Thread: First shave

Just finished my first full shave. That was painful. I manaed to apparnetl nearly cut my skin raw in some places without touching the hair.. But all in all it worked. I may need to have this razor sent in for a hone.. Nut sure yet. Seems to be quite dull.

It sounds like it's pretty dull. Was this a new razor? They're rarely (never?) sharp enough from the box for a comfortable shave. The pulling is a good indicator, and if the razor is dull you tend to use too much pressure to get it to cut, which leads to scrapes and nicks.

It was an older, restored razor. Stropped the thing before I used it, but maybe it just needs a touch more TLC. Or mayber I'm just using too much force and killing myself.

Stropping doesn't sharpen a razor, it just aligns the thin edge of the blade and helps clean off any corrosion that's accumulated since the last shave. What sort of hones do you have available? Alternatively, if you don't want to hone it yourself there are several members here that hone razors for a small fee.

Dude, read through the help files before you kill and/or disfigure yourself with that thing. As MP said, honing sharpens the edge, stropping just aligns it. Pay special attention to the honing section.

You say all in all it worked, dude that's like the pilot who crash lands his plane at his destination and manages to crawl away from the wreckage but says I made it to my destination.

Shaving should be a pleasurable experience and from what I read yours was anything but. Take the advice here and read all the help files before you make another attempt. Your next post might be a plea for blood donors.

That's the right attitude.

The first time I cut myself 6-7 times. A couple of weeks later (and only 5 or so shaves later) the last time I didn't draw any blood at all.

You do need to read a lot, think what you are doing, prepare well, and take your time, being very careful ALL the time

Cheers
Ivo

Sounds to me like it's dull too. Where did you get your razor from and was it listed as Shave Ready?

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