Pure Beginner with the Straight

OK... I am new here, and this is my first post.... and my second day trying with a straight.

Over 50 years of shaving under my belt and so I know what I am doing with prep, soaps, etc. But this was a whole new world!

My chosen hardware and software for today:
http://www.pensoftheforest.co.uk/sha...td20110829.jpg

That's a nice old Cadman "Bengall", all shave ready and stropped carefully. Following advice.... just start with one cheek, from sideburn downwards a little way. Try to keep the blade at about 30 degrees...

Well.... I shaved a small area WTG in small short stokes, but stopped half way down the cheek when the razor stopped! Like... stopped dead against the one and a half day stubble. Common sense made me cease the exercise right there and then. No way was I going to push against that resistance.

OK.... I'm going to blame the tool.
A bad workman always blames his tools. Right?
:w

So I finished the task with my trusted Fatboy and Feather blade. Well it was sitting there ready to take over the task anyway. (That even took hair off the area on its first WTG pass that the straight had left).

Was I taking it too carefully and too slowly?
Common sense tells me that this razor will have shaved a face many hundreds of times, and it can't be that difficult?

Rod

It's a learning curve, but it could be a bit of you and a bit of the tool, if it wasn't truly shave ready.

I'm new too, so I'll be interested to hear some opinions on this. I know what you mean about coming to a complete stop; I'm still getting that along the chin and under the nose. I don't know whether to push through or pull back and re-attack. So far, this is where I've got my nicks - from pulling back and losing my reference.

time n patience..my 1st razor was a large 7/8...yeeesh!..took me 4 months to get the angles down just right

Quote:

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Originally Posted by jerrybyers

I'm new too, so I'll be interested to hear some opinions on this. I know what you mean about coming to a complete stop

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The only time I have ever felt the "complete stop" sensation is with a particularly aggressive veteran Gillette "New". So I suppose that "angle" has something to do with it.

Rod

I was 62 when I started so age isn't an issue in case you were concerned. Sometimes you can feel a bit intimidated by the razor and that's normal. And wise. But remember, the expressions "no pressure" or "no effort" are just that. Figures of speech to convey the importance of a light and sensitive touch. But - you do have to use basic physics to get the blade through the hair and it sometimes (always) involves a bit of self confidence. There's no way to learn it other than trial and (hopefully minimal) error. I wish you the best of luck but with enough information we don't even need luck. Keep us posted!

First shaves are problematic not only because technique issues cause you to question the blade's readiness for shaving, but also because there is no way to have confidence in what you're doing so early into the process.

I think "pushing on" when a blade doesn't seem to be shaving well is a mistake. Keep trying by resetting the blade's angle and use short strokes. If you are absolutely sure your razor is "shave ready", then keep trying. If you're not sure, then send it off for honing and eliminate that variable. There are enough variables to get right in straight shaving, including prep, angles, etc. so it is best to eliminate the ones you can. The first shaves are the most difficult.

I would have to say you did the right thing in stopping. It you do not have the confidence in your razor bad things may happen. I am a newbie and take my word for it.

Suggestions:

1. Stretch the skin in front of the razor. Otherwise, the angle of attack _at the edge_ will change, and the razor will be trying to dig into skin, instead of cutting hair. Not good !

2. Use a lower angle (flatter blade) than you think is correct. If razor just glides over beard, make the angle a little steeper.

3. If there's _no_ angle that works, I'd suspect a dull ("not shave-ready") blade.

4. I have had good luck using CrOxide pasted strops to fix slightly-dull edges. But that introduces another possible cause of trouble for a beginner, so I don't recommend it. If your stropping technique is good, 100 - 200 laps on a leather strop might help. If your technique is poor, it will do more harm than good.

That razor may have shaved hundreds of faces in the past. that doesn't mean that it's sharp enough to shave your face, today.

Charles

Hi Neep,

Yep, it is a whole new world. You've got a good head start, though... you already know how to make lather, and from what I've read, double-edge razors aren't very plug-and-play either. As others have said, you were wise to stop. Just keep at it, expand your straight-shaving range as you become more comfortable with it, and eventually you'll abandon the DE completely. It took me about three months to transition from disposables to straights.

Good luck with it!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by cpcohen1945

Suggestions:

1. Stretch the skin in front of the razor. Otherwise, the angle of attack _at the edge_ will change, and the razor will be trying to dig into skin, instead of cutting hair. Not good !

