Thread: Question

I recently just ordered a new Dovo kit from Vintage Blades and the razor was honed and oiled ahead of time from Lynn. I tried my first shave last night with about a day's worth of stubble (I have a thick beard and very soft face) and made it about a third of my face. I hacked up my face with along with some razor burn (my fault, I made many passes in the same spot and did not get the soap even close to what I should have had for lather).

Getting to the point, I am curious about one thing. When I was learning how to hold the razor and get the 30 degree angle passes down, the closer I got to what I believe was the correct angle, the more it pulled the hair and didn't cut it. Now for the rookie question: Is this strictly due to the fact that I need to prep my face better that this happened? When shaving correctly with a stropped blade and face prep, should you ever feel a tugging sensation on the hairs? I am assuming no.

I absolutely love this new "hobby/obsession" that I have found and I am the type that does things correctly and will keep doing something until I am an expert. I am in this for life now and I need to learn how to do this the correct way. Thanks in advance for the help.

Welcome to SRP. It is hard to say why your first shave went the way it did. Shaving with a straight is a combination of things that all play a part. Preparation is very important as is blade angle and the direction you're attacking the whiskers. There was a tendency for me to push the edge into the skin to shear the whiskers and that led to irritation.

Skin stretching is key. It doesn't have to be drum tight but taut is important. I take it from your post you've been reading the tutorials in the SRP Wiki here ? If not read the beginner's guide and for sure Lynn's post on the first straight razor shave. To avoid nicks read my sig below and follow the advice. Works for me when I follow it.

30 degree angle? Where does it say that? Well, I did a google search and came up with a couple sites (menessentials and wikipedia). You usually don't want anything that steep. As you said, you noticed the pulling and tugging when you raised the angle. I'd recommend trying as shallow of an angle as you can get away with, though you do have to go in kind of steep in some areas.

Thanks Jimmy! I guess I just feel like the blade is so sharp and the hair should be soft enough that when I shave, I shouldn't get the hairs pulling out. It was like plucking hairs out with a tweezers and the SR made that pinging sound. I am assuming that when done correctly, the blade should just cut through the hair with little resistance?

For a beginner, should the blade be used as almost scraping the hair off of your face (kind of almost perpendicular to your face and then move your hand down and turn your wrist/kind of like a squeegee at the gas station on your window) or should you hold it closer to parallel to your face and use it like you are chopping something with a knife? I have seen diagrams, but it is different when I shaved. I guess it was more like 45 degrees away from my face that felt good, but again it pulled the hairs. I think my prep needs work. The blade is much sharper than I thought it would be and it almost will dig in just resting it on the skin at an angle with no pressure. I may be using the incorrect hand as well. I am using my right hand on the left side of my face (across). Could this be incorrect as well?

Originally Posted by dovomn

For a beginner, should the blade be used as almost scraping the hair off of your face (kind of almost perpendicular to your face and then move your hand down and turn your wrist/kind of like a squeegee at the gas station on your window) or should you hold it closer to parallel to your face and use it like you are chopping something with a knife? I have seen diagrams, but it is different when I shaved. I guess it was more like 45 degrees away from my face that felt good, but again it pulled the hairs. I think my prep needs work. The blade is much sharper than I thought it would be and it almost will dig in just resting it on the skin at an angle with no pressure. I may be using the incorrect hand as well. I am using my right hand on the left side of my face (across). Could this be incorrect as well?

You want to use as shallow an angle as gets the job done. A shallow angle will cause less razor burn as the force you apply will go more towards cutting the whiskers and less against the skin. By "force" I mean as little force as will simultaneously move the blade and keep it in contact with the skin. See also this: Shaving passes - Straight Razor Place Wiki. Heed the whole thing, but start by looking at the pictures at the bottom.

Resting the blade on the skin is a good way to get cut. It is actually much safer to keep the blade moving, but if it "snags" on the whiskers, don't try to "push through". Instead lift the blade away from your skin and think about all the techniques discussed at the above link.

The XTG and especially the ATG passes require the most care.

Don't forget to not only use a 30º shaving angle (spine from the skin), but a cutting angle (toe leading the heel) of about 30º will also help you cut with less pulling. In my experience even 10 or 15º helps a lot.

Nothing will help inferior beard rep though so take the extra time there and make sure your whiskers are as soft and supple as possible.

X

Originally Posted by dovomn

Thanks Jimmy! I guess I just feel like the blade is so sharp and the hair should be soft enough that when I shave, I shouldn't get the hairs pulling out. It was like plucking hairs out with a tweezers and the SR made that pinging sound. I am assuming that when done correctly, the blade should just cut through the hair with little resistance?

IME yes it should but OTOH I have been doing it awhile. Recalling when I started there was a lot going on to remember to do all at once. I know that proper stretching is very important in avoiding pulling even with a truly shave ready razor. The skin doesn't have to be drum tight but snugged up taut.

Manipulating the blade around the face takes time to get used to while stretching, holding proper blade angle, attacking the whiskers from the 'right' direction. Just a heck of a lot going on. So it takes time to get one or another thing learned to the point where it all starts to come together. One reason for Lynn's advice to take it slow and don't feel like a dummy if you finish part of your shave with a DE or whatever in the beginning.

i think your razor may need stropping as well. i know that lynn hones for vintageblades, but that means that the time between the razor was stropped and you used it could depend a lot on the sales volume at vintageblades and the way they handle stock.

you don't want the edge anywhere close to perpendicular to your face, that will not only be ineffective and painfull but will also damage the edge.
close to parallel to your face is how you want it. and then you'll have to learn the muscle memory of how to control the razor, it only looks easy, but it's a learned skill.

keep us posted with your progress and i'm sure you'll get more feedback as necessary.

Originally Posted by dovomn

I recently just ordered a new Dovo kit from Vintage Blades and the razor was honed and oiled ahead of time
......
Getting to the point, I am curious about one thing. When I was learning how to hold the razor and get the 30 degree angle passes down, the closer I got to what I believe was the correct angle, the more it pulled the hair and didn't cut it.
.....
When shaving correctly with a stropped blade and face prep, should you ever feel a tugging sensation on the hairs? I am assuming no.
........

The correct angle is the one that shaves your face. Moving from
an angle that shaves to a "correct" one that does not shave is
perhaps inside out; up the down stair case or something.
Others replied to this better than I can so on to the next
near random thought.

One thing that I do notice with a full hollow blade is that I can
often feel and hear the razor cut my whiskers more clearly than
with other tools. But if I listen to a Feather DE, or Feather str8, or BiC
I can hear them too, just differently. The thin full hollow blade can act
as a sounding board almost amplifying the snick as it cuts. In all cases
the snick snack sound will change as the edge dulls. Heck even
a Norelco can sound like a cheep mower in brush on my face.

Face prep is key. Give the lather on your face a full three minutes+.
I like to mix face lathering with cup lathering. Too wet and I work
the face letting it dry. Too dry a lather and I work a thimble of water
into the cup.... face, cup, face, cup. If I get out of the shower and
build a lather only in a cup my face dries out and the clock resets to
zero. So I get a bit of soap and water from the brush on my face
ASAP and keep it live until I get it right. It takes a while to build a
good lather so do not rush it. You do not need a lot of lather on
your face you do need bunches of water+lather face time for a shave.

What you did not tell us is what you are used to shaving with.
Expectations are important.