Next day: some questions after my first straight shave

Good afternoon Gentlemen,
My girlfriend purchase a beautiful thiers-issard as a Christmas gift for me; I've always wanted to learn to straight shave, something I associated with being a cowboy and drinking black coffee when I was a kid. As I've gotten older, and living here as an import into California, I've also become more and more aware of the landfill I was making with tossing blades, and this seems like a smart economical choice.

My first day was a bit rough; although I spent much time watching all of your youtube videos (and more), and reading quite a bit of articles, I'm wondering if I fell for the 'Shave Ready' market slogan courtesy of the packaging... I seemed to have missed this portion in the beginners guide:
Beginner's guide to straight razor shaving - Straight Razor Place Wiki

Basically my assumption is that this bad boy should cut like butter, and it doesn't feel that way. Even when I stretch my skin, I get a certain amount of tension against my hair and an uneven cut (although I associate that last problem with my lack of experience)... and out of pure excitement, I did indeed do my whole face.

I gave myself a day to heal after my christmas razor burn (not the worse I've seen, but it was impressive), and decided to do just the cheeks as the guide recommends; same problem, feels like it's pulling the hair rather than cutting the hair.

I know it's quite difficult to evaluate this via forum, but any of you guys' have suggestions? My first thoughts were to send this guy into Lynn for a personalized hone... I'd assume, regardless of the angle I cut (if I am doing it wrong newbie style), it shouldn't feel like it's 'pulling'. Thanks ya'll!

Welcome. :) That's a great lady you have there.

Line razors are never actually ready to save, regardless of their claim, close, but not there yet. There are a number of guys who can hone the razor for you here and I'm sure someone will chime in soon. I haven't got the time to keep my own razors in trim or I'd do it for you myself.

You do have a strop, yes?

X

Strop I do have (I bought the green paste, I have not found if I actually need all the differnt paste colors yet), but the directions on the new blade told me it wasn't needed my first shave... bad idea and I shouldn't have listened to "the art of shaving" label possibly?

And I agree, great lady- smart lady. She's gonna get a lot of nice dinners this month:)

It sounds like you need to send it off to get it honed. Might want to also get another razor as a back up for times like this. Check the classifieds for members services and also other razors. Good luck.

i agree with the others comments..send it out and get it honed and made shave ready and you will see a world of difference with the shaving...there are many on here that offer honing services. two i have experience with and recommend are treydampier and lynn abrams, both are great...good luck

I wouldn't be in a hurry to use those pastes. Right now all you need is a plain leather strop. Once you send your razor out and when it returns if the result still isn't to your expectations you will know its a technique thing and you just have to experiment with strokes and angles and pressure to get what's right for you. Just be patient.

Thanks guys', sounds like a unanimous decision here! I sent off an email, and it'll be mailed out to Lynne tomorrow morning from the office. I'll post up when I get it back if it was a success or if I've just got more of a learning curve to go.

Have a great week xman, JohnnyCakeDC, 59caddy, and thebigspendur

hold off on the paste for now (at least green). you can use yellow paste on you're daily strop
yellow has no abrasive it just conditions the strop, red has a very mild abrasive use this on you're second strop only when the edge starts to go maybe once a month (depending on razor use ) and the Green paste has abrasive that should rarely be used this should go on you're third strop or bench strop . Use the green paste after honing to polish the edge.
for now all you need is yellow , eventually you will get a case of SAD and end up with more strops then you now what to with , like the rest of us hahah
hope this helps

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Originally Posted by razormike

hold off on the paste for now (at least green). you can use yellow paste on you're daily strop
yellow has no abrasive it just conditions the strop, red has a very mild abrasive use this on you're second strop only when the edge starts to go maybe once a month (depending on razor use ) and the Green paste has abrasive that should rarely be used this should go on you're third strop or bench strop . Use the green paste after honing to polish the edge.
for now all you need is yellow , eventually you will get a case of SAD and end up with more strops then you now what to with , like the rest of us hahah
hope this helps

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Wow, I didn't even assume I'd be owning more than one strop! Makes sense though, I'm sure it's like tattoos, I won't be happy with just one.

You hit the nail on the head on that one .
if straight shaving is something you stick with (how could you not ) you will end up with so much stuff , razors , hones , strops, razor holders , soaps creams, oils , AS, and lots lots more . you're going to find you're self at the local antique store picking up busted razors , then you're you will end up with a bunch of restoration equipment , oh it's vicious cycle.. anyways have fun with it my friend

" Jeffe do you Know what a plethora is ? "

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Originally Posted by razormike

" Jeffe do you Know what a plethora is ? "

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No El Guapo

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Originally Posted by bradyjfrey

Wow, I didn't even assume I'd be owning more than one strop! Makes sense though, I'm sure it's like tattoos, I won't be happy with just one.

