Well, I've shaved four or five times with a straight now. The blades are great - I have a Melchior Cutlery 6/8 and a Torrey 6/8, I believe. Both came from Joe Chandler, honed to a glorious edge. I have a Wilkinson plastic brush I got for ~$5 from Shopper's Drug Mart, and a cake of soap I got from Joe with my first razor and a strop (Unsure what it is, but I like it better than the Wilkinson stuff I got in a plastic tub).
My technique is improving, but it's got a heckuva long way to go before I can shave daily (or even a few times a week) with the straight. I'm now winding up with only a few very small nicks on my face, but people still look at me a day or two later and ask "Shaved with the straight again?" I'm chalking it up to learning, as I'm doing markedly better with each shave, but man! Hats off to the few of you fellows who claim to have had a flawless shave the first time around, that's for sure.
The only place that I've a habit of actually cutting myself at all is at the sideburns. One or both sides tend to show a little stripe pointing towards my ear where I've apparently put the blade down.
Anyway, I've discovered that a broader angle (i.e. closer to 90deg to skin) seems to do the job better. Also, soap quality, temperature, and moisture content certainly makes a massive difference.
The speed of the whole process is improving, as is the closeness, as is the blood retention. :nj Having said all of this, I've not cut myself such that I'd scar at all, anyway - and I'm now to the point where I've had worse nicks learning to shave with a Mach3 (which tells you a bit about my age, I suppose :) ) It seems to be very much an incremental process, and I'm enjoying it - I'm just fortunate that I can get away with only shaving a couple of times a week, as my office is quite laid back, and no one cares if I show up with a full beard, a few days of stubble, or even a series of nicks.
You folks have all been excellent as far as helping out - I'd wanted to get a straight razor for years before now, but until I found this board, I knew nothing and wasn't willing to try to learn all on my own. Thanks much, all!
