Thread: Got the first one under my belt.

Hello everyone. Today I managed my first three pass shave with a new Dovo. About a year ago I switched from cartiges to DE shaving. Recently I bought a straight to give that a try. I followed some advice and slowly got used to using it by doing one sideburn and slowly expanding to more of the face. How was it? Not exactly perfect. I still have a lot to learn but I was able to complete three passes resulting I a shave that I would have been completely satisfied with a year ago. I cleaned up the remaining rough spots with my DE for the BBS shave we all look for. Not surprisingly, my biggest problem was against the grain. My beard grows hard to the right on my neck and I had not yet found a comfortable grip that I could use against the grain there. I'll get there. For now I'll thank DR Harris and Simpsons for the quality prep that aided my first attempt. My first few DE shaves werent perfect either. Patience. Now if I can teach myself to stop nicking my strop. I may be ont the road to success.

I also have whiskers headed every which way below my jaw bone. It is not nice and predictable like the razor instructions suggest.

Well it will take time to get the best angles and grips worked out. It all takes patience. I went a long time before ATG was routine. Now I only do one pass ATG and I am done. You may discover along the way a shorter smaller blade with a smile will fit below the jaw more easily.

Congrats on your milestone there will be many more.

It just keeps getting better.

Take your time and you'll figure out your best angles. As you do, the shaves will be better and better.

When you start shaving above the belt you'll find it much easier.

Welcome to the forum. As others say, it gets better with time and experiment. I suggest laying off ATG, at least on the neck, until you have good control over different grips, angles, strokes, etc. After a couple weeks of WTG and XTG practice, I decided to go with all three stages but found that I was still too inept to do justice with ATG, so I stopped. After a couple more weeks of playing with WTG, XTG, and different grips I attempted ATG with much better results and comfortableness--aside from the pulling which I now understand to have been caused by a dull razor and my ignorance to know night from day.

As for stropping, slow 'r down and on the transition from toward or away from you focus on rolling onto the spine while in motion and then not setting down the edge in the opposite direction until the spine is moving in the leading direction once again. Focusing on that simple technique solved all my nicking problems. Have fun!

Originally Posted by Annixter

Welcome to the forum. As others say, it gets better with time and experiment. I suggest laying off ATG, at least on the neck, until you have good control over different grips, angles, strokes, etc. After a couple weeks of WTG and XTG practice, I decided to go with all three stages but found that I was still too inept to do justice with ATG, so I stopped. After a couple more weeks of playing with WTG, XTG, and different grips I attempted ATG with much better results and comfortableness--aside from the pulling which I now understand to have been caused by a dull razor and my ignorance to know night from day.

As for stropping, slow 'r down and on the transition from toward or away from you focus on rolling onto the spine while in motion and then not setting down the edge in the opposite direction until the spine is moving in the leading direction once again. Focusing on that simple technique solved all my nicking problems. Have fun!

The stropping tip makes sense. Thanks for your input. Thank you to all for the input. But while I have your attention. let me ask another question of you regarding sharpness of blade. I recently bought two straights. The first was from a cutlery shop (Boker) and did not seem sharp enough to shave with. The second was purchased at Straight Razor Designs and was promised to be honed in shop and tested prior to shipping. When I shave with a DE, I need a sharp blade. I use Kai because they seem just a tad less sharp than Feather. Feather works but it a little harsh. Can I assume, SHOULD I assume, that the sharpened blade from SRD is adequately sharp for my beard? I put the Boker on a slab of balsa wood with some grit added. That seemed to make a huge difference. But I'm not convinced either blade is actually sharp enough. Blade angle? Not sharp? The symptoms are such. The blade seems to engage with my beard at an angle much steeper than that of my DE. With the DE, you're trying to cut about as close as you can to a 90 angle (blade to stubble). Of course that's not entirely possible due to the design of the razor. But with the straight, I seem to be cutting at an angle that I wouldn't normally cut at. And after three passes, there's a little burn going on. That alum bar is telling me that this was not a particularly good shave. I was told on another thread to send my Boker out for professional honing. The only thing that stops me is that the Dovo that WAS supposedly professionally honed doesn't seem any more sharp. Any thoughts?

It is safe to assume the SRD razor is sufficently sharp. I have several, and Lynn has honed so many razors he has undoubtedly lost count.

Burn could be pressure related. A general guide for shaving angle is two or three spine-widths off the face. Almost no pressure

http://straightrazorpalace.com/begin...ead-first.html

http://straightrazorpalace.com/begin...icipation.html

Have fun