Newbie from Vancouver needs a little advise.
Hi everyone.
This will be my first post although I've read plenty of wiki's and posts from the site. I began wet shaving with a vintage DE Gillette adjustable, feather blades and a badger brush about two months ago with great success. I've always had problems with disposables and cartridge type blades giving me moderate razor burn/bumps and general discomfort after shaving. Since switching I've never felt a closer, more comfortable shave.
Now just over a week ago I purchased a 5/8" J.A. Henckels Friodur and dual linen/leather strop. The razor supposedly came "shave ready" but I will admit that I did make the razor purchase on eBay so who knows. So after doing my full prep it came time for my first shave ever. I had a hundred things racing through my head at the time, angle, pressure, grip, tension but I proceeded with confidence. Right away I should have known something wasn't right but I continued on. The blade definitely cut the hair but felt like it was met with resistance. In the end I had a half decent shave that I felt good about, until the burning began. The next day I had the worst razor burn I'd ever felt that ended up lasting five days.
Now I know most beginners blame the blade and I myself have recognized this problem. My blade seems sharp and will easily knock down forearm hair with no effort when laid nearly flat and run across hairs dry. This has lead me to believe it is my technique and possibly not my blade. Today before my shower/shave routine I gave the blade 30 passes on the leather side of the strop. I decided I would only do my cheeks this time and try concentrate on using extremely light pressure and lowering the blade closer to my face. I did one WTG pass and it still felt like I had to "push through" and left a fair amount of stubble. I finished up with my DE and called it a day. No irritation what so ever this time. So now my questions for you wet shaving vets is.
1) Do I continue to slowly work on my technique little by little and believe that it's not my blade? Or do I have someone hone it to use as a benchmark for sharpness?
2) When I use my DE with a fresh blade it cuts hair like a "hot knife through butter". Is this how a straight should feel when everything is done right with a sharp blade?
3) Does anyone think progressing from a DE to a shavette or feather straight would be easier for learning technique before the real deal? Thus eliminating the sharpness question.
Well thanks for listening and any advise for a newbie would be great.
~ Justin