There will be blood...maybe..4th week with a straight

Well, this completes my 4th week with a straight, and so far so good. I had a little bit of bleeding this morning, but that was due to an annoying pimple in the moustache area, below the nostril. Very annoyiing. Way I figure it, if I keep shaving over it, it's bound to go away, and the bleeding has been less than it was earlier in the week.

I have experienced a little bit of abrasion or scratching, but I think that's my lack of technique, which is improving. ;)

Biggest thing I've learned, I think, is the importance of stretching the skin. I never had to really bother with anything more than a few mouth contortions when I was using the DE for 40 years, so the stretching biz was a new one on me.

I've gotten a bit better on stropping the razor. I do 50 on the leather, nice and light, spine down with a swoosh noise, before I shave. After, I do 15 on the linen, then another 50 on the leather.

Do others do this both before and after? Or am I doing more than what's needed?

Razor still feels sharp after 4 weeks. Using a Dovo 5/8 Best that I got from Lynn at SRD.

The toughest part for me by far is the chin area. It's smooth now, but still more stubbly than the cheeks, and I have some minor irritation on the neck.

I've only been doing 2 passes, one with the grain and one ATG, but no ATG on the moustach or chin. Not sure how to do that part going across, so that will take more practice.

My only regret is that I should have started with a cheaper strop, as I've managed to nick the nice one that I got from SRD.

Back in January, when I ordered Lynn's DVD, I wasn't even sure if I'd be able to do a SR shave without cutting my head off or rushing to the emergency room. So far, nothing like that.

My next adventure will be to upgrade the stropping exercises to pasted paddles to make the edge a little keener.

It sounds like your experience is typical of the learning curve required by most new SR users. You will get better with time. Along with the stretching I have found that the straight does better with XTG than ATG passes. I also use a DE when I need a quick shave. The SR shave is about the same strokes WTG but I get more creative with XTG angles and try to avoid dead-on ATG with the SR except for a few spots. Stick with it, you are doing the right things from my perspective.