Thread: New from California

Gentlemen,

I thought I'd introduce myself on the forum before I go about asking any questions. Pretty typical guy, in my opinion at least, residing in Southern California. No complaints really. I don't really enjoy shaving but it's not something that I loathe because quite frankly, I hate having hair on my face. Maybe my apathy to shaving will change sometime... Anyway, I recently got a TI 5/8 as a gift, and just got it professionally honed a few days ago, and unfortunately, it's no less painful than when I first tried it - "shave ready" and everything.

So I got the TI 5/8 professionally honed, and it's just an absolute pain right now. Even after I stropped it and got it professionally honed, it tugs, it pulls and it just straight up hurts, to the point where I need to bust out the Gillette Fusion, which I wasn't at all happy about. I believe I'm doing it somewhat right, 30 degree angle, absolutely no pressure, I have a nice brush with a nice lather going and I also have some pre shave oil and aftershave balm, but nonetheless it's just not pleasant to shave with. I tried it with only my sideburns, following Lynn's advice not to shave my whole face with one, and it didn't offer anything even remotely close enough, and in fact the Gillette razor outdid it by a long shot - and I'm not saying that the straight razor left stubble, oh no, it barely sliced anything off. It came shave ready, and so I tried it but quickly came to the realization that it obviously wasn't, got it honed, and now this happened. Initially I was thinking maybe it's because it wasn't shave ready, now I'm thinking it's something to do entirely with me? I haven't had a shave this horrible in a long time, and I want to figure out what's going on so I can utilize the new razor. I've heard straight razors are super good, so this is somewhat upsetting to me.

Any help is greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance

Welcome to the forum!

Simply the razor should not hurt nor tug. Did you strop the razor between your shave and when you got it back from professional honing? This stropping between is not recommended. You're still new to stropping and it doesn't take much to bungle an edge. Was the person that honed the razor, a straight user themselves?

A 30 deg angle might be a touch to far, I usually keep a 5/8 pretty close to the skin. The spine might be 1/8" away from my skin at most. The higher the angle, the more your are scraping than cutting. Although everyone is different, so your sweet spot might be different than mine.

Starting with just the side burns is a good plan. I would also look at Lynn's videos on lathering, I watched one a few months ago and completely changed my lathering technique that I had been using for over 3 years.

A single pass with a razor versus a single pass with a gillette cartridge will not be equal, when you are starting out. Simply, it is 5 razors in one pass against 1 in one pass.

Good luck!

Welcome from fellow SOCal guy. What dinnermint said... I watched Lynn Abram's YT videos same day I found this site. Big help.
Check out the library too!

Welcome,

So, after it was honed, did it shave?

It is probably your stropping, it is not uncommon for new guys to damage an edge with just a few passes on a strop.

So what you probably need, is to have the razor re-honed and learn to strop properly.

Some photos of your razor would help.

Get some magnification at least 60X and look at the edge. If you see chips from the side, it’s toast and needs re-honing. If you look straight down on the blade and see shiny reflections, the bevel is no longer set and needs honing.

Check out some of the thread in the Honing Forum.

I had a similar problem when I was starting out. In one of his videos, Lynn mentions that straight razor newbies tend to roll hands back, causing the angle to become much steeper than it should be.

Next time you shave, keep an eye out for this. Close up that angle so that the razor is closer to parallel with your skin.

In my case, it made all the difference.

Who honed it? Secondly it s more than likely your fault. Most guys think they can shave on the first go around, truth is t takes months to get really good at it. It will come but you have to do the work. Contact a mentor do some ne on one work this will speed things up. But if the hone job you got was from a hack then your still in need of a honing. Also Euclid hit it right most new guys need to learn how to strop too. Good luck. Tc

Originally Posted by Euclid440

it is not uncommon for new guys to damage an edge with just a few passes on a strop.

I did!

Originally Posted by drzebra

Close up that angle so that the razor is closer to parallel with your skin.

In my case, it made all the difference.

Me too.

Originally Posted by tcrideshd

truth is it takes months to get really good at it. It will come but you have to do the work.

It gets much better I think after about 5-10 attempts. Start slow. I still alternate with a DE during the week and a straight on weekends.

All good advice. The same thing happened to me the first few times. Welcome and hang in there.

Hi and welcome. If the pro honing involved knife people send it to a razor pro. Definitely try and find a local mentor. They can help get you fastracked in all aspects from angle to stropping. Try laying the strop on a bench. Strop slowly and carefully and do lots of laps and see if it helps. It does take time and starting out don't expect great shaves but you will get there and its well worth the effort. Good luck and any questions feel free to ask

Don't know where your at exactly but if you want a second pair of eyes on the razor and maybe a look at how shave ready it is, I am not hard to find. 1/2 hour chat will save hours/days in reading and experimenting :<0)

Welcome to the forum and good luck.