My 9th shave - Diary

Shave 1: I had a lot of pulling and my shave was not very close, I had razor burn very bad. (I beleive this was from not stropping very much 10-15 passes max) I did shave wtg, XTG and ATG.

Shave 2: I did much better this time, I stropped the razor 50-60 times and got a much better shave, still some pulling but not as much, I also prepped a bit better. Not a close shave but much better than my first, I still had burn and not a perfect shave. I did shave WTG, XTG and ATG.

Shave 3: OK tonight felt very strange, I wanted to try a few new things after reading several articles so I prepped a bit different. I soaped up my face with hot water and regular bar soap, I the ran hot water into a coffee mug and soaked my cheapo brush for 5 minutes while I stropped. This time when I stropped, I stropped 10-15 passes on the felt side and then 70 passes on the smooth leather. I then drained the water from my mug and added some soap, I got a much better lather, I applied the lather and started shaving wtg, I watched my angle very close, I tried to keep everything under 30 degrees, I also shaved xtg and atg as well but I didnt hear the sound of hair being cut at all, It felt almost like I wasn't taking anything off at all even though it was cutting very well, I finished wtg and tried something new so I stropped mid shave before going atg and applied fresh lather. After my shave I had no razor burn or cuts and I did indeed get a much closer shave, maybe not perfect (I am a beginner after all) but I must ask you veterans, after you have many shaves behind you are all of your shaves effortless?

Shave 4 Cold shave, I thought I would give this a shot but it wasn't as enjoyable as I had hoped. I did get a decent shave but I am a bit more relaxed with warm water.

Shave 6-8 I shaved every other day and I did get great results (Not BBS) I shaved wtg/xtg and atg with no rash or irritation, these shaves sounded good, kinda like the sound when you scrape toast with a butter knife.

I picked up some hones this week thanks to the advice of many users and after reading some forum posts I tried some new things.

I bought the following from woodcraft:
1k King, 12k Chinese, a 325 DMT (Third best purchase since I have been shaving!) I flattened all of my stones using the 325 DMT including my Norton 4k/8k and thought that I would try to touch up my razor after watching GSsixguns videos, I started on the 4k then 8k and finally the 12k Chinese (I am not sure that this is really 12k as my 8k Norton seems as smooth, I then stepped down to my 4k and 8k again for 12 more passes on each. I finally got my razor to pass the hanging hair test! anyhow on to tonight's Shave.

I lathered up initially to prep my beard and decided to just start my chin before I took a shower, I ended up shaving my whole face both wtg and xtg. I then took a hot shower and when finished I restropped my razor 50 passes again and decided to go atg, the thing I did different was something that I read in another thread, I took my freehand and held it against my neck like I was choking myself and then stretched my fingers with the skin stretched I shaved atg and to date I must say this was my very first BBS shave, I usually can feel a slight bit of stubble on my neck but I have been rubbing my neck for 30 minutes and I feel no hair at all I am amazed, I have read about these veteran shavers getting BBS shaves but I didn't really think this would happen so fast. anyhow I will stop typing and throw up a few tips that have helped me tremendously.

1. Stropping - IMO this seems to be the single most important thing that I do to achieve a comfortable shave, 15 passes on the felt side and 50 passes on the leather.
2. Prep - I found out tonight how important this step is, dont rush this, lather your soap up, clean your face and preferably do this after your hot shower.
3. Do not give up - I was a little discouraged at first that a brand new professionally honed razor was tugging at my beard, take my word for it it isnt the razors fault, I was very anxious at first and had no rhythm and was a bit scared to be honest but with time you will get your angles down and get into your own rhythm.
4. Stretch your face - I keep finding new ways to stretch my face as with the last post I read about the choke-hold technique (Awesome post)

This is long and I don't blame anyone for not wanting to read but I wanted to share the progress with those who have been helping me along the way as well as any new member like myself, there is hope, I still do not have very expensive stuff, and I don't think that it is a requirement but a good razor is a must imo, I use a Dovo Bismarck 6/8 and love it, I doubt that I will ever want anything else after tonight I was that pleased.

Thanks for reading! again any advice or tips are always appreciated and never ignored, I will try anything once!

Great post and excellent steep learning curve. You must be very conscientious (spelling? don't type that one out very often) to have come so far in nine shaves.

That's a good sensible hone collection. You'll only need to drop to 4k once in a long while, and won't need the 1k for a much longer time... unless you score some flea-market blades to play with.

A lot of folks here have USB microscopes so they can examine (and photograph) their honing progress; I get good mileage out of a good 10x handlens. A Coddington lens or a Hastings Triplet are good magnifiers; there's no distortion edge-to-edge. With my Triplet I can tell the different scratch patterns from 4k, 6k, 8k, and ~10k hones. From my Naniwa12k the polish is so smooth I can't make out a scratch pattern any more. It's not a necessity, but I find it helpful. Plus you can look at cool bugs and stuff with it, too.

Best wishes to you. Keep up the good work!

Congratulations on great progress. We always enjoy reading about other member's journeys. Thanks for posting. Happy Shaving!

Great result in 9 shaves, it's working for you.

Thanks for the post! Most encouraging!

Thanks for the advice, I would love to have a USB microscope, also how do you like your 12k stone and where can I find that? I was thinking about getting a shapton 16k but I want to look into any other good possibilities. I do work at gun shows every weekend, I manufacture holsters and I usually run into lots of knife dealers, most have straights at a great price, I would love to learn the complete art of honing, this is a surprise to me as well but I also find this to be quite fun. It is always useful to really know your razor and I would love to restore some razors, before using straights I have sold high end pumas, bokers, etc in decent condition for 20-30 dollars, now I am kicking myself because I know these would have been good shavers, oh well I will not let this happen again, thanks again!

I love my 12k. It's a Naniwa. I got it from The Superior Shave. SRD also carries them. I've heard that the Shapton 16k is as fast as this Naniwa. I've also heard that Shaptons play best with other Shaptons, and that this Naniwa plays nice with just about everyone. For as fine as it it, I'm really surprised at how fast it hones.

With it in the house, I am now reevaluating my other finishers (slow coticule, modern Thuringian, a SpydercoUF, and a couple of faster coticules). I don't think I enjoyed their full capabilities coming off the Norton8k. That may mean I'm not a good enough hand with the 8k, but if that is the case I'm not too much of a purist to enjoy a good shortcut.

Great results! I too was pretty much blown away when I discovered the importance of stropping.
As for your "C12K", don't be afraid of using quite a few strokes, starting with slurry, diluting down to water.

To answer your question posed in "Shave 3", I don't think shaves become effortless with time. I tried an effortless, thoughtless shave this morning, and my earlobe can tell you how that worked out.

The shaves may not become effortless, but all the effort you put into learning results in shaves being interesting, successful and enjoyable. If straight shaving was effortless, I probably would not have been attracted to it. I'm in it for the learning, the progress and the enjoyment of it.

well, now I am on shave number 18, I really feel like I am getting this down. I picked up some vintage razors and honed them myself and have been shaving with them, all of my shaves have been very nice now that I have my angle/stretching down I cant say that they have improved but its hard to improve much unless I go under the skin. I am very happy that I took the plunge into the straight razor world, my only regret was not starting this when I was around 19 or so, oh well live and learn at least now I am getting BBS shaves with no irritation, cuts, etc..