First shave!!!!!

Printable View

03-09-2010, 05:11 PM
Juice

First shave!!!!!

Bam! Shazam!

So I finally got my shave ready blade in the mail. I took some time to make sure I had awesome lather, made sure my face was doused in hot hot hot water... time for my first shave!

Wow, nerve racking to say the least! I thought I was confident right until the blade was about to touch my skin. Breahting went up a bit, dunno if it was because I was scared of cutting myself, or maybe it was just the eagerness kicking in as I have been waiting for the moment!

Well.. I put the blade on my face, try to get a good 30degree angle.. surprised as how much the blade would jump when it was hitting/cutting my whiskers! (have not shaved in 3 days)

So after doing one cheek, I move onto the other.. was a lot harder than the first one as I am right handed and trying to shave my left cheek now.

After that I started to feel pretty confident, so I went to my neck, then washed all the lather off, applied more and did a second pass cross grain. Then I hit the mustache surprisingly well.

the chin did not go so great, I did not even want to try the patch underneath and a little to the sides. I had no clue how it was going to work so I quit while I was ahead and finished it off with my mach3.

End product? Well the only place I could not finish was just a small patch under my chin as I said (about an inch diameter). Although the rest is not the closest shave ever, I am more than satisfied for my first attempt! All this took me 30min but I was being very careful.

Love it! Thanks for all the help getting me there!
03-09-2010, 05:15 PM
HNSB

Sounds great for a first attempt!

I'm guessing that the jumping on the whiskers was due to an improper angle of attack. Assuming the razor was honed by one of our honemeisters, it should take those whiskers off without "jumping".
Another thing to check might be your stropping technique...

Congrats on the first shave! They only get better from here. :)
03-09-2010, 05:22 PM
Juice

Maybe "jumping" is not the word I should of used?

What I meant was I thought a blade would smoothly glide across the face like snot on cardboard. this was not the case at all, when I was dragging the blade it would hit into the whiskers.

Is this normal or is my blade maybe not shave ready?
03-09-2010, 05:56 PM
Old67

Hmmm,
To me it seems like your blade mightn't be quite shave ready. This is of course no fault of yours, but consider sending it to one of the members here on the site to be honed. This is important, ESPECIALLY when it is your first razor. If you have it done properly then you can learn on a blade that is in working condition.
The product of this is that any subsequent razor you buy you will easily be able to identify if it is shave ready-since you know for sure that your dovo is ready. If you guess at it, you could have 4 razors that are dull, but you wouldn't necessarily know because it would seem normal to you.

My first use of my first straight went a lot like yours. My blade stuttered noisily all over my face. I honed it up and now it glides smoothly through the hairs. You shouldnt have to force anything. If the razor is ready then it should do most of the work for you.

Just my 2 cents...
03-09-2010, 06:01 PM
Juice

Quote:

Originally Posted by Old67

My first use of my first straight went a lot like yours. My blade stuttered noisily all over my face. I honed it up and now it glides smoothly through the hairs. You shouldnt have to force anything. If the razor is ready then it should do most of the work for you.

Just my 2 cents...

yes it was very loud.

Who hones on this website??
03-09-2010, 06:07 PM
Old67

Loudness seems to be a quality of hollow grinds in general. The more hollow the more vocal they are. Some wedges have been reported to be completely silent...

As for honemeisters- one who hones blades- Lynn is an extremely reputable source. He is a wealth of knowledge on all things razor. For more information, check out the Member Services section of the forum.
To get to it, scroll down the forum list and click "Member Sales (Classifieds)" then click "Member Services". You will see a variety of honers there, as well as those who specialize in restoration work.
Price of course varies, but I do recommend Lynn.

Cheers
03-09-2010, 06:14 PM
Juice

Will do! Thanks again!
03-09-2010, 06:43 PM
Desdinova

Quote:

Originally Posted by Juice

the chin did not go so great, I did not even want to try the patch underneath and a little to the sides. I had no clue how it was going to work so I quit while I was ahead and finished it off with my mach3.

End product? Well the only place I could not finish was just a small patch under my chin as I said (about an inch diameter).

I've been doing it for 5 or 6 months and still have to work at the chin.

Time and experience I'm sure.
03-09-2010, 06:49 PM
Juice

Quote:

Originally Posted by Desdinova

I've been doing it for 5 or 6 months and still have to work at the chin.

Time and experience I'm sure.

By the way I went at it --- I'm not expecting to be able to glide the chin in the next few shaves...

time and experience for sure!
03-09-2010, 06:52 PM
thewatermark

Congrats man on your first shave! hey did you ever order that dirty bird scuttle yet?
03-09-2010, 06:53 PM
Juice

Quote:

Originally Posted by thewatermark

Congrats man on your first shave! hey did you ever order that dirty bird scuttle yet?

Thanks!

No I have not, but it will be the next thing I buy. I was planning on getting it as a birthday gift to myself in 3 weeks! but don't tell me, or else it won't be a surprise no more!