Thread: Discouraged

Don't give up!!!

I'm a rookie at this too, but after a couple of months it is getting much, much better and a lot more fun.

If I had to guess, your razor would benefit from a stropping with a diamond paste or Chromium Oxide paste. Stropping with an fine abrassive makes a big difference for me. I'm sure master honemeisters can use a 8K stone to get a shave ready edge, but I find that some .5 micron diamond paste makes all the difference. That and some good stropping on smooth leather afterward.

Also, use light pressure when shaving! I started off using the razor like a paint scraper and tore up my face but good. Use a light hand, be kind to your face; you can always go back and touch up the rough spots.

Most importantly: have fun!

Good stuff above.

You did not tell us what you shaved with
before this open blade razor.

In general folk learn to shave as their whiskers
come in. First the sides, a bit of a stash, some
chin fuzz.... But not all at once and over
months.

Take some time... learn to shave on the
easy bits and progress to other bits week
by week.

While you are learning use some other
single blade razor (BiC Yellow handle) tossable
to clean up the difficult parts.

A transition from an electric is often painful
the transition from a multi-blade cartridge
razor less painful.

My guess is that you were using more pressure
and angle than you needed and that the blade was not
smooth and sharp over the full length.

As for the strop since the razor and strop dance
together each day get a decent one. It need
not be expensive.

I get a lot of shaves from my Illinois 827.
I think Santa will get me a Straight Razor Designs
strop if only I could make up my mind.

I thought I knew honing as well, my face told me I was very wrong!
You could use the member map feature and see if there is anyone close to you to give you some one on one honing help, I did that and it was totally invaluable.

Originally Posted by toabetterworld

My shaving cream is from a $25 shaving kit I bought from the art of shaving. It is supposed to be for a traditional wet shave, but I bet it's not the best stuff out there. I wanted to dip my toe in the water and their kit comes with a badger brush, shaving oil, shaving cream, and after shave.

I figured if I liked the experiment I would invest in some nicer stuff, like a good brush and so on.

I watched the video sixgun posted about sharpening and tried to hone my razor again, but I am not confident it is good enough. I emailed Lynn about sharpening my razor for me. I think it's good to remove some of the variables at this point.

I did try to stretch my skin, but it wasn't easy- it is a lot to try and manage all at once. And especially to try and do it all backwards in the mirror!

Any recommendations on a shaving strop?

Thanks,

Michael

My first and only strop is an SRD 3" Premium IV English Bridle Strop and its been good to me I rubbed it down with just my hands for the first 4 shaves and recently brushed on a bit of lather made with MWF soap and its even better now. its very reasonably priced. I opted to go with the 3 inch strop making learning easier .

go to starshaving.com they have a cheapstrop. And if you have more money buy a better one.
Cella is a good choice for soap. inexpensive and provide an excellent Lather.
What concerns you brush, use one you have now for a while.
There is no need to spend big money for now, that comes later.
Make sure your razor is sharp is your biggest concern.
And believe me, the time comes that you spend more money on razors ect )
enyoy

Michael,
Be patient. follow all the advice that has been given to you and take it very slowly.
Good luck.

About pressure: attempt only to remove the lather from your face. If your razor is properly sharp, the hairs will come off as a side effect.

If you wish you can try again after a couple of days so that your skin recovers. After the 8000 hone don't strop on the rouge, strop on newspaper, and/or on a piece of cotton (say jeans), put it on top of the hone so that there is firm surface. The clean leather of a strop does make a difference, but if you don't have right now this would be the next best improvement to your edge after the hone.

Reducing the variables is the best plan. Trying it again in a day or so is just useful so that you can check if there's any improvement due to holding the razor being less awkward the second time. As you realized already this is a learned skill, so it will take you a little bit of time, but normally you can notice improvements fairly soon.

As far as strops, straightrazordesigns has very nice strops, and when you consider that the components are replaceable they are much better value than what some beginners advocate - buy a cheap lower quality strop because there's a good chance of slicing it and upgrade later. From the big commercial companies Illinois strops are good, they've been making those for probably a century.

I too quickly gave up after incorrectly stropping a vintage razor and basically taking the edge off it! I then bought a new Dovo that came "shave ready" After a few shaves where it pulled like mad I sent it away for honing and what a difference! I've since bought 2 more new razors and to experiment I shaved with them as they came shave ready then had them honed and the difference was like night and day. Send your razor away for honing and if you can try a big daddy strop from star shaving without putting anything on it and you should see a difference. As previously said skin stretching is hugely important. I came to straights from DE shaving so thought I was aware of the basics but stretching is one of the often overlooked requirements. In the beginning I just did one pass or sometimes two but in the same direction to let my skin get used to the razor. I went from cartridge to DE and tore my face up so it will take time. Again apply only the lightest pressure as you shave. If you can allow your stubble to grow for a few days then in front of your mirror "map" your face ie see how the hair grows in different directions on various parts of the face. It is the lucky ones that can shave North - South then South - North for a clean finish, most of us have hair that grows in all directions so mapping is a major benefit. Stay with it it'll get better............

Don't know about the honing side of things as I shave with a shavette at mo. However I can identify with how you felt after your first shave, I felt like I was taking my face off! The best advice I have come across is to first just try to shave your cheek and to slowly build up from there. With time you will get used to the angle of the blade, keeping a light but controlled pressure, stretching the skin and managing all the tricky bits such as under your nose andyour chin etc. Also if you start slowly and gradually build up to doing more of your face you hopefully will avoid too much irritation/burn and encourage yourself with your progress rather than getting frustrated with a perceived lack of progress.

I cut myself and irritated my skin going from cartridges to a DE and I think DE to straight is a continuation of this learning curve (if somewhat steeper!) Also if it was dead easy would it be as rewarding?