Thread: Beginners Tips: May 2012

Well gents time to actually write something again after skating by last month with a review as many know I write these Tips each month after reading most all the posts and search for trends...


Variables:

Often times we forget just how many things have to happen for a great shave to occur, I was personally/painfully reminded of how two variables at the same time can confuse things up..

At the Yakima meet I got to mess around with two "new to me" honing stones, a unknown origin 3-5k followed by a German Faso water stone that may or may not be a Thuringen..
We got some pretty good edges that were shaved that day with great results so before the end of the meet I touched up my personal Wacker on the two stones and headed home with that razor and a plethora of new soap samples...

Well last Friday I had a chance to do a bit of testing, I took out one of the samples admittedly the Artisan's first attempt at a shaving soap, and worked up a lather... I knew the lather was lacking but I pressed on, (mistake #1) I took out the Wacker with an edge that I had never tried before (mistake #2) after letting the lather sit while I stropped in the Wacker I did my normal hot towel and re-lather then started shaving...



Did I stop??? nope like an idiot I kept going and was rewarded with a terrible shave, weepers, nicks, razor burn... So here is the the problem, because I had too many unknowns, I could not be sure what caused the bad shave, and I unlike many newbs to this hobby, can eliminate the actual shaving part of the equation, after 30+ years of this, I know how to handle a razor, and I know my face ... I also know how to hone a razor, and strop a razor, so I eliminated those too

Now yesterday morning I went back at this with a proved lather, as that was my first suspect, and was rewarded with a close comfortable shave...

Now imagine a new guy who has to add in all the other variables that I eliminated because of experience, and there is no wonder why we tell people to take things slow and steady and work through each problem...


Another variable that is little discussed, other than these two numbers 20° and 30°

The angle of attack when presenting the razor to the skin

I have never really been that comfortable with those two numbers myself, and when pressed I usually say two spine widths as this at least gets the new guys to realize that it will differ a bit with each razor.
It is actually more complicated, or looked at another way, much simpler, depending on the size and grind of the razor that angle will vary quite a bit, so to think of it as an actual angle might not be the easiest way to describe it to newbs..
The old razor inserts have given me the best idea for it, they say "Place the razor flat against the cheek and begin to move the razor, as you move the spine away from the face, when the razor begins to cut smoothly that is the proper angle" This sounds much harder then it actually is in practice.
This is pretty much exactly what experienced shavers do every day by feel
We start the stroke and we adjust the angle to cut the smoothest by feel, I know this is hard when first starting out, but this is why the advice is to start with the flat side of the cheeks first, so you can learn the feel of the razor and how it cuts...
The more time you take learning how the razor handles, and how each stroke cuts, and then cuts more efficiently, the better your shaves will be...


As always with these posts I encourage the Senior Members to add to this thread, as we often have different points of view and they could help someone out with our Hobby...

Originally Posted by gssixgun

Did I stop??? nope like an idiot I kept going and was rewarded with a terrible shave, weepers, nicks, razor burn... So here is the the problem, because I had too many unknowns, I could not be sure what caused the bad shave, and I unlike many newbs to this hobby, can eliminate the actual shaving part of the equation, after 30+ years of this, I know how to handle a razor, and I know my face ... I also know how to hone a razor, and strop a razor, so I eliminated those too

This is the best explanation to us as beginner's for going slow.

Get a truly shave ready razor, learn to strop, carefully prep, and mow away one area at a time continuing only as far as it goes smoothly.

Adding the fewest variables as possible each shave until things start smoothing out is the biggest factor leading to success since the very act of swinging the blade is a variable which only time on the line can resolve.If someone with
30+ plus years and countless variables and problems solved over those years can have a bad shave, no one beginning need get discouraged if the first 25 attempts just bring more questions than answers.

Very good point Glen, bad lather can make a killer edge feel terrible, I have experienced that quite a few times.

Wow, Glen, well put sir! I have to thank you again for your many contributions to this site. I know it has helped me immensely and I'm sure not alone in this!

I especially liked the succinct way you described getting the right angle.
Thanks again,
Joe

Thanks for the insight, Glen.
It verbalises just what I have been doing since I started to get reasonable edges from my honing.
I always test my edges on MWF soap so that there is one less variable and a known blade when trying a new soap.
Thanks again.

