Thread: Two weeks in...questions of course.

These guys nailed it in regards to your questions. Stubear is right on in regards to how to take care of your SR, I do the same he does. I have one recommendation for you to try that works for me. I shave shave pretty much every day and if I use the three pass method you are, my face would be tender as well. I just shave WTG & ATG, then check for any areas needing touchups. Any touchups are ATG. Keep it up!

yes, the hollow ground razor makes noise, that's how it works with these.
the temperature changes have no effect on the edge geometry, i'm pretty sure long time ago i posted the numbers but it's pretty straightforward calculation, the change in the blade thickness is no more than a percent iirc.
better strop before every shave - that should improve the edge.
try the wedge razor too, if you haven't already, it's different and it's also a bit sharper, although the difference you'll notice will be mostly due to the stiff grind, not the actual sharpness.
don't worry about perfectly smooth shave, that usually takes quite a bit of practice. more important is the irritation, aim for no irritation, the closeness will come.

Hello, Sundance:

You have a mountain of sound advice to which I have nothing more to add. Also important, as Gugi points out, is this: You will need time to hone your straight razor skills. Stay with it.

Regards,

Obie

Thank you to all!

It's great to know there are people out there that know what I'm talking about. I'm a bit embarrassed to admit my surprise that a woman from New Zealand holds something like this in common. Wild. I love it.

Hint taken on stropping every time. I'll build it into the a.m. routine.

Good to know I don't necessarily have/need to shave every day with a straight. When I was just shaving str8 on the weekends, it would amaze me the roughage the cartridge would leave behind on weekdays. As ya'll have said, the second day growth after a str8 is less than the roughage of a fresh cartridge shave.

I think I'll save the full WTG, XTG, ATG for special occasions and stick to the WTG, XTG for routine until I've got more shaves under my belt.

I'm surprised I don't have a beard of zits because I catch myself feeling my face ALL DAY.

I kinda like the scraping sound. I was worried it meant I was doing something wrong.

gugi - I've been saving the other razor for when I have to send off the Geneva to be honed, likely to you if you offer that service?

Again, thank you all!