a rookie reports

Well, I've been shaving with a str8 now for about two weeks and here's the skinny.

I'm getting the best shaves that I have ever had with the exception of missing very small patches of whiskers here and there. I see that getting a completely smooth shave is just going to take a bit of experience in mapping out my shave. I was able to overcome the handicap of the blindness in my right eye by crossing over with my right hand to get the left sideburn area. I've found that after that I can shave almost as well with my left hand as with the right. I still get a small cut with almost every shave, but they are very small and have mostly stopped bleeding by the time I rinse my face at the end of the shave. I've nicked myself much worse with my fancy multi-blade. Up until the last couple of shaves ago I was not getting my lather moist enough. Having a good moist lather makes all the difference in the world to avoid tugging and pulling. I've finally learned to properly strop my razor, another big plus on the comfort side.

My plan going forward, unless the experienced members see it as a dumb idea is to get a hard felt strop and some diamond spray to extend the life of the honing the Lynn put on my razor and an another razor... well, just because. ;-)

Rob.

Hi Rob,

Welcome to SRP! It sounds like you are getting the hang of shaving with a straight razor. Congratulations! It only gets better with time.

Regarding the felt strop and diamond spray, that will definitely help to extend the time that your razor can go between honings. It looks like you have been doing some reading. I'd say you are right on track.

You will learn what areas need more attention and/or different angle of attack.

Good to hear that things are going well. Something that I do after my two pass shave is lather up again and run my fingers over those trouble areas (yes, we all have them) and "touch-up" against the grain, which ever direction it is. Works for me, you may give it a try and see...

You are doing well with your progress. A pasted strop does extend the life of the blade before it needs a stone honing.

A key purchase for me starting out was my 4 sided paddle strop with .5/1.0/3.0 Crom Ox. Works well for my Carbone Steel blades. But my Stainless steel blades needed more passes on it to get the same results. So I added a diamond 1.0 paste to the 4th side and that did the trick.

You will know when your staight razor needs a stone honing because you will have a sharp point on the razor, but the shave will feel very rough and uncomfortable. That occurs because the bevel is worn out.

You are doing great!

Pabster