Thread: BARBED WIRE

Hello,
I am new to straight razor shaving and have only shaved twice with a 5/8 full hollow and I have great trouble shaving the whiskers off. The blade was professionally honed and I have had this confirmed and I have stropped it over and over and it seems to shave my finer arm hair ok, but not sure about this ‘popping’ I keep reading about. Frustrating that I am having such difficulty and have tried all the pre shave preparation techniques and correct blade angles but the blade seems to grab/dig in to the whiskers more than cleanly slicing them off. I find this really a problem each side of the corners of my mouth and down to the left and right side of my chin (but not the chin itself which seems to be a lot easier) as if I am trying to cut through barbed wire and the razor on the top of my flattened and taut lip just seems to sit on the whiskers and will not cut them. I have watched so many YouTube videos where the shaver takes fast long strokes upwards from the bottom of the neck to the top and looks silky smooth in cutting all the whiskers, this seems impossible. By the end of my shave and after several new hot lathering’s I am left red raw for my rewards and finish off the shave with my DE blade making me even more red raw. Not cutting myself seems the least of my worries, all I want to do is cut the whiskers off.
Please tell me this is all in technique and will only get better??
Thanks.

With only to shaves in, this sounds perfectly normal really. My first few shaves were quite crappy and I had to do a lot of cleanup using a DE, now a month later I don't need to do that anymore, and I get shaves better than I could with a DE.
And most important, I get way less irritation than with a DE, which I never though was possible after the first few straight shaves.

So yes, I'll say it's technique and yes it will get better, a lot better.

You may have heard this before but there are a few things that could be contributing to your woes. You may have inadvertently dulled the edge with incorrect stropping method, try and keep the strop nice and flat using very little ( if any) pressure, just the weight of the blade.

Secondly, technique. You need to be really conscious of the blade angle, about 30 degrees for the WTG pass. Also make sure you stretch the skin, keep the strokes fairly short. Pressure is also important with the shave, keep the pressure nice and light.


Just take it slow and don't get discouraged.

Hope this helps.

Stu

Originally Posted by Str8Raz0r

You may have heard this before but there are a few things that could be contributing to your woes. You may have inadvertently dulled the edge with incorrect stropping method, try and keep the strop nice and flat using very little ( if any) pressure, just the weight of the blade.

Secondly, technique. You need to be really conscious of the blade angle, about 30 degrees for the WTG pass. Also make sure you stretch the skin, keep the strokes fairly short. Pressure is also important with the shave, keep the pressure nice and light.

Couldn't agree more. There techniques for both stropping and shaving. With stropping it's important to not put any more pressure on the blade than to keep it against the strop. Heavy pressure will work against you. Also, take it slow at first. Those movies where the barbers let fly the razor on the strop with the speed of light is just that, the movies. Speed is not the important thing, technique is. When you change directions roll the razor over the spine, don't pick it up and change directions.

Angles and pressures are the keys to actually shaving. The above advice is spot on. Also, face prep and lather quality fit into a good shave.

Above all, relax and enjoy it. It's not a race, it's a learning experience that will reap great rewards when mastered. Take your time...

Hopefully you are shaving after a shower.

Best advice I can give you is two things: Find someone to mentor you within driving distance ( http://straightrazorpalace.com/vbgooglemapme.php )to you and pick up Lynn's video ( World Of Straight Razor DVD - Straight Razor Place Classifieds ). There is a lot of "stuff/junk" on youtube that can definitely just mess you up before you ever start.

Where are you located? You might also take the time to post a "pin" where you are...

Originally Posted by planetocean

Hello,
I am new to straight razor shaving and have only shaved twice with a 5/8 full hollow and I have great trouble shaving the whiskers off. The blade was professionally honed and I have had this confirmed and I have stropped it over and over and it seems to shave my finer arm hair ok, but not sure about this ‘popping’ I keep reading about. Frustrating that I am having such difficulty and have tried all the pre shave preparation techniques and correct blade angles but the blade seems to grab/dig in to the whiskers more than cleanly slicing them off. I find this really a problem each side of the corners of my mouth and down to the left and right side of my chin (but not the chin itself which seems to be a lot easier) as if I am trying to cut through barbed wire and the razor on the top of my flattened and taut lip just seems to sit on the whiskers and will not cut them. I have watched so many YouTube videos where the shaver takes fast long strokes upwards from the bottom of the neck to the top and looks silky smooth in cutting all the whiskers, this seems impossible. By the end of my shave and after several new hot lathering’s I am left red raw for my rewards and finish off the shave with my DE blade making me even more red raw. Not cutting myself seems the least of my worries, all I want to do is cut the whiskers off.
Please tell me this is all in technique and will only get better??
Thanks.

I was wondering what kind of strop you have? I ask this because I had almost the exact situation and it seemed no matter what i did it just got worse, and even better yet it got worse with stropping. It wasn't until later I started to examine my equipment. I actually skimped on the strop in order to go ahead and get to shaving (20 dollar ebay special) in order to redeem myself I sanded the dry crappy leather to try and make it better to no real avail... I also discovered that I am not very good with a hanging strop... even after I spent the money for a filly, I was still having issues, it wasn't until I got a paddle strop that it was apparent. Trust me I know it sounds silly, but you will be surprised at how much it makes a difference, and if you read around some are good with both (these are the ones that I always say can shave BBS in one pass with a 9/8 wedge under the lip) and then others are good with one or the other. They call it preference ... but in the end it's really what they are good with. Neither hanging nor paddle strop are the same and although the principle is the same, the technique is not. No need to call it out on here but if you skimped like I did then I am willing to bet the strop itself is at least a big part of the issue.. now if you did not skimp and say got a decent one from SRD or any other reputable place then it is possible that you suffer the same affliction I do.. good with one, and not so good with the other...(Paddle versus Hanging)...

Originally Posted by shooter74743

Hopefully you are shaving after a shower.

Best advice I can give you is two things: Find someone to mentor you within driving distance ( http://straightrazorpalace.com/vbgooglemapme.php )to you and pick up Lynn's video ( World Of Straight Razor DVD - Straight Razor Place Classifieds ). There is a lot of "stuff/junk" on youtube that can definitely just mess you up before you ever start.

Where are you located? You might also take the time to post a "pin" where you are...

Also shooter is right too, it is always good to have someone help as well. Especially if they live nearby.

Hello,

Thank you to everyone for all your informative input, much appreciated.

In regards to the strop, I have a brand new out of the box ‘Walkin Horse 2 x 18” English Bridle hide strop with a genuine linen strop at the rear. I have tried my best to keep it tight and to keep the spine in contact with the leather at all times and being 2 inches wide I am practicing the ‘X’ pattern. But you are all correct, it does not matter how good the strop is it is most likely my stropping that is one of the problems with my shaving. I have not tried doing the rolling on the spine and I just completely lift the razor from the strop and placing it back on it again for each stroke in fear of accidently cutting the leather. But now I have read ‘dward’ say “When you change directions roll the razor over the spine, don't pick it up and change directions”, oops well I will start practicing this slowly then. And yes I have a hot shower first with hair conditioner on the beard, silver tip badger and quality soap and creams. Seems like I have all the right gear, I just need all the right techniques.

Thanks.

It's good to practice with a butterknife that doesn't have teeth on it. You won't hurt your strop and it will help you develop the muscle memory...

I consider honing and stropping a part of technique. Give yourself some time to learn. This isn't an instant, fast, or even slow learning curve. This is a study hard, snail pace, only those with experience and wisdom shall pass, event.