Thread: Hello from Northern California

Too bad you had such a disappointing first shave! By the way you describe it, I would think it wasn't shave-ready after all. On the other hand, Larry, as you say, has a good reputation, so that has me puzzled.

If you cannot find someone in your area to help you out, I'm sure Larry's willing to evaluate the razor again. He's very committed to selling quality products.
Otherwise, you could buy a shavette (such as a Parker, they're pretty cheap) and Astra, Personna or Feather double-edge blades. Their sharpness is guaranteed and the shavette is the closest thing to a straight razor in terms of technique.


One important question though: did you feel like you slipped up at some point with the razor that may have dulled the edge? Such as wiping the oil off with a piece of paper and slicing the paper, or using too much pressure while shaving.

I certainly did my very best to be careful with the edge. I wiped the oil (vaseline, from WD) from the blade length wise to avoid accidentally stropping the edge. I used a paper towel.

I'll focus on getting a good lather and try again tomorrow. Thanks for the advice,

Dave

So last night I completed my first 100% straight razor shave. I had been practicing larger and larger portions and cleaning up with my disposable for a few weeks before.

It took some time and some blood was let, but no permanent damage. I still feel the razor is probably not sharp enough but I'll just have to get a professional opinion on that. I did the chromium and iron oxide strops followed by leather but still quite a bit of pulling. Sharp enough to get the job done in the end, although I stropped twice during the shaves (cheeks and neck, strop, chin and some of the WTG, strop, ATG and general cleanup). I can tell that the stropping gives some minor improvement but it doesn't hold.

So two plans going forward:

1.) I think my habit of waiting a 3-4 days between shaves is hurting me here. Getting done with the first pass seems to be where a lot of the pulling happens. At the shorter lengths it seems much easier, so I'll try every other day or even every day if I can find the time.

2.) Buy a second razor (new, professionally honed) for comparison. And because I deserve it

Dave