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One strop should do you fine and last 20 years +/-.

After a month or more of stropping you may want to hone the razor lightly to bring it back to strop ready. The least expensive and easy to learn tool for this IMO is a balsa hone or two. Use green CrOx on one and on the other 1 or 0.5 micron diamond on the other. I believe a balsa hone is more forgiving and poses less risk of seriously damaging a blade than 'rock hones'. You can make them or pick a pair up from one of the folks here. 0.5u diamond on a hardwood backed hard-felt hone may also work to refresh the blade when the strop no longer can.

I like the notion of balsa because it is flat the way hones are and mostly preserves the bevel set by honing. Adding even the smallest amount of paste to a strop seems to round the cutting edge too much over time making honing more of a project than it might be (I still have a pasted strop though). Ask you honemaster if he used 0,1,2 layers of tape when setting the final bevel. You will want to do the same.

I had similar problems the first few shaves even with a shave ready razor from SRD. My face seems to have taken about 4 or 5 shaves before it started to get used to shaving with a straight. When I started I was holding the razor way too steep, probably more at 45 deg or so than the 30 deg recommended. That caused the sound of the wiskers to be more like velcro getting ripped apart than bacon frying in a pan, which is supposedly the sound us newbies should shoot for, and also tugged at the whiskers instead of cutting. My face was raw and tender so I waited 3 days in between shaves for a few, now I can shave everyday(3 weeks in) without too much irritation, I still get a little but it is for the most part confined to the lower neck region where my whiskers grow at different angles and has always caused problems no matter how I shave. It took until my third shave or so before I started getting the pressure at a better level, and it seems that as confidence rises so does comfort, tenantiveness is no good for comfort. I have also read around the forum that it takes a few shaves before the harshness leaves a razor(scary sharp becomes scary sharp and smooth), which seems about right as far as my experience so far, but I cant say for sure or if it was just my technique getting better. The point, even with a perfectly prepared razor, it will take time and practice to improve your comfort at least it did for me. When you get your razor back, spend more time preparing your beard, lower the angle of your blade, lower the pressure your exerting on the razor to shave(JimmyHAD has pointers on the correct grip in his sig-line) and dont be scared of the edge, be cautious and mindful of where it is at all times but dont be tenative. Once you start improving technique you will enjoy it far more since every shave just keeps getting better and better. Good luck and I hope you enjoy it as much as I have been so far.

Jason has given you great advice... i'm new to straight razor shaving also... about the same time as Jason... when you get your straight razor sharp... the next trick is trying to keep it sharp... that will come from the daily stroping... improper stroping technique will dull your razor and you'll have to send it off again for re sharpening/honing... so... practice your stroping carefully... keep the strop tight and the razor light... just enough pressure to keep the blade on the strop all the way across... I'd be practicing while your razor is off being prepared for your first real shave... you can use a kichen knife or a spare dull razor if you have one...

preparing your razor is also extremely important... shower/ or hot towels heated in the microwave.. preshave oil and a good lather.... after your first pass if you attempt another WTG... re apply the preshave oil... no pressure... keep light and your angle 30 degrees to 20 degrees...let the razor do the work...no pressure... if your razor is sharp you won't want to add pressure naturally... when you feel you have to... your razor is dull..

Straight razor shaving is a blast.... you'll get there.... don't get discouraged you've started with a non "shave ready" razor...but it's a great quality razor that will give you great shaves....

Keep asking questions... many of the guys here have been shaving for years...and are a great source of informationa and support...

Maq

So I finally received my Straight Razor back from Lynne, and I have to say, it was indeed the manufacturer 'shave ready' that was the problem. Lynne did a great job on this bad boy, it cuts like butter now.

I decided to take it slow and only do with the grain, cheeks and mustache - and I did fairly good for the most part, with the exception of 3 quality war wounds:
Yfrog - qp9d - Uploaded by bradyjfrey

I account that to me not handling the blade properly. I stretched my face, but opened my mouth a little bit, leaving some indentions that nicked just right.

I'll get it, I may save my next attack for closer to the weekend, but I'll get there with practice.

Many thanks to all of you for answering my questions, and the helpful guidance! I'll be sure to come back with questions, and hopefully return the favor.

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Originally Posted by Jasongreat

...bacon frying in a pan, which is supposedly the sound us newbies should shoot for...

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That's funny, I haven't read that yet- sounds like a fairly accurate description, I'll keep that in mind for round 2.

I have to admit, I think I'm holding the angle too high or too low like you noted. I'm sure I'll become a bit more comfortable with it as you said, but right now some of the edges around my face seem awkward to cross... I've been youtubing and favoriting lots of videos from you guys http://www.youtube.com/bradyjfrey - nothing like watching on the iPhone while straight razor shaving, mixing two worlds there!