I thought I warned you about that soap...

Thanks for the thoughtful elaboration on angles and the importance of a semi-scientific method to starting out. As a beginner--well, a couple months in but still learning--I find it sometimes tempting to start throwing in new variables but have to take some wind out of the sails and remember that controlling variables to the point of being able to understand them is key before moving to the next variable.

For me, I've been focusing on stropping which ultimately shortens my work on my face in that I don't have time to make more than two WTG passes. I would like to start practicing more XTG and dabble with ATG, but I'm not comfortable saying, "Yes I know what a well-stropped blade and a poorly stropped blade feels like." Because I don't have a stable understanding of the difference yet, I find adding new variables like ATG techniques will only muddle things and set me back, so I spend more time experimenting with stropping technique right now.

Speaking of stropping for fellow beginners, and off topic a bit and already a known opinion but worthwhile I think, find yourselves a cheap strop when first starting--Whipped Dog sells one for $14. I never understood how a person could nick the leather if the blade trails the spine, but I have since nicked the end of the strop a hand full of times at the end where my hand holds it. It occurs when flopping over the blade too early before stopping the toward-me motion, and all it takes is the slightest movement of the blade in the wrong direction during this transition to dig in. I've since put much work into making sure the spine is leading before settling the edge. Because it's a cheap strop, I shrug it off as a learning process, but I'd feel much different if it were a $80 strop. Like this latest tips thread argues well, promoting slow, controlled experimenting with variables pays off, so thanks for the reinforcement.

Originally Posted by Annixter

Thanks for the thoughtful elaboration on angles and the importance of a semi-scientific method to starting out. As a beginner--well, a couple months in but still learning--I find it sometimes tempting to start throwing in new variables but have to take some wind out of the sails and remember that controlling variables to the point of being able to understand them is key before moving to the next variable.

For me, I've been focusing on stropping which ultimately shortens my work on my face in that I don't have time to make more than two WTG passes. I would like to start practicing more XTG and dabble with ATG, but I'm not comfortable saying, "Yes I know what a well-stropped blade and a poorly stropped blade feels like." Because I don't have a stable understanding of the difference yet, I find adding new variables like ATG techniques will only muddle things and set me back, so I spend more time experimenting with stropping technique right now.

Speaking of stropping for fellow beginners, and off topic a bit and already a known opinion but worthwhile I think, find yourselves a cheap strop when first starting--Whipped Dog sells one for $14. I never understood how a person could nick the leather if the blade trails the spine, but I have since nicked the end of the strop a hand full of times at the end where my hand holds it. It occurs when flopping over the blade too early before stopping the toward-me motion, and all it takes is the slightest movement of the blade in the wrong direction during this transition to dig in. I've since put much work into making sure the spine is leading before settling the edge. Because it's a cheap strop, I shrug it off as a learning process, but I'd feel much different if it were a $80 strop. Like this latest tips thread argues well, promoting slow, controlled experimenting with variables pays off, so thanks for the reinforcement.

Annixter

I have been wondering how the strops get nicked. Now I know why and can try to avoid when I finally get started

Thanks

I agree.

It's tempting to rotate razors, brushes, lathers, etc frequenty. With every shave you can have a new combination. IMO this leads to frustration.

I change my stuff infrequently. It doesn't make An exciting sotd, but when something works I know which variable is responsible

Michael

While I agree that minimising the variables is a good thing to do, I'd suggest that another thing to take away from Glen's post is that no matter how much experience we attain at this, we all learn new things all the time. I know I learn best from my mistakes than my successes.

And just one other comment I'd like to make: shaving is a compound exercise - it is the subtle interaction of many things working together in harmony to produce a result that, IMO, is greater than the sum of its parts. And so while I would heartily stand by Glen's (and others) admonishment to eliminate variables, I would (perhaps rather contradictorily) also encourage the conscientious practicing of "putting it all together" as well. There is a time and place for practicing the parts, but there is also a time and place for putting them together - I think the two approaches feedback to each other, much as a Pianist might practice a scale which then improves the performance of a piece of music, which in turn improves their scale and so on over time.

James.