Thread: Frustration

What you did with your DE, some old barber manuals say to do by laying the straight razor blade flat on your face in the first wtg pass.

Originally Posted by LarryAndro

What you did with your DE, some old barber manuals say to do by laying the straight razor blade flat on your face in the first wtg pass.

Larry,

I have to say that I have seen you give that advice before and it was my inspiration for the DE pass. I have tried to lay the straight razor flat on my face but it always seems to snag or pull. I am have been too unsure of my technique to mussel through the whiskers on some of less familiar areas of my face. I have a full hollow razor and I think a stiffer blade will benefit me. That little bit of flex had me terrified.

Now that I have accomplished this I'll try the flat blade trick again.

I think being able to give the whole face a go will really help my technique. It's like when your a kid and your dad gives you a razor with no blade so you can "shave" along.

Thanks and sorry to but I think the original poster and I are in a similar spot.
--Shoki

this thread has definitely helped me out. This mornings shave was way better then the first two.

Originally Posted by Shoki

... I have tried to lay the straight razor flat on my face but it always seems to snag or pull...

And, that is to be expected. The expectation that the first WTG pass thru thick tough stubble should exhibit no pulling is not realistic in my opinion. It will pull!

Get the sharpest commercial blade, be it a DE or a multiblade safety or whatever is the sharpest blade made by a company and take that first WTG pass and there will be significant pulling. You shouldn't expect anything less with a straight razor in my opinion. Again, we're talking about the first WTG pass.

Lay it FLAT, and even though it pulls, it won't razor burn or cut. And, you will accomplish what you did with the DE pass.

Good luck!

Originally Posted by LarryAndro

And, that is to be expected. The expectation that the first WTG pass thru thick tough stubble should exhibit no pulling is not realistic in my opinion. It will pull!

Get the sharpest commercial blade, be it a DE or a multiblade safety or whatever is the sharpest blade made by a company and take that first WTG pass and there will be significant pulling. You shouldn't expect anything less with a straight razor in my opinion. Again, we're talking about the first WTG pass.

Lay it FLAT, and even though it pulls, it won't razor burn or cut. And, you will accomplish what you did with the DE pass.

Good luck!

I've got a straight to go through thick whisker like a hot knife through butter. To achieve this I admitedly had to strop an already sharp razor on news print for several hundred laps. The down side was that the edge didn't last 2 shaves. At 100x no scratch pattern could be discerned on the bevel, it's my belief that the tight striations add a degree of strength and rigidity to the edge.
Maybe we are constantly trying to balance out sharpness and smoothness to our own subjective preference. It should be possible to achieve at least as little tug as a DE (feather) with an optimaly honed edge.
Steel and heat treat can make a big difference also. To cut hair (HHT) an edge should be at least 1 micron width. At this scale some carbide (worst still pearlite) clusters of some steels can be this big so these may be the limits to that particular edge. The heat treat paramaters of blade steels have to be tightly controled in order to make the carbon do what is needed, which is why the high carbon fine grain steels are used by factories.
In short if all else fails, that may be the limits of that steel.

Originally Posted by Deckard

... It should be possible to achieve at least as little tug as a DE (feather) with an optimaly honed edge...

Very true! And, that is my exact point. For, when shaving the tougher areas with the best DE blade and you will experience some pulling. Of course, there are areas where the DE cuts like a knife thru butter. But, we're talking about the tough areas.

Originally Posted by Deckard

I've got a straight to go through thick whisker like a hot knife through butter...

And, I think this is typical experience for any of us who have shaved with a straight razor for any length of time. For most of my face, this is always true. But, for the tougher areas, even with the best and sharpest blade you are likely to experience some resistance. (If you have light whispy whiskers, then you are disqualified from this conversation. )

In a way, the cut like butter statements are irrelevant to many readers. For, newbies frequently dull their edge somewhat during stropping, or by insufficient stropping, and other reasons. However, as the experienced here know, even with a slightly less than optimal edge, it is quite possible to get a decent shave. And, for many reading these messages, they won't have an optimal blade. I believe our comments should take this frequent situation in mind and offer as much help to them as possible.

I don't believe the "just send it to someone for honing" is always good advice. Wouldn't it be better to help newbies learn to get good and satisfying shaves with a slightly less than bleeding sharp edge?

In shaving the easy areas, just shave. But, as some barber manuals advise, when shaving your first WTG pass in the wiry tough whisker areas, in my opinion it is good practice to lay the blade flat or almost flat on your face and reduce the length of the whiskers. Then, relather and shave WTG as usual.

Wow! Thank you to everyone.
I apologize for not responding. Unless I am on call, I am usually off the computer each weekend.

I have not shaved since last week. I am going to do so tonight, after work (and after a hot shower). I will definitely post the results- using a lot of advice I've just gained from everyone.

This forum is very friendly. Thank you for your patience and help.