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Thread: Help!

  1. #1
    JAG
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    Default Help!

    HI Guys:

    I've had three shaves with my new straight razor. The first was uncomfortable but I assumed that was par for the course. The second was marginally better but the third was awful!

    Throughout, the experience is of a pulling/snagging kind of scraping rather than cutting, discomfort and cuts while shaving, irritation and razor burn after. No closeness with beard left standing.

    I think several factors might be at work:
    1) The first two shaves were before my Handamerican hone arrived so I didnt' strop beforehand. Also when I did strop prior to the third shave I may have desroyed the edge.
    2) My prep may be good enough for M3 or DE shaving but not up to par for the straight.
    3) Awkwardness and lack of coordination
    4) Not stretching skin enough
    5) Too much pressure
    6) Too steep an angle
    7) Expectations out of sync with reality

    As for 2) I don't think so since for the third shave I soaked my face with hot towels for 5 minutes and used a cream that I know I can get a good lather with.

    As for 3) & 4) I plead guilty. This is a major challenge but I think I'm getting better not worse.

    As for 5) & 6) Perhaps, but I've conciously addressed these but even at the extreme (blade almost flat and scarcely moving) I get the dreaded pull/snag/scrape.

    7) This is the one I'm most worried about. Is this 'just the way it is' - part of the appeal ?

    Your words of wisdom and experience would be most gratefully welcomed.

    Regards,
    Bob

  2. #2
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    Quote Originally Posted by JAG
    7) Expectations out of sync with reality
    It ain't this one. What you're experiencing is definitely *not* what you *should* be experiencing. It could be any of the others, though.

    For your first two shaves the lack of stropping is sufficient to explain what you experienced. The poor third shave is another matter.

    What razor are you using? Is it a new razor, or was it a used razor purchased from one of the SRP members? If it was a new "shave-ready" Dovo or TI then it probably wasn't quite sharp enough, many SRP members have found that they still need honing.

    We really need more details about the blade and the prep to help diagnose the problem.

  3. #3
    The Hurdy Gurdy Man thebigspendur's Avatar
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    Yes there is a whole universe of possibilities as to why you got the result you got. Give us more info about your razor. First you have to eliminate the razor as a factor in your problem. Once that is not a factor anymore then its a user problem.

    And yes #7 is not a factor a straight shave should be wonderfully comfortable and you face should be baby butt smooth.
    No matter how many men you kill you can't kill your successor-Emperor Nero

  4. #4
    JAG
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    mparker762:

    Definitely not the razor unless I messed it up. I got it shave ready from one of the Honing Gods here at SRP.

    I don't think it was the prep. For the infamous third shave:
    I washed my face to remove face oil. I soaked it with hot towels for about 5 minutes (every time the towels came off I rinsed with more water ). I whipped up a little olive oil soap and a more than usual amount of C&E Almond Oil shave cream. Decent lather I thought. (But here I could have the entire wrong idea of what a lather is supposed to be )

    I'm thinking that I destroyed the edge when I stropped it and that accounts for the bad third shave. The second shave was bad because I didn't strop after the first. And the first shave was bad because I didn't have a clue.

    I could try touching it up on the Flatbed with some of the high grit paper but I might be just digging the hole deeper.

    Bob

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    Senior Member sensei_kyle's Avatar
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    How many trips on the plain leather are you doing? Up and back counts as one trip. I don't have a HandAmerican setup, so what are the approximate dimensions of the leather? This factors in to how many trips it takes when stropping. On a hanging strop (say 24 inches) I'm doing 40-50 round trips prior to shaving. The HandAmerican setup sounds more like the size of a paddle strop, so I'll let a paddle owner tell us about his normal routine.

    Your prep (#2) may not be a problem. If it's a wet face & good lather, I'd skip it as an issue for now.

    Awkwardness (#3) will get better with time.

    Not stretching the skin (#4) will get better too. You really need to stretch the skin well for a good shave. I apply the same stretching when I use a DE as well.

    Too much pressure (#5) will lead to razor burn.

    Too steep an angle (#6) can cause razor burn and cause to to use too much pressure (see #5). While the angle varies from time to time, and person to person a little bit, as a general rule of thumb raising the spine two spine-widths from the face generally yields an angle of 20 degrees. This is considered optimal by many around here. There are times I go more than 20, times I go less than 20.

    Expectations (#7).... well, Rome wasn't built in a day. It took me a few weeks to get comfortable with a scary sharp piece of steel in my hand.

    I would advise only one pass with the grain for now. You face will need a little time to get used to the straight. You might be able to use an across the grain pass with little discomfort.

    Think like a double edge razor and use no pressure. Let the weight of the blade do the work. Concentrate on a light touch and a really good stretch.

  6. #6
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    When did you strop? Right before the shave, or did you strop the previous afternoon when UPS dropped it off?

  7. #7
    JAG
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    The FlatBed Hone is 11 inches long and I did about 60 round trips just before I shaved. This probably works out to 30 round trips on a 24 inch hanging strop.

    I'm still thinking that I might have damaged the blade. Trying to keep the entire blade flat on the hone may have put pressure on it inadvertently. This would explain why the third shave was so bad even though because of the first two shaves I was trying conciously to keep the blade angle low and use a minimum of pressure. Could still have failed at that however.

    About using the weight of the razor: I can get that sensation when using a double edge but with the straight the sensation is more like the hairs snag or catch the blade not letting it move unless I push somewhat. In fact in some places when I don't stretch the skin the blade moves the skin because it is hooked on the hair.

    Bob

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    One of the shaving demigods around here might want to chime in, but is it possible that the two stropless shaves might have folded the fin over hard enough that stropping couldn't straighten it out?

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    Senior Member blabbermouth jnich67's Avatar
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    Jag, I've only been doing this for about a month, so I know what you are going through.

    Besides the issues raised by the others, don't forget that you have a whole new set of physical mechanics and muscle memory to retrain. This simply takes time and practice. Be patients with yourself and you'll start to get a better feel for it (once the stropping, etc is taken care of that is).

    Jordan

  10. #10
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    Where do you live? There may be a member nearby that can help diagnose your problem in person.

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