Thread: The great experiment

Yeah, those red lines are almost a cut, I think. Perhaps too much angle as beginning a stroke?
I think we all do that from time to time. Seems sometimes, I get a little too comfortable with a blade and do that.

My last shave from a 11/16 Genco went well with the face wetting before the lather.
It's a bit messier to do, but seems to work wonders using smaller shavers in the drier climate.

I regularly get the lines when trying to even the sideburns.

Originally Posted by sharptonn

My last shave from a 11/16 Genco went well with the face wetting before the lather.
It's a bit messier to do, but seems to work wonders using smaller shavers in the drier climate.

I've always splashed my face before lathering. Since I start with only a "damp" brush when loading, it doesn't seem to add much mess. I can't stand it when lather drips/runs/slashes/slings. Anyway, wet face helps me.

Originally Posted by Leatherstockiings

I regularly get the lines when trying to even the sideburns.

Makes sense. You are likely cutting in steep and then shaving to get a nice even sideburn. The place where you lower the spine and begin the stroke. Best to use clippers or scissors to get things even and then shaving up to them, I think.

Originally Posted by Leatherstockiings

I regularly get the lines when trying to even the sideburns.

Originally Posted by sharptonn

Makes sense. You are likely cutting in steep and then shaving to get a nice even sideburn. The place where you lower the spine and begin the stroke. Best to use clippers or scissors to get things even and then shaving up to them, I think.

I quickly found that I needed to use a Lower Angle much like I was shaving and just 'eat away' at the sideburn hair instead of trying to cut through it all in couple of strokes. Once I figured that out now it's only the occasional 'oops'.

Originally Posted by sharptonn

Makes sense. You are likely cutting in steep and then shaving to get a nice even sideburn. The place where you lower the spine and begin the stroke. Best to use clippers or scissors to get things even and then shaving up to them, I think.

I use a DE when the sideburns need to be evened up, but I have one reserved for that chore, because it seems to really muck up the edge on a DE blade. I only do it about 1/week.

The shave of the every other day today was not the 8/8 but a 5/8 approx Japanese frame back. As a doctor would say, the shave was unremarkable. There was, at the start of the shave, an interesting effect (due to the possibility of my mind starting to go at my age) of a very harsh feel to the shave. Stopped, looked at myself in the mirror and said, out loud (you do that when you live alone with only one cat), "Fool!". I had lathered and forgot to strop before shaving. Did a quick run through the strops and proceeded to have that unremarkable shave. Reminded me of why I don't strop the night before to save time (an oxymoron of a statement for a retired person.) Yeah, but lets not start the argument of when it is better to strop - it's a YMMV all the way. Next two day over shave will be with a NOS SAS Eskiltuna that I had forgotten about. Then back to the 8/8 for comparison.

I had a shave like that today. Same great razor as yesterday, same prep, same soap and brush, but I just wasn't doing well. Gave up after a pass and finished with a DE. Figured walking away was better than fighting it. Will do better tomorrow!

The other big benefit of being mostly retired is I have only my self and my wife to impress. She obviously has better issues to think about than my shave quality, so all is well!

Despite letting an embarrassing amount of time pass before being able to respond, I wanted to share a quick shot of cudarunner's handiwork, and publicly thank Razorfeld for his time, patience, and generosity while introducing me to the world of straight razor shaving. Before I got my razors, I spent a couple of years researching and putting off actually starting, knowing that there was this massive learning curve that I didn't have the resources or time to take on. Between Razorfeld and cudarunner, I was able to save myself months, if not years, and countless dollars. One morning with Razorfeld taught me more than I could have learned in a year on my own. He set me up with even more supplies (including some great tea) than my couple of years of research had led me to believe I needed, and did me the huge favor of showing me what to do, taking me through the process, allowing me to ask questions, and then letting me make mistakes and learn on my own. I am happy to say that I gave myself the best shave I have ever had yesterday via the 5/8 Special, in no small part thanks to its unique tip. I actually enjoy it immensely - once I put in the initial time and concentration to learn how to use it as an asset, rather than avoiding it, I actually think I prefer it. So thank you to cudarunner and Razorfeld for both making the decisions to let me learn how to use it, because it really opens up the versatility of the blade, in my opinion.


I am very happy with cudarunner's work. As you can see in the attachment a few posts down, he went above and beyond by cleaning up the blades substantially, and did an overall fantastic job of preserving the blades while also returning them to their previous levels of utility.

I do not possess the words necessary to explain my gratitude to both cudarunner and Razorfeld for helping introduce me to the art of straight razor shaving. They are both great guys, and I am looking forward to many future razor-themed adventures with them in the future.

Andrew, two things. One, just doing my job. Getting past the initial stages like you did opens the door sooner to greater experiences. Two, I'm glad I'm past the age where I would turn red from blushing. Like I said, just doing my job and let me know if you want more tea.