Printable View
I am brand new to straight razor shaving. My grandfather's old ERN Sword and Blade piqued my interest so I bought a Thiers Issard from Art of Shaving about 6 weeks ago. since then, I have bought a Dove from Straight Razor designs and have also made some wooden scales for the old ERN and was able to strop it into shave ready condition. The issue that I am having is that I still cut my neck or cheek from time to time. How long is the learning curve.
Hi and welcome. For good shaves it is considered to be about 100 shaves and continues to get better from there. Have you had the Theirs or the ern pro honed. If not they might not be fully shave ready and that may be leading to nicks. Good luck and any questions feel free to ask
Long... Have you watched any of the YouTube videos or read the tutorials on SR shaving techniques? Here is a good place to start Beginner's guide to straight razor shaving - Straight Razor Place Library .
Post some pictures of your razors because we REALLY like pictures. Oh, and welcome to SRP, what part of Texas are you from, there are members aplenty in that state that could be of assistance if not a bad influence.
If you are honest with yourself the learning curve never ends. Keep an open mind and this site will never stop educating you.
The Thiers Issard was new and shave ready. The paperwork in the box also said that it was ready to go. The ERN was as I inherited it and actually shaves quite well after stropping on chrome oxide.
I am from the DFW area. I'll post some pictures.
Hi & welcome to SRP.
Quote:
Originally Posted by eddy79
Quote:
Originally Posted by guitstik
Quote:
Originally Posted by bouschie
All of the above have said some good things & the Beginners Guide was also a good idea from guitstik. It will take some time. It might take 100 shaves, more or even less. It just depends on your learning curve & how quick you pick it up.Quote:
Originally Posted by tyngbld
BTW, Where in Texas are you?
Good luck my friend.
Razor manufacturers are notorious for saying shave ready when the razor is mostly shave ready. Crox can also disguise an almost thete edge.
Welcome to the forum. Your learning curve will depend on you. Are you happy with shaving and stropping but sending out your razors for honing? Do you want to learn to hone? Restore? Make your own scales? The possibilities are endless, in which case, so is your learning curve! Your shaving will get better and quicker, but again, that depends on a number of factors: your prep, your lather, how often you shave and your own ability. Jump right in and enjoy yourself. Good luck!
So far, about 13 years, with no particular end in sight.Quote:
Originally Posted by tyngbld
If you keep being interested and curious, then your learning curve also will be unending. The cuts will become more and more infrequent.
Welcome to SRP. An aggressive angle can cause cuts. Try flattening the blade out a bit and see if it helps. Keep experimenting with different angles till you find what works best for you.
I let my face heal from the last time for about 36 hours and shaved down then up on both checks and neck just one time each with a less severe angle, and went cross grain on the cheeks, and had much better luck, and a really good shave. The hair on my neck grows left to right and I was trying for a BBS shave on my neck by going truly against the grain, which was causing a lot of nicks and bumps. Thanks to all for very good suggestions.
The neck is one of the hardest areas I have found to shave. Do not try for BBS just shoot for "Good Enough" and you will have better results.