Why won't my razor shave my beard?

A year ago I got a dovo shavette from The Art of Shaving. (It is a straight razor that uses replaceable DE blades). I have spent the past year learning basics like how to stretch my skin, and prep my beard. I still haven’t been able to get the BBS feeling I want to experience so I decided to get an actual straight razor honed and ready to go. So I sent a vintage C-mon Blackie to a reputable honemeister. I just got it back, and a note was included with the razor that said that it had been honed, and that he had shaved with it and disinfected it. However when I went to shave with it it merely scraped the lather off of my face and did not bite into my whiskers. So I re stropped it and tried to shave XTG, and still it didn't shave. I can only conclude that there is something wrong with my technique. Can anyone give me any advice?

Hey...

The art of shaving with straight razors is not easily learned. A Quick test of the sharpnees of the razor is to let it shave the hair on your underarm. Of the razor is sharp it Will pop the hair 6mm over the skin.

If the razor pops hair its proberly your technic that need to be better.

My advice is to see some videos on youtube, an take it easy. If you shave with the straight 2-3 times a week it Will take about 8 month to learn the game completly.

The reward is the Best shave you ever have :-)

Yours kindly
Kristian

Could be the stropping has done something if you're applying too much force to the razor. It should pretty much be just the weight of the blade.

EDIT: A superbly honed razor can feel like it's just scraping lather & not shaving. Be sure to check for stubble when you rinse or wipe the blade.

mlyod,
If you are comfortable with both the hone and your stropping, angles and pressure of the blade (as mentioned by KenWeir), the next place to look is at your pre shave setup. As I found out, this is a very important part of the overall procedure. While those here on the site incorporate a variety of pre shave techniques, I suppose the common denominator remains the use of warm to hot water (applied via towels or massaged during a shower). Whiskers tend to soften and or absorb water making the shaving a bit easier. The other key part after water is the application of a pre shave. Oils or other products are designed to set up a buffer so the blade glides a bit easier over the face. Rub it vigorously then apply your soap or cream. Whether you use a brush or your hands, the soap too needs to be vigorously rubbed into your face/beard to continue the softening process. I hope this proves helpful.

As above this all could cause your issues. If all else fails some face time with another member or a old time barber always helps to find out what the problem is.

It might have something to do with your technique. Try again a few times and if it really isn't working out maybe you should consider contacting the vendor. If they are a member here, then I'm sure you won't have a problem.

Michael

I'm not exactly "experienced", only 5 months in, but this video helped me get used to a real straight. Coming off of DEs, I found it intimidating. Chimensch's Shaving Video - YouTube I learned a lot about angle, skin stretching, the alum block trick, etc. I've watched it a zillion times, and it helps me get used to new angles (my first across the grain, for instance) and general approach to shaving. I'd imagine using a Shavette is different from an actual straight? Never tried one, but it seems it would be, if only because of the replaceable blade aspect. Anyways, the #1 reason I couldn't get things done was the angle. Now, I'm not an expert, but I would try a few more times. Experiment with angle and technique. The shave is truly awesome, even while inexperienced.

Thanks for the advice everyone! I sent a PM to the person who honed it, and he recommended that I use a steeper angle, and that I strop it a bit more. This worked pretty good. I wasn't able to get all of the whiskers off, but I am much more confident as I enter round three! Any other advice would be much appreciated!

Sounds like just a matter of learning that particular razor. I haven't really run into it as both my regulars are nearly identical, but I've read that some razors behave differently

This happened to me too. I had one of my razors rescaled and the craftsman decided to hone and polish my razor for me, free of charge. On return, the razor shaved well for half a shave but then suddenly lost its edge. It would not shave after that until I touched it up with my barber's hone and then stropped it. It worked very well afterwards. Perhaps it was overhoned and all you need to do is to "reset" the edge with a liberal amount of stropping. Thanks!

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Originally Posted by mloyd

Thanks for the advice everyone! I sent a PM to the person who honed it, and he recommended that I use a steeper angle, and that I strop it a bit more. This worked pretty good. I wasn't able to get all of the whiskers off, but I am much more confident as I enter round three! Any other advice would be much appreciated!

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Yay!! If you keep your mind open and ask for help here, you'll be getting DFS pretty dang soon! It takes a while, but it's worth it!

Welcome to SRP - it's a great place to exchange ideas - seek information. Glad things are working out a bit better for you!

Welcome to SRP! Here you will learn and read about a whole bunch of things, it's a great forum. What I learned, the hard way, is when I was starting out I was dulling my razors on the strop which rolls the edge over so it won't cut.

Did you strop the razor when you started?

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Originally Posted by TrilliumLT

As above this all could cause your issues. If all else fails some face time with another member or a old time barber always helps to find out what the problem is.

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This turns out to be great advice. I spent sometime making some calls today and I found an old time barber and he spent about 30 minutes with me. One of the many problems that I have is that my strop (a vintage one that I inherited with the razor) was too stiff. He showed me how to make it more supple by applying lather. He also gave me a barbers stone. Its an Aloxite...Idk much about it. Anyway, I treated my strop and it has a much better draw to it now.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Disburden

Welcome to SRP! Here you will learn and read about a whole bunch of things, it's a great forum. What I learned, the hard way, is when I was starting out I was dulling my razors on the strop which rolls the edge over so it won't cut.

Did you strop the razor when you started?

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I did not strop the razor at first because the note from the vendor said that it was unnecessary as he had given it a good stropping before sending it back.