Hi everyone glad to be here. Looking forward to learning
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Hi everyone glad to be here. Looking forward to learning
Hello, Nighthawk. Welcome to SRP!
Hello and welcome. There is a lot of information in the library section. There is a million previous threads and a lot of friendly and knowledgeable people.
Welcome to SRP.
Mike
Hi and welcome. Any questions feel free to ask
Many thanks
G day mate
Okay I got my razor,strop,brush, etc my question is how to find the correct angle? It's supposedly 30 degrees but I don't know how to guessimate. Any help thanks
30 degrees is a rough guide. I have no idea what 30 degrees looks like. However the solution is simple.....
Start with the blade almost flat on the face, as you practice raise the angle a bit at a time until you find the most comfortable point. Then it's simply a case of repetition. Practice what is comfortable and works.
Hello, and welcome to SRP !!:chapeau
Monkeypuzzle beat me to it. Start flat and slowly increase. The angle will also change slightly depending on which area you are shaving and which direction you are shaving in.
The library has a bunch of things written to be understood. Here is a post there about your question:
Category:Shaving -
Lots more there too:
Straight Razor Place Library
Have Fun, and take a break after a couple minutes..better to move forward slowly and enjoy the process than to go too fast and give up!
~Richard
Thanks will do
So if I'm understanding don't shave the whole face just a small area like Lynn says. Is this correct?
I would say Lynn's advice is a sure bet. I'm new here too. In the end I think it all comes down to how comfortable you are. For me I lathered up with the intention of doing just as Lynn had advised in the video. For me though My first pass went well and I felt I got the feel for the angle on the first pass so I went ahead and went the rest of the way. Though what I can tell you is I probably would have been better served to do as Lynn said and just stick with the one stroke down from the sideburns. Because although I made it through the full face shave I did leave my skin in an irritated condition due to pour blade angle and just general lack of the skills required. Subsequently my next two shaves I did the cheeks only then when I went for my next full face shave things came out much better. I think his advice is spot on to ensure you gain the confidence and understanding of what is needed to use a SR. first before tackling the entire face.
I think so too. What Lynn is trying to do is give a person a good foundation. So as to enjoy SR shaving. What I like is that there is real knowledge here. I'm tapping into that knowledge. I've got beginners stuff thus far but don't feel slighted. Reason being is that a person has to start somewhere.
That's the idea! You'll see after poking around here for a while that there is no single recipe for an excellent shave (the phrase YMMV: your mileage may vary pops up frequently). Some guys like some things that just don't seem to work for other guys. So the general advice given tends to attempt exactly what you said: provide a solid foundation. From there, everyone eventually their own ways of doing things. That having been said, the most reliable way to start out is to do what I *didn't* do when I started. I just dove in, not knowing that resources like SRP were available, and made plenty of painful mistakes. Start slow, take it easy, ask loads of questions, and most importantly enjoy it.Quote:
Originally Posted by nighthawk
As for the angle question, another way of visualizing it is to raise the spine so it is about two spine widths off the skin. But as Ed and Monkeypuzzle said, take your time, play around with it, and you'll soon find what works for you.
Welcome to SRP! A good rule of thumb for the angle is two spine widths off of your face. That should get you pretty close to the correct angle. Any tweaking after that is based on preference and the razor itself.
I second that. If the blade feels like it's sticking to your face your angle is to acute. Increase the angle away from your face. Sounds common sense but when you're starting out it happens. If the angle is to large the blade will feel like it wants to skip across your face. The natural instinct for the newbie is to increase pressure on the blade, to keep it from skipping. But if you do that your likely to nick yourself. You don't want the blade in a position where you're scraping it across your face. Resist the urge to increase the pressure on the blade. Very little pressure on the blade is needed. Decrease the angel of the blade. After a few days you won't need to think about it much at all.Quote:
Originally Posted by monkeypuzzlebeefeater
I like what's being said about 2 spine widths that's a good sounding rule. I've noticed about me when I'm shaving if I feel like it's skipping I put it closer to my face. Also when my face is too dry it skips. This type of shaving causes a person to really focus on what they're doing. Okay a silly question I suppose but I would like to ask it. I've heard it takes 100 shaves to get proficient and I've heard it takes a year too. Is there a time limit or does each person "become" at their own pace? I believe this may have been answered before but was wanting to be sure I understood it. Thank you all��
I'm a beginner also, so I may not be so qualified to answer, but I really believe the time required to at least feel proficient will change from person to person. Someone with fairly good dexterity, eye hand coordination, good attention to detail, and analytical about every shave, will likely feel proficient fairly quickly. Someone lacking in some of those traits may take a bit longer. After 100 shaves or 1 year of using a straight razor you will at least know which camp you're in.Quote:
Originally Posted by nighthawk
And, remember your skin and beard strength changes with the seasons and humidity!Quote:
Originally Posted by Slurryer
~Richard
Since there are no standardized tests, or lists of what to be accomplished at any given point, your progress will be the result of how much attention you are paying to your progress and your level of satisfaction with each step. There are those that "get it" in one and then, there are the rest of us, working continually to fully understand what will give us, each, a good shave. I've been using a straight for 16 months and finally figured out the correct way, for me, to shave my neck. Taking into consideration your personal level of stubbornness (we all have one) will help you decide the rate of progress for yourself.
If it hasn't been mentioned, map the way your facial hair grows. It will help you determine how you shave your face.
Face map interactive.
http://www.pbjsite.com/shave/whiskarmap/
Click on an arrow and put it on the part of your face that grows that direction. I did it as it would look to me in a mirror.
Have fun
~Richard
Lol Ed to be fair I'm probably just pretty much saying something I'll have read you say some place elseQuote:
Originally Posted by edhewitt
I tried this link it won't open up. Is there another way to map my face?
Sorry, here is another link that should work:
http://www.pbjsite.com/shave/whiskarmap/
'nother site that had it.
Sorry
~Richard
PS, Tapatalk and some phones do not like some operations.
All the beard map does I'd give you a face and neck broken down into sections, and you draw directional arrows onto each area showing the grain direction, you could just draw up a face and neck yourself.