Thread: Tried ATG

Originally Posted by LawsonStone

against the grain requires a well-sharpened razor, the right (very shallow) angle, and light pressure with a firm stroke. I shave ATG everywhere except under my nose (the so-called "fool's pass") and a couple places on my chin that are hard to get a clean swipe on.

Burning and irritation are almost certainly due to either an unsharp razor, too steep an angle, or too heavy a touch.

+1 ... Everything has to be optimal for ATG, especially for those with sensitive skin.

If you're unsure of your stropping skills, try stropping on a few layers of newspaper on a flat counter-top for 200 laps instead of using the leather/linnen. This flat surface makes it easy to 'fix' a slightly poorly stropped razor and put a fine edge on it.

A year into straight shaving I kept getting the heel of the razor much sharper than the toe. Newspaper stropping helped me to get some really fine shaves while I fine tuned my stropping (and it was free!) You might also try a paddle style strop...just my 2 cents.

Good luck! It WILL just keep getting better!

I think that I won't worry about the strop being bend downward. I'm getting good shaves when I just use light pressure so to hell with the youtube videos!

I tried ATG on my upper lip and it didn't go well at all. My lather was off, I knew that. My razor wasn't sharp, I knew that too. So why did I go ATG? Because I'm stupid.

The razor went smoothly over. I had some pulling, but it was alright and I thought I did a good job till a few moments later when I saw a ton of little red dots.

Sometimes my razor sticks in place. What does that mean? I'm scared when it happens because I don't know if I should push harder or not.

NOT stupid. The Irish have a saying (to all you Gaelic-speakers out there, sorry, I couldn't figure out how to get the accent marks to work): "Bionn gach tosnu lag"--"Every beginning is weak." We all go through something similar. I know I tried stuff with a straight razor before I probably should have, but that's part of how we learn. You learned some things from your ATG attempt. I tried the Fool's Pass holding the razor just in one hand, found it to be supremely uncomfortable and anxiety-producing, and didn't try it again for a couple of months. Then I saw Chimensch's 30th anniversary shaving video (http://straightrazorpalace.com/shavi...ing-video.html) and now all's right with the world. Notice how he holds the blade in both hands when he goes ATG on his chin and upper lip. What I found is that this helps me keep the blade flat against my skin, or nearly so (it changes), producing a very comfortable and effective ATG in those areas. Holding the blade in both hands helps keep your angles where they ought to be. You might give it a shot. Good luck!

Originally Posted by gull

Anyway, I also think I improperly stropped my razor too. I've been watching some stropping videos and in all of them I see the strop bending down with the razor. When I'm stropping, my strop doesn't even bend down at all. I keep reading about less pressure, so I really don't put any pressure on the razor. Seeing those videos made my think that I've been doing it wrong and today I added pressure and the razor made a different sound.

How do I know how much pressure to add? Should my strop be bending down? How tightly should I be holding the strop?

Gull, You most definitely do not want the strop bending down in a pronounced way. What you will be doing is rounding off the edge of the razor. As the strop bends, it causes the material of the strop to pass along the edge at an oblique angle. A tiny bit is actually a good thing because it smooths the edge and subsequently gives you a smoother shave. Too much, and you are rounding off the edge to the point that it is no longer sharp enough to cut whiskers or worse, cause you pain. I don't know how to explain the phenomenon you described with the Youtube videos because I have seen them as well. A couple are made by people who definitely have the credentials, too. The only thing that makes sense to me is that the camera exaggerates the amount of deflection that actually occurs. When I strop, I pull the strop tightly- not like a death grip- but taught. The pressure I put on the razor makes you think that nothing could actually be happening, but it does. I have very smooth, comfortable shaves and go ATG on my neck all the time with no discomfort or razor burn at all. Just keep practicing and have patience- it will happen for you to!

Bíonn gach tosach lag

No worries. I don't think the American Keyboard has a way to do that, at least not that I have noticed yet.

TSasser: Yeah, I can do it in Word, but it wasn't available in the message program on the forum, and was too lazy to type it in Word and cut and paste it in. Thanks also for the correction. What little Irish I still have is from 20 (yikes!) years ago.

I read the wiki and it says that too little pressure on the strop is also a bad thing. Why is that? As long as the edge is making contact, isn't that all that matters?

I'm sorry to keep bringing this up, but my impression from reading around is that light pressure is better, but then I see videos and see people using more pressure than I do. Flyman, you're explanation would account for what I've seen in the videos so I hope that is the case.

Maybe the type of material factors in as well? I use a TM synthetic strop, so possibly my strop is tougher to bend than leather?

Originally Posted by gull

I read the wiki and it says that too little pressure on the strop is also a bad thing. Why is that? As long as the edge is making contact, isn't that all that matters?

I'm sorry to keep bringing this up, but my impression from reading around is that light pressure is better, but then I see videos and see people using more pressure than I do. Flyman, you're explanation would account for what I've seen in the videos so I hope that is the case.

Maybe the type of material factors in as well? I use a TM synthetic strop, so possibly my strop is tougher to bend than leather?

Too little or negative pressure means the razor could be off rather than on the strop for the whole stroke which could result in lifting the spine.
Lifting the spine is worse than a little deflection in the strop. You don't need to pull the strop off the wall just keep your anchor hand from moving.