First shave... Mixed results

Gentlemen,

So I finally got all my gear together for my fist straight shave. Although I had a 36h beard, I was fairly optimistic and hopeful of a good result.

First, I stropped my razor (20 laps linen, 50 leather - no pastes) and then had a long, hot, shower while my brush soaked in hot water. I was pretty happy with my stropping-taught strop, practically no pressure and no wrist rolling-even if I nicked the corner!

Once that was done, I lathered up-it was a bit thinner than I would have liked - but not bad. I left it to sit on my face for a minute or so and then took up my razor for my first attempt.

The hardest part for me was orienting the blade to my face for maximum coverage, and then getting it close enough to my skin... I'll admit it, I had an image in my head of taking my face off with my first pass.

I made my first couple of strokes starting at my sideburns and working down to my jaw line in a few strokes. No blood, no rash- success! Well, sort of. It was no where near as comfortable as I'd hoped. The razor felt like it was pulling rather than cutting. After doing the same on the other side of my face, I washed the razor, dried it and put it away, finishing my shave with my cartridge razor-so much smoother-and geo f trumpers skin food.

Overall, I view my first shave as a success, but would really appreciate some advice on bringing my razor's sharpness up a notch.

Cheers

Sounds like you got yourself a dull edge there. Was the razor professionally honed? if not, wander over to the classifieds and be ready to shell out for a couple good honings. Its easier to learn to shave with a good sharp razor, have it re-honed and then onto the sharpening games. Those games are better played when you know how to shave good, and what good shaving with a good edge is.

Don't worry about maximum coverage with your pass, pay attention to the cutting angle & low low pressure. The 2 spine widths off the face is a good starting point, but dont be afraid to wander a bit away from it as each razor and face is different. Just pay attention and you will soon figure out.

Did you stretch the skin good for that pass? If its not stretched then the hair can move instead of cut when the blade comes to it. In the wiki there is some good stretching pics showing how the side you pull from can even make the hair pop up more and thus get a better shave.

Agreed -- sounds like a slightly-dull edge. With good lather and a sharp edge, there's very little pulling if your skin is stretched. It feels like you're using a noisy squeegee to remove the lather.

Give the razor a really good stropping -- 50 linen + 150 leather. If that doesn't help, you'll need a pasted strop or hone to improve the edge.

I strop before I shower. That way, I can put on lather right after showering, while my beard is still wet. [You don't specify your sequence.]

Charles

Describing your first SR shave as "mixed results" puts you firmly in the middle between those that said "horrible shave" and "best shave of my life" - though I do seem to doubt those who make that claim the first time out. In other words yours is a typical experience. Though you didn't mention if your razor was pro-honed (and the edge could be an issue) I'm thinking that it's a newbie technique issue as we've seen it countless times before. But if it turns out that your blade needs a honemeister send her off and we'll go from there. :)