I had my first shave last night

Hello I am new here, well I have been on a couple of weeks reading. I had an old razor with a chip in the blade that I purchased a while back because it was a local company and I liked the way it looked. I then decided I wanted to get something and try out a shave. That is when I found this site. So I purchased an vintage Henckels twinworks at an antique mall. The blade wasn't cracked or anything but did have a few "rough" areas. I read about the technique and got my stones out and actually went and purchased a 1000/6000 waterstone from a local place. It took me a few hours and I finally had the blade where I wanted it. I didn't have a good strop but I had a piece of one I had used in the past for my hunting knives, etc. I purchased the wal-mart shaving kit and upgraded the soap to col. conk. I had actually been using soap for a little while on my old razor. I am not going to say it was the closest shave I have ever had as I was a little to nervous to go ATG but it was almost as good as my Mach 3 and the only areas I had a little trouble with, other than ATG , was above my lip. I used my M3 to finish up above my lip. I can say this was the most enjoyable shave I have ever had and I am looking forward to learning the ATG technique. I have found the resources here very useful and I am looking forward to learning a lot more!

Sounds like a successful first go! Congrats on your first honing as well! Sound alike you're off to a great start. Keep at it, only gets better.

Cheers

Excellent! To go from a damaged razor to honign it and getting a decent shave is really good work. I think many people wouldn't reccomend ATG on the first shave with a straight anyway, I'd say don't try that for maybe even a couple of months; concentrate on getting a really nice WTG shave first. You'll find your razor really does need to be sharp for an ATG pass, as it'll dig in and cut if it's a little dull.

Carl

Yeah I got a little brave but when I felt it starting to pull I knew I needed to wait. I have ordered a strop that I hope comes in any day. I figure it will help me get it to where it needs to be. It is a hanging strop, a vintage Gutmann, but it was never used.

Yeah? A vintage non used strop? Cool.

The highest grit you went to was 6000? Impressed you managed to shave at all - most would agree that 8000 is the minimum for a good shave. Leaves lots of room for higher grits though so your shaves can only get better and better! enjoy the journey ;)

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by carlmaloschneider

Yeah? A vintage non used strop? Cool.

---

Yes, apparently the guys father was a barber and he had several. This one was in storage and had never been taken out of its original box. It has a few dark (age) spots on the cloth side but thats it. The box on the other hand has seen better days.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by EisenFaust

The highest grit you went to was 6000? Impressed you managed to shave at all - most would agree that 8000 is the minimum for a good shave. Leaves lots of room for higher grits though so your shaves can only get better and better! enjoy the journey ;)

---

As far as it goes, I can easily shave off my 4000, it isn't as comfortable as when I polish the blade, but it can be done, I don't see any reason why a 6000 wouldn't get a blade ready for shaving purposes. Now, there is a point to made here though. The shave isn't going to be nearly as smooth as when finished with a high grit polisher. You may also consider sending your blade to a honing guru here on the boards just so you know what a really great edge feels like. I got one of those just so I could compare what I have been honing to the standard.
Welcome to the board, and good luck. Enjoy the Henckels, I have only one, but it is one of my best shavers hands down.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by carlmaloschneider

Yeah? A vintage non used strop? Cool.

---

Here is the strop i was talking about.Attachment 99829
I am a little confused on how to use the canvas side of it. Do I fold the leather side back or flip the strop over on the swivel and use that side of the canvas. (that side seems a little rough)

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Cwlee1982

Here is the strop i was talking about.
I am a little confused on how to use the canvas side of it. Do I fold the leather side back or flip the strop over on the swivel and use that side of the canvas. (that side seems a little rough)

---

Nice! I think flip the strop over on the swivel, but to be honest I've only ever used one strop, a Dovo leather/canvas. I remember thinking the Canvas on mine seemed harsher than I thought should be used when I was new to it all. Actually, it has softened up a little too aver the 12 months I've had it.

Not so!,

I shaved fairly comfortably off of a naniwa 5k for my first 6 months of shaving.
I followed it up with a hanging Crox Linen and leather.

The shave was not super, but certainly functional enough for even an xtg.