Thread: First Shave..Semi-Successful

So I had my first shave this morning..I was using my first straight, an S.R. Droescher "Karbono" Special Steel that I purchased shave ready off the classifieds here.

My prep was a hot shower, followed by proraso pre-shave cream.
Just for fun, I made an uberlather (why not, right?)..

Proraso soap + maca root shave cream+ glycerin..made a pretty decent lather IMO.

I only shaved the upper part of my cheeks and neck since I'm currently sporting a beard. I only did one side.

Basically, it was wierd. Half the time it was pulling, but at other times it was shaving nicely. I'm attributing this to my unsteady hands and inexperience leading to an inconsistent technique.

I finished up with a cartridge razor, and used maca root razor relief for my ASB.

So basically, I have a lot to learn lol.

I'm kinda dissapointed though, because after stropping, I looked at the edge with a magnifying glass and there's two tiny tiny nicks in the blade

Looks like I'm gonna have to get into honing sooner than i thought

Sounds like your typical first shave. Your smooth shave, then tugging pulling shave is probably due to your blade angle..focus on that and it'll get better The nicks in the blade weren't there before? I'd be concerned then about something on your strop or your stropping technique...

Originally Posted by canuckblade

I only shaved the upper part of my cheeks and neck since I'm currently sporting a beard. I only did one side.

Basically, it was wierd. Half the time it was pulling, but at other times it was shaving nicely. I'm attributing this to my unsteady hands and inexperience leading to an inconsistent technique.

I finished up with a cartridge razor, and used maca root razor relief for my ASB.

You definitely did a couple things right that a lot of eager newbs avoid: you only tried shaving a portion of yor face, and finished off with your `normal` razor. And yes, unsteady hands and inexperience will cause the pulling sensation with a sharp razor.

Congrats, sounds like it went fine for your first time out. As for those chips maybe post some pics and we can tell you where to go from there.

Originally Posted by canuckblade

So I had my first shave this morning..I was using my first straight, an S.R. Droescher "Karbono" Special Steel that I purchased shave ready off the classifieds here.

My prep was a hot shower, followed by proraso pre-shave cream.
Just for fun, I made an uberlather (why not, right?)..

Proraso soap + maca root shave cream+ glycerin..made a pretty decent lather IMO.

I only shaved the upper part of my cheeks and neck since I'm currently sporting a beard. I only did one side.

Basically, it was wierd. Half the time it was pulling, but at other times it was shaving nicely. I'm attributing this to my unsteady hands and inexperience leading to an inconsistent technique.

I finished up with a cartridge razor, and used maca root razor relief for my ASB.

So basically, I have a lot to learn lol.

I'm kinda dissapointed though, because after stropping, I looked at the edge with a magnifying glass and there's two tiny tiny nicks in the blade

Looks like I'm gonna have to get into honing sooner than i thought

Do the tiny nicks look like missing teeth? I get them all the time. The more I shave, the more nicks I get. They are visible to the naked eye, but I only get it honed if I get too many. A few tiny nicks are even visable after professional honing. I guess the edge is so fine that little bits of metal do break off. I don't find a few small nicks to affect my shaving.

I'm sure the seasoned vets can elaborate.

Originally Posted by vikingfan

Do the tiny nicks look like missing teeth? I get them all the time. The more I shave, the more nicks I get. They are visible to the naked eye, but I only get it honed if I get too many. A few tiny nicks are even visable after professional honing. I guess the edge is so fine that little bits of metal do break off. I don't find a few small nicks to affect my shaving.

I'm sure the seasoned vets can elaborate.

Well its like 2 really really small..i thought it was just a speck of dirt on the edge, but when it wouldn't rub away, I took the magnifying glass to have a better look, and there's a couple of nicks/dings in the blade..

I never really inspected the razor under a magnifying glass when I got it, I bought it shave ready off the classifieds here and I trust the member who sold it to me, I just have no idea where they came from

Ill see if I can post some pics later.

Do you think If i get a barber hone it can take them out?

here's a pic of the nicks..It's as good as I could get with my current equipment.

The one on the left is a lot smaller than the one on the right. Are these nothing, or should I be concerned?

Sounds alot better than my first str8 shave. See my post "I must be nuts". Was a horror movie. I learned alot though that first shave and I guess you could say either you learn or your ugly lol.

Congrats on your first, Im getting ready for my third on Wed. It should be better as Ive gotten some great advice form the people here. Im also going to try the glycerin and the uber-lather. Every time I try something new so far its been better than expected.

Originally Posted by Biggie77

Sounds alot better than my first str8 shave. See my post "I must be nuts". Was a horror movie. I learned alot though that first shave and I guess you could say either you learn or your ugly lol.

Congrats on your first, Im getting ready for my third on Wed. It should be better as Ive gotten some great advice form the people here. Im also going to try the glycerin and the uber-lather. Every time I try something new so far its been better than expected.

Yea the uberlather makes a big difference IMO, Ive been using the maca root cream for years now with my cartridge razor..just quickly lathering on my face but after I started taking the time to actually whip up a nice Uberlather, theres no comparison.

I definitely saw rays of hope, there were strokes where it cut nicely.

Practice makes perfect for sure. Looking foreward to my next shave.

Originally Posted by canuckblade

Yea the uberlather makes a big difference IMO, Ive been using the maca root cream for years now with my cartridge razor..just quickly lathering on my face but after I started taking the time to actually whip up a nice Uberlather, theres no comparison.

I definitely saw rays of hope, there were strokes where it cut nicely.

Practice makes perfect for sure. Looking foreward to my next shave.

Maca root cream, Ill have to try that. So many products out there to try you keep trying new stuff til you get a collection of what you like best.

Sorry to be a shameless bumper guys

After doing some more research, I've discovered a phenomenon called microchipping, which can occur with regular use of the razor.

I'm sure I didn't bump it on anything, and they're really small chips, they look like black dots when inspecting with the eye.

Are those microchips possibly? Or are they chips which I have to be concerned about?