Thread: Please help with first shave!

So I should send it off for a re-honing, or can proper stropping repair it?

Originally Posted by jkh0208

So I should send it off for a re-honing, or can proper stropping repair it?

I suggest re-honing.... & then reassess your stropping skills

Is there a way to practice stropping without damaging my blade? Rehoning everytime I screw it up will become really expensive. Also, how can I tell if my stropping is improving?

Originally Posted by jkh0208

Is there a way to practice stropping without damaging my blade? Rehoning everytime I screw it up will become really expensive. Also, how can I tell if my stropping is improving?

Obviously your results will tell you if you are improving

You can use a dull practice razor or similar to practice the motions.
As with shaving, angle & pressure is everything. The edge & spine must be in contact on the strop & your pressure nil. Saying pressure should be light is relative & light for you may be edge destroying in my eyes. Just try to strop so when you're done you are left wondering how that could possibly do anything to your edge. You may then have the right "pressure" If your problem is hesitation cuts into the strop dulling the edge or not keeping the right contact on the "flip" etc practice with the optional blunt razor. And don't aim for speed.
A razor can be perfectly stropped slowly.

Originally Posted by jkh0208

Is there a way to practice stropping without damaging my blade? Rehoning everytime I screw it up will become really expensive. Also, how can I tell if my stropping is improving?

There are advertised shave ready "Gold Dollar" razors on ebay for about 25 bucks. These are made in china, and supposedly are made of good carbon steel. I ordered one that is straight from the factory for less to practice honing on.

Have you spent time mapping out your face and the direction of your beard growth?

I ask this because the blade to skin angle changes for WTG, XTG and ATG. The problem is the beard changes direction, so in a given stroke, it is possible to move between a WTG, XTG and ATG. That means that you need to change the angle on the fly during the stroke. If I make a stroke from my side burn past my jawline and into the neck area, I go from WTG to XTG to ATG and back to WTG. That means 30 degrees, 15 degrees, 5 degrees, and then back to 30 degrees. If I stay at 30 degrees for the whole stroke, I will tear my face up.

So, spend some time mapping out the beard direction, you will be glad you did.

It seems most of the hair on my face points downwards except for my chin. On my neck, it's all over the place. Some hairs point up, some down, randomly.

Originally Posted by jkh0208

It seems most of the hair on my face points downwards except for my chin. On my neck, it's all over the place. Some hairs point up, some down, randomly.

IMHO, If you have really random directionality, especially along the neck, I think it is better to drop the angle to between 5 and 15 degrees and use an additional pass if necessary. The skin on the neck is thin and sensitive. It is really easy to get razor burn on it. So a lower angle with NO pressure and an additional pass works much better for me.

But you will have to experiment here.

You'll continue to learn about your whisker growth each time you shave. However, learning the direction of your whisker growth is not merely the result of visual inspection. For about a month, I thought that the whiskers along my jawline either side of midline grew north to south - looked that way in the mirror to me after a few day's of beard growth. I kept wondering why I never seemed to get good results in those areas even with WTG, XTG, and several ATG's. It wasn't until I started experimenting with the directions of my passes that I realized that I was NOT actually going ATG in those areas. If you put some lather on your finger and run it over a "trouble" spot, it makes it easier to tell which way is ATG.

Good luck. Be patient. It WILL get better!

Originally Posted by jkh0208

It seems most of the hair on my face points downwards except for my chin. On my neck, it's all over the place. Some hairs point up, some down, randomly.

Originally Posted by LinacMan

You'll continue to learn about your whisker growth each time you shave. However, learning the direction of your whisker growth is not merely the result of visual inspection. For about a month, I thought that the whiskers along my jawline either side of midline grew north to south - looked that way in the mirror to me after a few day's of beard growth. I kept wondering why I never seemed to get good results in those areas even with WTG, XTG, and several ATG's. It wasn't until I started experimenting with the directions of my passes that I realized that I was NOT actually going ATG in those areas. If you put some lather on your finger and run it over a "trouble" spot, it makes it easier to tell which way is ATG.

Good luck. Be patient. It WILL get better!

Yeah - that is true. I can remember driving to work in the morning after a shave and runnning my fingers all over my stin to fine which direction the whiskers grew in, what would have shaven that area better, and then formulating a plan of attach for the next day.

My knowledge of whisker growth evolved over several months.