wrapped, oiled, hand-honed, complete with documentation and a 3-month honing warranty. I can't possibly complain about Ken Rup's professionalism and/or expertise, not to mention the faith placed in his ability by the SRP community.

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I understand, but I havent ordered from him. Merely ignorance on my part. As for stroping...My bad stropping dulled my first straight in about a week. However, razors can be honed and nicked strops can be fixed. Look at the nicks as character! :)

Welcome to SRP!

The sharpness of the blade is an important part of getting a great shave. That much is pretty obvious, since it's the blade that actually cuts the whisker. What you should consider is that a straight razor places a much higher demand on the user to provide a certain level of skill and expertise in order to get the most out of it.

As an example, with a safety razor the safety bar and the body of the razor limit the range of the blade angle. This is not the case with a straight. Get the blade angle wrong and you are not going to get a good shave and you might conclude that the blade is not sharp enough, even though it is. Ditto for pressure, speed, etc. For me this is a very large part of why I like straight razors.

So, is the Feather sharper than your Gold Dollar? Probably, but that doesn't mean that you shouldn't be able to get a great shave with either razor. Stick with it. In the end it is worth it.

I also went from a Merkur Progress to a straight razor. I still use it when I want a quick shave with a DE.A Feather blade is the bench mark I also used to compare sharpness of a blade.

With a straight razor there are so many variables that can affect your shave and your perceived sharpness of the blade. The sharpest blade does not always give a person the most comfortable shave. Some factors that play a part is the honed edge of the razor, proper stropping, shave prep, and shaving technique.Your blade may be extremely sharp but if one of the other factors are not correct, the shave may not meet your expectations and it is easy to blame the equipment.

Ken at RupRazors honed my first straight razor which belonged to my grandfather. He recommended shaving the first time w/o stropping so I would get an idea of what a honed razor should feel like.. I shaved with v/poor technique and I too wondered what's the big deal. Well after a few tries with the razor and proper stropping I couldn't get that razor close to my face w/o drawing blood. Now that straight that Ken honed is my new bench mark for sharpness.

Don't give up. I am still learning. My shaves are getting better and every now and then I get everything right and have a fantastic shave. It's like hitting the sweet spot of the bat or golf club. You try to remember what you did right and you can't wait till your next shave.

Some things that have to happen for a good Straight razor shave ...

1. Must have shave ready razor... Check Ken knows what he is doing...

2. Must not wreck the nice edge that is on there with the strop... Hmmmm that is a tuff one, but lay the strop on a table and go slow and steady that will help....

3. Must have good prep and lather... Check you have wet shaved before, straight razors like creamier lather than DE's IMHO but that is a minor thing...

4. Must realize that you are responsible now for the angle of the razor..

5. Must make three things meet at the same spot in time and space with no pressure on the edge..
The edge of the blade, the base of the hair, and the top layer of the skin... That is your job, and you have to learn that, and how to cause that to happen....They are no shortcuts, and no easy ways to do it right, it just takes time and practice...


good luck...

@gssixgun Putting the strop on the table was quite useful. The my third shave was *much* improved--although I did get pretty irritated. :(

I'll work on it some more.

Irritated is to be expected for about the first 5 -7 shaves after that it should get way better than anything else you have ever shaved with...
Slow and steady man slow and steady

Just post any other problems as they arise...

A straight razor has a much steeper learning curve than a DE. Don't worry; it takes time to get your angles right with a straight.