First attempt, and hello, all!

I've been lurking on the forum for a little while, and I figured now would be a good time to introduce myself. So hello, all, and thanks much for all the information you've provided so far, which I greatly appreciate.

I ordered a starter kit from Tony Miller and a hone from Tilly, and since the former arrived today I decided to try it out. I've had a beard for about a year, born of frustration with the electric shaver, but because of work I can only keep it until the end of the month. My beard is too patchy above my jaw line to grow out, so I figured a good way to start practicing would be to try and shave my cheeks and the lower part of my neck where I keep the beard trimmed back. I'm happy to say I did not cut myself, and I think I did a pretty good job on my cheeks. The lower neck I'm less proud of, but it doesn't feel any worse than when the electric is finished, so I'd say that's an okay start. Did a lot of experimenting with angles and changing hands, and will have to continue to do so.

What surprised me the most, though, is the fact that, well, I had fun shaving for the first time in my life. I may actually enjoy going beardless again!

Of course, being a beginner, I know I'm not doing everything correctly, and that brings me to my questions:

1) Stropping. I'm using a hanging strop, holding it taught, and going slowly and gently with blade as flat as I can hold it, spine and edge in contact with the strop. I'm not, however, feeling any drag, and the rasping noise is almost imperceptible. What, if anything, should I be doing differently?

2) Lather. The lather I made (using hard soap in a mug) seemed adequately functional, but it reminded me more of gel than any lather I'd ever seen - I couldn't seem to create any bubbles, so the result was a flat coating on my face which I couldn't build up the way I'd expect to be able to do with lather. It also dried more quickly than I would have liked, but that may have more to do with the fact that I wasn't shaving very quickly than anything I did with the soap. What am I doing wrong?

Those were the two major things that crossed my mind. No doubt I'll have more questions in the future :-)

Thanks in advance for any advice, and thanks again to Tilly and Tony Miller for prompt service and products I look forward to using for many years.

-Feng_Li

Glad your kit got to you quickly so you could get started. Starting small like you did with just a partial shave is a good idea.

You really should not hear a rasping sound on the strop. It does not sharpen really, it just aligns the edge via friction and resistance of steel against the leather. Your strop is one of my newer ones with the golden color natural leather which will make a fine finishing strop. I now also offer the same leather on my #1 Best as an alternative to the Red Latigo.

Go slow, keep the razor flat to the strop and go at least 25 passes on both linen and leather. A pass is one trip up and back (2 strokes actually).

Best,
Tony

Feng_Li

Welcome to the forum and the world of straights.

As far as the soap you may try using a little more
water.

As for stroping try using a little more pressure on
the leather. And as Tony advised - go slow - speed
doesn't help a bit.

All in all it sound like you had a good first experience
with a straight. From here it will only get better and
you will find yourself actually looking forward to shaving.

Now all you have to do is resist the urge to start buying
more straights, soaps, creams etc. etc.

Keep us posted on your progress.


Terry

Welcome aboard FL... If you got the blade from Tony M, then it must be shave-ready sharp. Other than following the other gentlemen's advice, read this article, as it helped me get some very nice lather: http://www.classicshaving.com/articl...0351/18187.htm

Sounds like you are doing pretty good actually. Here's my 2¢:
1¢. As mentioned, you're good. Be attentive to what is happening without expectations on the strop, only in the shave.
2¢. A little more water should do it. The lather is likely to be a little different than you are used to with the foam in a can stuff.

As to the irritated neck:
1¢. Straight shaving is more aggressive than your skin is used to so expect some adjustment. Go easy on yourself for the first week or two.
2¢. Do yourself a favour and treat yourself to a couple of 3 minute hot towels with lather before the final lather and shave. It really preps your beard and skin well for the blade.

That's 4¢, but you can keep the change. :D

X

I'll add just a bit to the lather question; you've already gotten all of the advise you need with the strop.

As has been mentioned a couple of times, try adding a bit more water to the mix...but don't over do it. A few drops at a time until you get that perfect meringue. Second, don't be afraid to really work the lather. Often those new at using a brush and soap will have an acceptable mix of water and soap, but have just not worked the lather long enough.

FWIW,
Ed

Welcome Feng_Li,

When you shave your neck, stretching the skin taught is very important. You can also try decreasing the angle of the razor to about one spine width off your face.

As for lather, you might want to try a cream. They usually lather up a bit easier. Getting the right amount of water comes with practice.

Ed

Thanks for all the advice so far. I'll have another go tomorrow and see if I can't do any better.

I know having good hot water affects the overall shave quality, but does it make a difference in the lather creation? I don't think the water from my tap is as hot as it ought to be...I may have to use my electic kettle.

No, the water temperature doesn't affect the lather. Not unless it gets very cold, or very hot :-) Just make sure you use enough. If the lather is gel-like, add more water. If it's foamy and bubbly, add more soap.

Sounds like you are off to a good start. Shaving a beard off with anything can cause problems, so if things went pretty well then you are off to a good start. The lather the stropping and everything else will get better / easier after several times. Just have the paitience and you will do great. Feel free to PM me if you have any question reagarding your Barber hones. Welcome to our crazy world!

Glen

and there has been progress :-)

I'm now able to strop much more quickly, and I am starting to hear a slightly more prounounced rasping noise from the leather side, which I take to mean that the edge is deteriorating. I haven't noticed any drop in shaving performance, however.

I'm able to make better lather than I used to, but it still dries out a little more quickly than I would like. The brush alone does not hold enough water, and figuring out the correct additional amount to add is taking time. I also seem to remember someone saying that the William's soap takes a lot of water, so I shall continue to experiment.

The only place I was consistently irritating was the little hollow to the left of my windpipe, and I've managed to stop doing that. I'm pretty sure I was simply using too much pressure. The biggest problem I've had isn't switching hands, but switching eyes - my right eye is extremely dominant (probably from shooting), and that makes it harder to do the the left side of my neck. Feeling brave, I decided to try a third pass yesterday, and the E-W pass on the left side of my neck improved that area a lot. Still some room for improvement, of course.

Managed to nick myself once near my right cheekbone (inattention, I expect), but no blood.

Using the kettle for hot water instead of the tap is much more pleasant.

I'm quite happy with my progress, and still having fun, although the shave is close enough that I can only practice every other day.