Thread: shaving against the grain

I recently acquired the 4 sided paddle strop from Tony with the 3, 1, .5, and .25 micron pastes, and it does a marvelous job of quickly and easily refining the edge on my razor (thanks Tony) after honing on my 6k Japanese waterstone. Using this new paddle strop I can get my straight almost as sharp as a pack of DE blades I bought for comparison. When I shave with the grain, I get an incredibly easy and smooth draw that shaves quite close. However, going against the grain I still get some tugging, especially in the neck area. Is this due to shaving technique, or do I just need a little extra refining on the edge? I have thought about just sending in the razor and my money to Lynn to find out what sharp really is, but I hesitate because I am either too cheap, or too impatient, or both.

I would imagine it might be a couple of things. It could be beard prep, it could be insufficient stretching of the skin (you really want to stretch it tight), or it could be your razor just isn't sharp enough.

I'd very much recommend shipping your razor off to either Lynn, Joe, or one of the other honemeisters because you really do need a benchmark to shoot for. Look at it as an investment in education.

-- Gary F.

When you shave, do you use multiple short strokes or fewer long strokes?

Try shaving across the grain vs. against it and let us know what happens.

Lynn

I shave against the grain, yep, I can tell the difference, when my razor gets dull, will shave fine with the grain, tug against. Usually time to put in on a pasted strop for me.

I'm not much of a honer, but I've got a similar setup to yours, and I find that lightly stropping my blade (usually 5 laps linen, 10 leather) before going against the grain helps substantially.

so it's not supposed to tug, ever? i find that a little hard to believe. i got a shave ready razor from a member and it tugged when i went against the grain on my upper lip, if i remember correctly...

Originally Posted by cyrano138

so it's not supposed to tug, ever? i find that a little hard to believe. i got a shave ready razor from a member and it tugged when i went against the grain on my upper lip, if i remember correctly...

I find that shaving against the grain requires more attention to stretching the skin and its also important to make sure you re lather maybe even add a little more water to the mix for an extra slick lather. If your shaving against the grain and dont re-lather or your lather is a little dry it can be uncomfortable without a doubt.

No, it will tug anyway. I think the oldtimers have just gotten used to it :-)

We're really discussing the amount of tugging. Even the Feather AC blades tug, just not as much as that "extra minty" ebay special. I'm no great shakes at honing, but I'd guess that my blades tug about as much as a mach 3. Without some stropping before that final pass, it tugs about like the 5-blade fusion. It's not a big deal either way, but I prefer doing a little bit of stropping in order to reduce the tugging since that pass is touchy enough as it is. It's important to really stretch your skin as well.

I have to agree with Lynn, you should be shaving across the grain on your second pass. Shaving against the grain would be pretty harsh in most cases.

Scott