2. Use a lower angle (flatter blade) than you think is correct. If razor just glides over beard, make the angle a little steeper.
Charles

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Sounds like incredibly good advice. Thanks!
If I think about it, I am pretty sure that the "stop" effect was due to angle of attack, and the weight of the blade pushing up a bump of skin in front of itself. With a DE razor I am subconsciously slightly changing the angle just by feel as needed. I have to get used to reading (hearing, seeing, feeling) the "feedback" from the straight blade in the same way. As a woodworker I can skim off a thousandth of an inch of wood with a hand held tool on a lathe spinning at 2000rpm... just by "feel". Same kind of thing in many ways, getting the angle correct. Its just repetition and practice doing it right. The only problem with shaving, is having to wait 24 hours before repeating the experiments.:p

Rod

Quote:

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Originally Posted by cpcohen1945

Suggestions:...

2. Use a lower angle (flatter blade) than you think is correct. ...

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This is commonly given advice, and good advice. Laying the blade flat(ter) reduces the length of your whiskers without as much danger of razor burn. However, you should be aware that this sometimes increases resistance to the razor since the blade is slicing thru whiskers at a more exaggerated diagonal angle.

Reducing the length of your whiskers to skin level is the hardest part of shaving for many. You can shave to stubble with a safety razor, skipping the hard part, and finish with the straight razor. On subsequent shaves, slowly phase out of the safety razor, leaving more and more for the straight.

OK... better ;)

A new tool.
A superb razor kindly sent to me by Mikael, a Geneva Cutlery Co straight which he describes as a "shaver". Oh yes thankyouverymuch! It is, and it does. I still limited it to one cheek, but pulling the skin as recommended. It worked nicely.

http://www.pensoftheforest.co.uk/sha...02-geneva1.jpg

http://www.pensoftheforest.co.uk/sha...02-geneva2.jpg

http://www.pensoftheforest.co.uk/sha...td20110902.jpg

Rest of the shave was with a brand new Feather AS DE (with Feather blade) which also arrived today.

Life is good.

Rod

Hi Neep, welcome to the forum. I'm new to straight razor shaving myself, and from the dozen or so shaves I have had, I can tell that it will be a long, yet very satisfying learning curve! On my first shave I did my whole face, and while it went surprisingly well, I think I that was a bit of a one off - my shaves since then have been quite inconsistent in quality, smoothness, etc. I then adopted the approach you're taking, i.e. shaving little bits with the straight razor at a time and finishing off with a safety and found that helped alot.
I see you have some Scottish Fine Soaps products - I came across them earlier and wondered what they were like. How do you find them? I really like the look of the dish the soap comes in, very classy! Maybe as a Scot I'm just a bit biased though ;)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by barrieduncan

I see you have some Scottish Fine Soaps products - I came across them earlier and wondered what they were like. How do you find them? I really like the look of the dish the soap comes in, very classy! Maybe as a Scot I'm just a bit biased though ;)

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The soap doesn't just come in a classy ceramic bowl. You should see the silk lined box it comes in! The sort of thing that you would set before a king for his morning shave. :dropjaw:

It isn't expensive either!

Oh yes.... the soap is exceedingly good too. ;)
I like it. A lot.

Rod

Yeah, I saw the presentation box the brush comes in - looks very suave! I'll add the soap to my ever-growing wish list, cheers!

Well.... for the sake of continuity, I'll follow up here.

I am still only shaving my cheeks with the straight, following up with a DE and Feather blade to complete the shave.
BUT :)
I have now reached the stage where the DE won't shave off any more hair from the places where I have used the straight.
So I count that as a resounding success.:D

Shhh !! Not a nick so far.

Rod

Great progress report! Keep it up.

Thanks for the update.

Neep - No, you're not being too cautious. That exact phenomena kept me from using a nice, but flexible full hollow. I was holding the 30 deg. like it was written in stone. Its not. When the brush gets thick, drop that angle pronto. (I'm assuming the edge is worthy) Its intimidating right now, but a few months from now, you'll do it with ease.

At the time, the Mrs. bought me a 1/4 grind (heavier grind), and it was a game changer - just mowed through the heavy timber like it was nothing. Instead of being quite tense, trying to get everything right, it became quite easy. I could try stretches and strokes I wouldn't have dreamed of w/ the flexible hollow. Next thing you know, I could do it w/ the hollow also.

Whether its the edge - maybe post how/who did the edge, the beard prep, the stretch, you'll have it licked soon.

You're gonna do fine.

I just started using a straight razor as well and found I have run into this issue a few times as well (particularly under the nose). For me this seems to be a combination of angle and razor sharpness. When I got the razor it was professionally honed and I didn't run into this problem, but a few uses later when it started to dull slightly I find I am running into it a bit more often. You shouldn't need to "push through" anything, and I would never suggest pushing through when your razor stops. Simply try attacking that section from a different angle to see if you can get a better cut on it.