Thread: Nublet frustration...

So I got a Dovo Shavette for Christmas and that's all I've shaved with since.
I've picked up a couple of other razors (a Torrey and a Clover) that I'm slowly working on cleaning up as time permits. I did however see a nice little near wedge sheffield razor from Larry over at Whipped dog that I fell in lust with and got in the mail last Friday. I've shaved with it 4x since Sunday... On Sunday I had a few days worth of growth on my neck. In a past life I was a Sasquatch.
Anyway, with the Shavette I enjoyed the feeling of letting my beard go for 3-4 days then cleaning the brush out. It was nice and smooth and satisfying.
When I put the "real" razor up to my face and tried, it pulled like an Irishman in a potato field. After several painful passes I got down to stubble and it hurt significantly less. I didn't cut or nick myself but I felt every single neck hair being slowly tugged/sawed off. I made it a point for the rest of the week to not go more than two days between shaves. It didn't hurt as much but it honestly didn't feel as clean as the Shavette. With the Shavette I do a pass WTG, then a pass at a roughly 45degree angle XTG and my face and neck are smooth as a newborn baby for the next day or so. Nothing else needed.
Tonight's shave went pretty well with the wedge. No nicks or cuts, not too much pulling. Just a bunch of irritated skin from having to do 4 passes and ending up with a shave that feels 8 hours old. Today's shave was definitely the best in the last week.
I feel like I have to use a lot more pressure (not necessarily against the skin, but pulling through my facial shrubbery) to achieve a not super painful result.
Is this normal going from a Shavette to a "real" straight razor?
The first shave was with a "shave ready" razor.
I'm using the poor man's strop.
It seems like the more I use it the better my shave gets. I do about 10 passes after my shave, then put a drop of mineral oil on the blade and rub it around to prevent rust.
Before my next shave I do another 30 passes on the strop because from what I've been reading the big fat razors need more stropping due to edge thickness and that jazz.
I shave with Proraso or Real Shaving Co. cream. Tonight I used some kinda junky soap that lathers up thin but I added some liquid glycerin to it to help a bit.
With the Shavette I don't recall how often I replaced the blade. It came with one whole DE blade and I bought a 5 pack. I still have 3 whole blades left in the pack.

It will likely take a while before your straight shaves outdo what you can achieve with the Shavette.

They speak of a considerable 'learning curve' here, and they are spot on. I believe you can get a great shave with a straight razor, but it is unreasonable to expect it to happen immediately, right out of the box. Practice will improve your results.

I have never used a shavette but otherwise your story is pretty much identical to my own experience in learning to use a straight. I am continuously perplexed by how I can't get my razor to shave my whiskers cleanly in several passes and yet it is sharp enough to pop my arm hairs right off without any trouble at all. Especially when trying to shave my upper lip and under my chin it practically yanks the hair right out of my face it seems. Usually I end up with a lousy shave because I don't want to make the number of passes required to get a smooth face and end up with razor burn as a result. What really gets me are all of the videos on YouTube where guys are doing things like shaving ATG from the neck up to the face in one long sweep and they get it BBS. It kind of ticks me off actually... I can't even get the razor to cut ATG until the whiskers are already shaved. I will say that like you mentioned, things seem to be improving (albeit slowly).

Maybe you already know this but I'll mention it anyway - one thing that helped me with my poor man's strop was to rub the bejesus out of it with a mug and condition it a couple of times too (I used lather). After that I noticed much improvement in my razor after stropping. Now I just need to work on improving my technique...

*Whew* I needed to vent/ feeling better!

I'm planning on having a "Get-Together" at my place on the 12 or 13 of the month, in Fairfax.

I could help you out in person if you'd like.

Alan

I have been to one of Alan's "get togethers", a small one, and I can confirm that the amount one can learn in a few hours with him is inestimable.

I highly recommend it!

Originally Posted by AFDavis11

I'm planning on having a "Get-Together" at my place on the 12 or 13 of the month, in Fairfax.

I could help you out in person if you'd like.

Alan

If I wasn't working all of that weekend, I'd love to. I'm a bit stressed right now with trying to buy a home and working a bit of overtime here and there to get ready for baby #3. If you're having one in April perhaps I can make that. I think the only things I have on my calendar for April are moving and a mountain travel and rescue class one Saturday.

I'm pretty much available anytime. Feel free to PM when you have an open weekend and I'll make room for ya.

Originally Posted by AFDavis11

I'm pretty much available anytime. Feel free to PM when you have an open weekend and I'll make room for ya.

I'll keep that in mind. I'm hoping to have more than a couple free hours one of these days. Pesky work, ski patrol, and kids... At least the snow is melting so I can get out and get some fly fishing done.

Okay, so I checked your original post and I think I'm fielding one general question. The conversion from a Shavette to a real straight.

So, is it normal to have problems? Why yes, yes it is. The cause is a lack of understanding and practice.

The most common problem, besides using bad angles and pressure is developing a proper stropping routine.

So, the DE razor is sharp, smooth, and probably coated with Teflon. The straight razor is sharp, probably smooth, and relies on good stropping to replace the Teflon.

Shavettes have a tendency to be rough shaving because that particular blade was not made for "open" use. The straight razor is designed for open use, and is typically honed by hand in such a way that the blade can glide over the face easily. Stropping, good stropping adequately supports this. In fact good stropping emphasizes this quality.

In order to learn to strop, lay the strop flat on a table, use light pressure and do lots and lots of laps. Add a touch of pressure if that fails and then return to lots of laps with light pressure. It takes practice and some more complex understanding but at some point the razor will slide through your whisker without effort and leave the skin with a new born sort of feeling. That, and only that, is the true test of effective stropping.

Originally Posted by mrbison

I have never used a shavette but otherwise your story is pretty much identical to my own experience in learning to use a straight. I am continuously perplexed by how I can't get my razor to shave my whiskers cleanly in several passes and yet it is sharp enough to pop my arm hairs right off without any trouble at all. Especially when trying to shave my upper lip and under my chin it practically yanks the hair right out of my face it seems. Usually I end up with a lousy shave because I don't want to make the number of passes required to get a smooth face and end up with razor burn as a result. What really gets me are all of the videos on YouTube where guys are doing things like shaving ATG from the neck up to the face in one long sweep and they get it BBS. It kind of ticks me off actually... I can't even get the razor to cut ATG until the whiskers are already shaved. I will say that like you mentioned, things seem to be improving (albeit slowly).

Maybe you already know this but I'll mention it anyway - one thing that helped me with my poor man's strop was to rub the bejesus out of it with a mug and condition it a couple of times too (I used lather). After that I noticed much improvement in my razor after stropping. Now I just need to work on improving my technique...

*Whew* I needed to vent/ feeling better!

Armhair shaving is only a rough indicator. If your razor won't shave armhairs it will never shave your face but even if it does shave armhairs that doesn't mean it will shave your face either. It means you're on the road to a shave ready razor. How close you are to your destination can vary quite a bit.

Like has been said it all takes practice to develop the facility which takes time. Probably that facility is equal to the condition of the razor itself. Of course with a disposable the razor condition is taken care of for you.