Blunted after three shaves?

I've recently started using a straight razor and have now tried five shaves. The first three seemed to go well, giving a reasonable WTG shave in easy areas, but on the 4th and 5th the blade appears to be somewhat less effective at cutting than it was; it keeps catching on hairs and does not shave very close. Of course, it could be that my technique is still rather erratic and these last two shaves have just been bad ones, although all have had the same preparation.

But, I have found stropping rather difficult and find that I can only do it slowly, and probably with too much pressure. I've managed to put a few nicks in the (luckily only US$12) strop as well. Is it possible that such ineptness could have been able to blunt the razor in such a short time? The razor was honed before being supplied to me, but it is of a certain brand reported on this board as being of variable quality.

You've probably rolled the edge a little, through poor stropping technique, & damage done when you've caused those nicks.
There's a chance you can remedy it simply by stropping it correctly.

Take it a little slower, & concentrate on the action over the speed. Once muscle memory has built up it'll get easier. Soon enough the speed will follow.

If you can't strop it out, you'll have to get it honed. My offer still stands if you need it.

The trouble is, if you do carry on stropping as you are, it'll just need doing again.

Thanks again - I may have to take you up on your offer. It would be useful if you could take a look at my stropping technique and offer suggestions on how to improve it. If I can (still waiting for confirmation on something else) I will turn up to the London event as well.

Ok mate. It's chaotic here right now. We're moving house to Middle Barton a week Monday, so we can sort something out after that if needs be.

Ben is right.
Try to learn stropping first.
Doesn't matter how many times you will get your blade shave ready you will dull it after couple shaves
check stropping videos there is many helpful ones out there.
hope this helps.

This is my stropping (teaching video it may help just try it out)


YouTube - straight razor stropping

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by ben.mid

Take it a little slower, & concentrate on the action over the speed. Once muscle memory has built up it'll get easier. Soon enough the speed will follow.

---

ben.mid,

Apologies for barging in like this, but this brings up a question: since i'm halfway ready to strop my razor for the first time, how fast should this be done?
Basically i need to build up technique first, and in doing so, i need to go slow the first time? If this could be an indication: how many strokes per minute, for instance??
Can i damage my razor by "going slow"?

Input greatly appreciated.

Regards,

RazorBack

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by ben.mid

Ok mate. It's chaotic here right now. We're moving house to Middle Barton a week Monday, so we can sort something out after that if needs be.

---

Excellent - thanks! That's not very far for me to come.
Meanwhile I will keep working on the stropping. It seemed to get easier after I saw a video posted on this site, but evidently I'm still failing to get it right.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by hi_bud_gl

This is my stropping (teaching video it may help just try it out)


YouTube - straight razor stropping

---

That's the video I mentioned in the post above, and I did indeed find it very helpful in improving my "flipping"' action at the ends of the stroke.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by RazorBack

ben.mid,

Apologies for barging in like this, but this brings up a question: since i'm halfway ready to strop my razor for the first time, how fast should this be done?
Basically i need to build up technique first, and in doing so, i need to go slow the first time? If this could be an indication: how many strokes per minute, for instance??
Can i damage my razor by "going slow"?

Input greatly appreciated.

Regards,

RazorBack

---

You won't do any damage by going slow. General consensus is that it simply won't be as effective as faster stropping. Still, it's a damn site more effective than bowling along, rolling edges & carving up leather. You can make up for this by doing more laps. This also means you're getting in the practise that will ultimately improve your speed!

Watch Sham's video, read this, & watch the other videos at the bottom of the page.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by knirirr

Excellent - thanks! That's not very far for me to come.
Meanwhile I will keep working on the stropping. It seemed to get easier after I saw a video posted on this site, but evidently I'm still failing to get it right.

---

Ok, we'll sort something out then.

After a lot more stropping, both on the leather and also on some newspaper on the edge of a table, things seem to be a bit better. I was able to shave my whole face and even go ATG in a small area under the bottom lip.

There's still plenty of room for improvement, but all is not lost, it would seem.

That's good news. Your technique must be improving!

Could be your stropping technique, especially since your first 3 shaves were considerably better than the last 2. There are tons of useful video's to check out on ''stropping''. The posts on this site are also very useful, and even the smallest correction can make a big difference. Good luck.

Unfortunately, despite occasional slight improvements it has got to the point where I can't use the razor I started with. I bought a hone to see if I could improve things but clearly my technique with that is rubbish as well…

Anyway, I ordered one of the cheapest razors from whippeddog.com so at least when that arrives I'll have something to use for a while.